2015 Combe, Trousseau, Stolpman Vineyards, Ballard Canyon.
The latest Stolpman Trousseau Noir Combe 2015 is a light ruby hued, Jura inspired red, with tasty delicacy and a dusting of spices. Vibrant and playful on the palate the Combe Trousseau is a lovely wine, refreshing and detailed with red currant, distilled raspberry and strawberry fruits with some earthy mineral/stony notes, baking spice and tangy acidity. This medium light style red makes for an easy to quaff wine with some unique charm and character, it almost reminds me a bit of a Frappato or Cru Beaujolais, and can be served a little chilled, with some lively cherry, and a tart kiss red peach. With it’s own personality, this is a very interesting wine, vivid and transparent, fun and with pleasing textures, if not overly complex has some flair, I certainly will chase down a few more bottles myself, and I do love everything Stolpman does, especially their Syrah based wines, but this rare Trousseau Noir and their Sparkling Trousseau Pet-Nat are intriguing too, though harder to get, you should look for them, along with their carbonic Sangiovese! There are not many US versions of Trousseau around, with Arnot-Roberts being the best one over the last 3 or 4 vintages, so it’s nice to see the Combe becoming such a nice offering, but Trousseau Noir and it’s sister the Trousseau Gris, a more white grape, have been in California a long time, inter-planted in some of Sonoma Valley’s heritage sites, used in field blends mostly, and there are some great examples of these varietals, though in very limited availability, Wind Gap by Pax Mahle makes a wonderful Trousseau Gris from the Sonoma area, and of course the mentioned Arnot-Roberts Trousseau Noir which is a big hit. Keep an eye on Stolpman’s Combe, this project they started with Raj Parr, is really starting to impress, drink the 2015 Stolpman Combe Trousseau over the next 2 or 3 years, but maybe best now and often as possible!
($30 Est.) 91 Points, grapelive
