Combe Chenin Blanc Ballard Canyon 2018

When was the last time you watched the movie Sideways? Maybe you’ve never seen it? Either way, it’s worth adding to your current streaming service queue for several reasons. Unfortunately, all anyone seems to remember- or talk about- is some lamentable Merlot-basing. But the film is worth revisiting (along with your favorite Merlot) if only for the characters’ unbridled enthusiasm for wine and sense of adventure. And then there’s the scenery: it’s a road trip about hitting the “reset” button on life set against the backdrop of miles of pristine vineyards and California Wine Country vistas. The movie came out nearly twenty years ago. And you’d be forgiven if you forget, like many, that the film was shot not in Napa Valley or Sonoma County but in and around the tiny hamlet of Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County. 

Vitis vinifera grapes have been grown here in the Santa Ynez Valley since Spanish missionaries first arrived in the 18th Century. Still, until perhaps thirty years ago, much of the arable land was used for breeding thoroughbred racehorses. Around this time, back in the late 1980s, Tom Stolpman and his wife Marilyn became enchanted with wine on a trip to Napa Valley. Their dream became to own a vineyard, but being Southern Californians, they began their quest closer to home, specifically in the rolling hills surrounding Los Olivos. Finally, in 1990, after a long search for a parcel of land with two prerequisites- limestone soil and proximity to the ocean- they purchased a property in Ballard Canyon. Today, Tom and Marilyn, along with son Pete and daughter-in-law Jessica, farm 150 idyllic acres of vineyards which are primarily planted to the Rhône varietals that have made Central Coast wine so renowned.  

Combe, the French term for a sheltered valley within a vineyard, is the brainchild of Pete Stolpman and allows him to experiment with esoteric varietals outside the scope of the Stolpman brand. Ten years ago, Pete convinced his father to permit him to plant just 1.5 acres of one of his favorite wine grapes- Chenin Blanc. This eminently delectable wine is the manifestation of this combe, a secluded micro-vineyard on the estate. Meticulously hand-harvested, gently pressed, and fermented, this Chenin Blanc was aged in oak barrels to allow the wine to become more fleshy, rich, polished, and full-bodied. The nose and front-palate deliver honey and fresh ripe green apples with an electric razor of lemon. Firm, crunchy structure frames the opulence of the wines’ girth and sense of luxury. This Chenin Blanc wine delivers power and intensity in its youth and will evolve into a true beauty over the next decade. However, don’t wait another decade to pour yourself a glass, watch Sideways, and allow yourself to be transported to this heavenly corner of California.