Stolpman Vineyards Tasting Room

My boyfriend and I visited Stolpman as part of our Christmas weekend getaway to Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez. We work in the hospitality industry and are familiar with Stolpman’s wines and are big fans of Sashi Moorman, their winemaker. We only had less than 2 hours to stop off in Los Olivos and I was glad we made it in to Stolpman. As I mentioned, I was familiar with their wines walking in but tried several more that I enjoyed as well. This review is not just to acknowledge a winery that is doing things the right way and producing delicious wines but also to praise Joe for his warm hospitality and customer service. We visited many wineries and tasting rooms over a few days in Santa Barbara, Lompoc, and Los Olivos and our time at Stolpman stood out as one of our favorites thanks to Joe’s informative explanations, friendly personality and welcoming attitude. He’s the kind of person you could sit and talk to for hours. He is very knowledgeable about Stolpman and the industry in general, and from my brief understanding has helped out in various ways at Stolpman over the years so he knows what he is talking about. Thank you Joe for having us and making our experience at Stolpman a great one. We will be back to visit next time we’re in town!

I like these guys so much that I am apprehensive to tell anyone. I want Stoplman for myself. :)
Seriously. Go there. You won’t be disappointed.

Loved the wines, didn’t love the gal who poured the tasting. She basically rushed through the tasting and she was definitely on auto-​pilot.
Stolpman wines are pricey but delicious. I just wish the tasting was more relaxed and more personal. It makes a difference.

What can I say, I LOVE Stolpman. If I weren’t industry, I would definitely be a member.
Every time I visit, I leave with 2 – 3 bottles. Yesterday, I wanted to buy 5 different ones, but thankfully I narrowed it down to 3.
The 2013 La Cuadrilla and 2012 L’Avion were my top favorites last time. They’re not on the tasting menu anymore, but thankfully are still for sale by bottle.
Yesterday, my faves were the 2013 La Croce, 2013 Hilltops Syrah and the 2012 Petit Sirah. They are absolutely phenomenal. I left with the L’Avion, La Croce and Hilltops.
The tasting room associates are wonderful. Tom took care of us last time, and yesterday it was Andreas. Both were so knowledgeable and became fast friends.
I think its fantastic that they dry farm their vineyards, and use biodynamics. Also in 2012, they became completely organic.
And if that all wasn’t enough, the stories behind their names and label designs are brilliant.
Already planning my next visit;)

Best tasting room in Los Olivos. Tom Stolpman himself was there pouring his wines. We had an amazing time there. And they had a special on Angeli Sangio so we got a few bottles. Tom kindly signed them for us. The ‘Originals’ Syrah will always be my favorite. Must check out this place.

Didn’t find all of their wines fabulous. But four out of six is pretty outstanding.
This is an in-​town tasting room, so we didn’t see the actual vineyard and surroundings. That’s always disappointing, since the visit, the scenery, and the tasting room are always part of the experience.
The guy behind the counter was both friendly and well-​versed on his wines. His standard spiel was good, and his answers to questions were even better.
We walked out with a case, of viognier, roussane, grenache, and pinot noir. I don’t believe we’ve previously had a California viognier that we liked this much.

Everyone is marketing «driveway» or «porch» reds lately. La Cuadrilla is a phenomenal wine for the price. And it’s socially responsible, since they profit share with their year-​round crew.
A great place to stop on your way into (& on your way out of) Los Olivos!

Stolpman was the first of three wine tastings hubby and I experienced during our day escape to Los Olivos, and it was definitely the most educational. The charming red house is a welcoming space to enter, and there were only two other tasters present. With two pouring staff, we had no need to wait and enjoyed our $ 12 shared tasting. Our attendant was very knowledgeable about the wine she served (which makes me wonder if she is a trained sommelier), and we learned so much about the growing process. Did you know that grapes that need to fight for water make the best wine? I didn’t! Anyway, the selections were all very good, and I understand they are known for their syrah. But my favorite was the viognier, and we came out with a bottle for $ 22. Not bad, and a great first stop for wine and friendly service!

Easily some of the best wine in the Solvang/​Los Olivos area —
The tasting room is small — But that is what I liked — the staff were all very friendly (we’ve gone here on every Solvang visit) and the wine was off the charts.
Some of the wines are very affordable (especially considering the quality) and others are a bit more pricey (but the quality matches the price)…
By far this winery had the best wine of any we tasted on our trip (and we visited many in the are during our weekend trip).
If you are in the area — A trip to taste is well worth the stop — Located just off the main cross roads in Los Olivos — super good wine — super fun people… and if you are lucky — the vineyard dog will great you outside!

Kim is the best! I’ve been to stolpman with my husband three times since we moved to Santa Maria in August, and Kim served us the 2 times we went tasting. She was super knowledgable and because of her service (and of course, the l’avion, hilltops, and la Croce) we became members the first time we tasted here. Their wines are to die for if you are a fan of Syrah! I had never had a roussanne before but the l’avion is a big hit in my household. Last time we were there we got a few bottles of the viognier because it was great.
The third time we went to stolpman was for a wine pickup party. They had tacos, a mariachi band and tons of wine! It was just a fabulous time! Super glad that we became members, and we will be going there to taste again soon :)

I was excited when trying Stolpman’s wine because they are creative winemakers. Sometimes the experiments work, sometimes they don’t. I can’t fault them for being adventuresome and trying to learn how different processes behave. Tasting their wines was educational for me which is a rarity in a tasting room.
Although mainly a Rhone house, the Sangiovese was surprisingly good. Each $ 12 tasting fee is waived for every three bottles purchased.

Stolpman Wines are phenomenal. That is simply fact. Only to be outdone by their fabulous staff and tasting room. Every time I go in I’m treated like family, get to taste delicious wines, and have a beautiful time. Their patio area is lovely as well. My favorite is their Angeli Sangio and regular Angeli (100% Syrah) but they’re all good… Go to Stolpman for sure!

Cool winery. Excellent service. Their sangiovese is simply delicious. Their whites were ok and their expensive stuff, while good, wasnt memorable. But the service is great and the atmosphere is nice. Their petit sirah is also really good.
I definitely recommend this place

Stolpman makes some of the best wines out of the Santa Ynez valley. We walked out with a huge, buttery Rousanne (L’Avion, $ 48) and the La Cuadrilla, which is value priced in the $ 20s.
The tasting room was well staffed and quite busy when we arrived. Our pourer had to keep bouncing between us and group outside, so we were left dry several times. I eventually asked another attendant who was not busy to come help us out, and she obliged. I kind of wish she would have noticed we were all just sitting there with no service, however.
Nonetheless, it’s about the wine, and I couldn’t give their wines anything less than five stars.

Really 1 star guy REALLY!!! They are great and I love their place. It is not their fault Los Olivos doesn’t have public toliets. They are a small little po dunk town. Give them a break. They are doing the best they can (don’t blame the business owner, they have no control)
This place is great! I but there wines by the case and totally drink it all the time.
The way they do business is great and I LOVE them.

This review is based solely on the service, and not the quality of the wine.
On a recent day of wine tasting, we asked another winery for one final suggestion to finish off our trip to Santa Ynez before dinner. Stolpman was the recommendation. We entered the wine tasting room at 4:50, 10 minutes before their scheduled closing, thinking we’d be OK for one nice final tasting. But as soon as we entered the tasting room, the man behind the counter said:
«We had out last call for tastings at 4:45 so we can’t serve you.»
Perhaps noticing my confusion at the fact that people were still drinking in the tasting room and lounging outside in their courtyard, he added:
«If we didn’t give a cut-​off, we’d be here all night.
Really? So why don’t you just make your cut-​off at 5 p.m. when your winery is scheduled to close to the public and not 10 minutes before then?
To add even more ridiculousness, he added:
«We’re open at 11 a.m. tomorrow. We’d love to have you then.»
No thanks. Even if we were going to be in town the next day, I still wouldn’t come back here following this fiasco. Nor will I return here during my future frequent trips to the area.

For a tasting room in Los Olivos, Stolpman hits a grand slam. Their wine is excellent, their servers are very knowledgeable and passionate about the wine, they have an awesome patio, and the pours are extremely generous.
We have fantastic time at Stolpman. Our server was very helpful and friendly and allowed our group to sit at a table on the patio and chat while we did our tasting. He stopped by every 15 minutes and provided fantastic descriptions about the wines we tasted.
I didn’t care much for the whites, but their Syrah and red blends were jammy and fruit-​forward, but not over the top. They achieved a reasonable degree of complexity and mild to medium tannins. Overall, the wines were very enjoyable.
I must add that wine pours are huge and were plenty for 2 people to share. The $ 12 tasting fee seems like a bargain for the quality and experience you receive.
We had such a fun time at Stolpman that I’m going to put it at the top of my list for our next wine tasting trip to Santa Ynez!

We finally got to taste here. We always seem to run behind schedule and miss this place even though everyone recommends the wines here.
Service was great. We were the only ones there tasting but still he was very friendly. Chatted us up and gave us tons of information on the wines. I loved all the wines here. They do a bottle that actually raises money to help fund the field workers with healthcare. All the proceeds go back to those hard workers who are the ones that bring the wine to the table. I thought that was pretty cool.
Great atmosphere, we loved the music choices.

If you love red wine, this place is for you for a wine tasting in Los Olivos.
This place was highly recommended by a local who said this was her favorite red wine tasting room in the area (that was open).
The gentleman here was nice, but not warm and friendly. I did feel an air of snootyness here which I didn’t like, but this review is based only on the quality of wine. He was nice and passionate about wine, but not as warm as the woman at the last tasting room so maybe that was why I felt the difference.
Wines were on the moderate price level, with the minimum was around $ 29 for a bottle.
Every wine I had was top notch and great quality and I was told were rated 89 — 92 when reviewed by the likes of Robert Parker and/​or Wine Spectator.
Outstanding wines here at Stolpman and highly recommend a stop for the serious red wine lover.
Different varieties of syrahs here. Place is owned by a couple from Los Angeles.
Tasting was $ 12. He asked me if there was any wine I’d like to taste again, which I did appreciate.
This is probably my favorite tasting room as with each tasting was consistently of high quality.

Saturday was a great day to be in Los Olivos! We went wine tasting with friends and it was just an awesome experience. I have been to Los Olivos a dozen times and had never even heard of Stolpman… it is a little off of the beaten path.
We were seated on the patio out in front under a big Persimmon tree. It was a beautiful setting. The girl who served us brought the wine out to us. I was most impressed that her timing was just perfect, never forgot that we were out there and was nice and informative about the wines.
The wines are really delicious and seem to be a notch up from so many of the others that I normally taste. I guess that is why two of our friends are members.
What I really loved best about this winery was the great descriptions on the tasting menu… Who writes this stuff? Dennis Miller? One of the wines was described as «monecepage» It became our theme word of the day. We went to other wineries and asked if any of their varietals were monocepage. We felt so smart while the people at the other wineries just thought that we were smart-​asses.