Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
In recent years, I have sometimes thought to myself, "What happens when a winemaker mixes in some Chardonnay with Roussanne?" The 2014 Stolpman Vineyards Roussanne—a tantalizing blend of 85% Roussanne and 15% Chardonnay—seems to give the wine a bit of perkiness on the palate. This delicious wine showing core fruit, minerality, and an accent of oak in the flavors is a beautiful cocktail or light entrée wine. Drinks well now. (Tasted: October 19, 2016, San Francisco, CA)
Full and silky in body but also charmingly crisp, Roussanne is native to the Rhône Valley of France. It is responsible for some of the finest Northern Rhône white wines. Roussanne adds richness and acidity to Marsanne’s soft, fruitiness, making age worthy and highly respected whites. Somm Secret—Roussanne takes its name from the French word, roux, meaning rouge or red because of the berry’s pink glow. In California, virtually all of the 339 acres of Roussanne come from true clones brought over by Tablas Creek and John Alban.
Accounting for only ten percent of the greater Santa Ynez AVA, Ballard Canyon’s north-south orientation provides an ideal pattern of sunshine and martime fog for producing excellent Syrah. While Syrah is planted to half of the total AVA acreage, an additional third is dedicated to other Rhône varieties, red and white.