Para Maria Rose 2023

Stolpman / Solorzano Family Collaboration
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 saved the day for the late ripening Mourvèdre, which we didn’t harvest until the beginning of November.  2023 turned out to be the latest harvest since 2011, and the slow, even sugar accumulation and phenolic ripening delivered a great vintage.   
An absolutely delicious rosé with airy, soft watermelon misting through the nose and palate.  Light, creamy layers, contributed by the 40% Mourvèdre, ride over a delicate crispness.  For this small production rose, we were able to play with the percentage of Mourvedre and few lots of Grenache to hit pristine balance and attractive aromas.  The 2023 is the new benchmark for Para Maria Rose.