Had this wine several times, but never *officially* on the blog: found a bottle today on a shelf at a restaurant–but not on the list–an orphan left over from a Valentine’s Day special. A perfect lunch-time accompaniment to spring rolls and meze and kale salad. This wine’s been out several years and really needs no introduction–I’m sure most of you have experienced it by now and have a pretty firm grip on its style and texture. Light, transparent dark pink with a little ‘creaminess’, threw it in an ice-bucket for a few minutes–as it drinks best down below 50F or so. Cellar-y and fermenty-y in the nose, the carbonic nature is impossible to miss, as is its bright strawberry and green-peach fruit. A surprising amount of stone-fruit darkness also represents–a nod to this variety as opposed to typical grapes chosen for this type of red-wine presentation.

Light and sweet on the tongue, it is all juicy fruit and stemmy beauty from the get-go. A bitter twang of body interrupts the simplicity, cascading dubious delirium all over WITHOUT resorting to minerality or tannin for substance. It’s refreshing–to a point–but I think “refreshing” pigeon-holes it in *today-wine-speak* as a simple quaffer. It goes a bit beyond that.

2020 STOLPMAN ‘Love You Bunches’ Sangiovese Santa Barbara Co. 12.5

https://www.stolpmanvineyards.com/