Winemaker Notes
Firm cherry fruit rides above an intense flow of heady richness. The pretty red fruit delves into lusher, darker notes of anise, pine, menthol, and vanilla.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2018 Stolpman Vineyards Ballad Canyon Sangiovese shows strength and length on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine substantive aromas and flavors of red and black fruit and hints of spice. Serve it with skewered lamb kebabs. (Tasted: May 26, 2021, San Francisco, CA)
Among Italy's elite red grape varieties, Sangiovese has the perfect intersection of bright red fruit and savory earthiness and is responsible for the best red wines of Tuscany. While it is best known as the chief component of Chianti, it is also the main grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and reaches the height of its power and intensity in the complex, long-lived Brunello di Montalcino. Somm Secret—Sangiovese doubles under the alias, Nielluccio, on the French island of Corsica where it produces distinctly floral and refreshing reds and rosés.
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.