Combe Trousseau 2023

Pete Stolpman & Rajat Parr’s Esoteric Colab
“Combe” translates to a small sheltered valley within a Burgundian vineyard.
When Rajat Parr began making Chardonnay alongside Stolpman in the Lompoc Wine Ghetto back in 2010, he immediately campaigned to plant Trousseau on Stolpman’s Ballard Canyon Limestone soils.  Vignerons in Jura seek out Limestone for their Trousseau plantings, and Rajat theorized that Trousseau, a varietal that often has difficulty achieving ripeness, would flourish in the sunny, arid Ballard Canyon wind tunnel.   
2014 marked the first vintage of Combe Trousseau.  Trousseau now accounts for 3.5 acres at Stolpman.  Over the decade of growing Trousseau and making the wine, we have a better understanding of its behavior.  No matter how dry and arid the weather and low the vine-yield, the varietal still doesn’t want to ripen to “modern” ripeness.  The wine will always be light on its feet.
Healthy late season rains pushed back bud-break and the growing season by 3-4 weeks.  We escaped the summer without any extreme heat events that would have accelerated ripening.  Trousseau is always the first red varietal to be harvested on the vineyard and it was a relief to bring in the old-vine block September 18th to finally get some activity in the cuvere.
Whirling red strawberry with a few mint leaves to garnish the poolside chilled refreshment.  Just kissed with secondary savory notes – balanced seasoning to be a proper, fancy dinner wine.  2023 shows a continued march towards more phenolic ripeness in the guise of a lighter bodied, lower alcohol profile.  So much pleasure yet so unique, Combe Trousseau is a California treasure!