2019 Combe, Trousseau, Stolpman Vineyards, Ballard Canyon, Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County.
The Jura inspired 2019 Combe Trousseau by Stolpman is deliciously light pale ruby and brick hued in the glass with a seductive earthy red fruit, dried roses and shared cinnamon start along with mineral/fliny notes, minty amaro herbs, bay leaf and persistent brandied cherry, strawberry and sour plum fruits. Smooth tannins, light body, very elegant and Pinot like in feel, this, 13.5% alcohol, natural style Trousseau has nice floral essences and lovely translucent length with a good acidic lift, all in keeping with the grape’s Jura heritage. California Trousseau has been championed by the guys at Arnot-Roberts, Raj Parr, Peter Stolpman, Drake Whitcraft, Tegan Passalacqua at Sandlands Vineyards and Pax Mahle of Pax Wines to great effect over the last decade, making a delightful and quaffable array of lighter style pale ruby red versions, like this Combe bottling, that should be served slightly chilled. The Trousseau grape, as I’ve said before, remains a bit of a mystery in its origins and is thought to have a distant relationship to Petit Verdot, but has been in the remote and high elevation region of France’s Jura for longer than anywhere else that we currently know of, where it is the top red grape and famous in the wines of Tissot, Ganevat (Pein Sud), Labet and Jacques Puffeney to name a few of my favorites. Trousseau is also often blended with Gamay, Poulsard, another rare Jura (pale colored) varietal, and Pinot Noir as well, both in its native home in the Jura as well as here in California. Interestingly Trousseau has been in California more than a hundred years, though it was only used to make a single varietal in the last 20 years, it had just been a mysterious red grape interplanted in heritage vineyards, mostly in the Sonoma Valley. For the Combe Trousseau, Stolpman uses 80% carbonic maceration with whole cluster and stems, along with 20% de-stemmed berries stainless steel tank. After primary fermentation the wine is racked with a gentle pressing to larger format neutral French puncheons 500L made from Vache forest oak.
Pete Stolpman’s most esoteric project is labeled “Combe” which he was spurred on to do with a push from Raj Parr, the famous Sommelier who is based in Santa Barbara, with the name referring to the French word for a small sheltered valley within a vineyard where Stolpman grows tiny parcels of Chenin Blanc, Mondeuse and Trousseau. Raj, who has been a driving force behind Jura and Savoie grapes grown in California, now has now got his Trousseau planted at his Phelan Farm in Cambria. As mentioned before here with some past reviews, Stolpman and Parr decided to make a light red Trousseau, like the classic Jura wines, like those of Ganevat, Puffeney and the legendary Michel Gahier, and (a) more geeky, a Trousseau Pet’ Nat or “Pétillant Naturel” an ancient method and faster way to make sparkling wine, which I reviewed a few years back, it is a French term that roughly translates to “naturally sparkling. The first vintage for the Combe Trousseau wines was back in 2014, and Pete now have 3.5 acres planted to the varietal, which because of the success of them, hardly seems enough, these are always instant sell outs, especially this bottling. The Stolpman wines are class acts, with their Syrah offerings being exceptional and in recent years they have been adding to their So Fresh lineup that started with their fabulous and playful Love You Bunches -The carbonic whole cluster Sangiovese. Peter Stolpman says, Raj, who started making wines in Lompoc in 2010 with Stolpman, lobbied him to plant Trousseau on the limestone, like many Jura vignerons do, and he believed the sunny warmth and cool breezes in the Ballard Canyon AVA would be ideal for this unique varietal that he was geeky for. Tasted over a few hours, this 2019 vintage kept up the charm and vitality, so considering the simple, low sulfur winemaking, this was a tip top showing for a California version of this grape, the finish even though such a light low alcohol wine was extreme long and pretty. There’s always something new going on at Stolpman and I just learned that Pete has some Jura white on the way, with a small parcel Savagnin bottling set to be released soon, so it is highly recommended to join their mailing list and or visit their tasting rooms in Los Olivios.
($34 Est.) 92 Points, grapelive