Sangiovese 2019

Update November 2025: At 6 years of age the 2019 Sangiovese exudes precise, pure ripe red fruit lazer beaming from the nose through the mouth with red clouds billowing into fluffy, yummy stuffing to flesh out into a luxuriously full body.  Now integrated with age, the 2019 confidently exudes the seamlessness I tasted upon release, it was a pony league star back then and now it's smiling in the World Series Parade. Straight bold red streak of yum, she ain't going anywhere, but darnit she is gorgeous right now.  

I wish we had kept more wine for this re-release, she will tearfully sell out all too quickly. ~Pete Stolpman
 

Estate Sangiovese comes predominantly from the original 10 acres of Sangiovese Tom Stolpman planted in 1994.  The Santa Barbara sunshine and long growing season create a richer, denser version of Sangiovese compared to what is found in the grape’s Tuscan homeland.  Stolpman’s cold nights and Limestone soils retain the acidity that brings our New World version back to balance but without an Old World rustic character.  Aged 22 months in neutral large Ermitage 500L french oak puncheons, Sangiovese’s tell-tale acidity and tannin have the time to integrate and slip into the rich, ripe mid-palate mouthfeel.  

2019 marked the second vintage in a row without harvest-time heat spikes.  Facial Expressions around the team conveyed our shared thoughts and feelings without saying a word – a certain giddiness that we had a shot at replaying 2018 armed with that year of heat-free experience.  And, the acids were hanging even higher and fresher than 2018.  

The seamless, uber-aromatic 2019 sings a beautifully lifted “spirit note”.  Misty wild red fruit streaks over woody forest and then washes over malt and fine chalky tannins.  The wine is a journey, from the high-tone red fruit, to the forest depth, integrated tannin, and then yet another layer of deeper, riper red fruit.  The most refined and compelling Sangiovese we’ve turned out over the past 20 years.