Para Maria 2023

A Stolpman & Solorzano Family Collaboration
The Para Maria Brand is a 50-50 partnership between the Stolpman and Solorzano families.  As managers, Ruben and Maria opt not to take a cut of Stolpman’s profit sharing program, La Cuadrilla.
Maria “Lupe” Solorzano is shy around visitors and quick to smile.  For anyone that sees her in action, it is clear that she leads by the example of her own work ethic.  Maria is most comfortable in her routine of perpetual motion out on the vineyard – checking the vines and directing the crew.  Maria, solely in charge with a quiet, commanding presence, heads the day-to-day operation at Stolpman.  She runs perhaps the hardest working, most passionate vineyard crew in the world.  On a daily basis she teaches 
La Cuadrilla new techniques to execute a constant barrage of experiments – often adapting on the fly – figuring out practical ways of farming ridiculously high-density vineyards by hand, or training canopies for ideal shading and wind-flow.
Label Art: The nickname for villagers from Santa Cruz de las Flores, Jalisco; Maria’s hometown, is “Tecolote” – or night owl.  The name stems from the popular late night parties thrown in the town.  Maria and La Cuadrilla also turn nocturnal for three months out of the year to harvest in the cold night air for maximum freshness.  A resident female Great Horned Owl is the most prolific rodent-control beast on the vineyard.  
Healthy late season rains pushed back bud-break and the growing season by 3-4 weeks.  We escaped the summer without any extreme heat events that would have accelerated ripening.  A warm October ensured Syrah ripening, first for the brighter carbonic lots, followed by riper lots that we crushed for full extraction, and finally Petit Verdot at the end of the month. 
High-toned red perfume over classic, serious Syrah savoriness on the nose. In the mouth, gushing, ripe red and purple flows of fruit dominate a deeply enjoyable, hedonistic journey. Thick, broad body with zero perceptible drag, all tannin and acid are fully integrated already upon release.