2019 Stolpman Vineyards Para Maria de las Tecolotes Syrah Santa Barbara County 750 ml

Whenever you can grab a 94-point Wine Enthusiast Editors’ Choice red for under $20, don’t hesitate. If that wine is from one of California’s premier Syrah estates—a Wine Access go-to that members have said makes "by far some of the best Syrah”—hope that it’s still in stock. 

The 2019 Stolpman Para Maria flaunts a fruit purity and spicy complexity that will enthrall any lover of bold reds. Enthusiast’s 94-point review says that this wine “always impresses”—but we were impressed even before we heard the score. 

Ruben and Maria Solorzano have been cultivating the vines at Stolpman since 1994, and are responsible for some of the innovations that put Santa Barbara's top sites on the map. Their work is so impressive that Wine Enthusiast has called Ruben “The Grape Whisperer.” 

For the 2019 bottling, Stolpman’s brilliant winemaking team took Ruben’s carefully selected, pristine grapes and decided to blend 80% Syrah with 20% Petit Verdot, lending the wine some serious heft without sacrificing verve. 

This wine’s name was inspired by a trip the Stolpmans and Solarzanos took together to Maria's hometown in Jalisco, Mexico. The two families were partying with the locals, who uphold a strict tradition: Drink tequila and sing deep into the night. That crew has earned a nickname: Las Tecolotes—the night owls. It dawned on Ruben then. This one's para María. 

Like Maria herself and the night owls, this wine is brilliant and full of energy. Anyone who loves wines that were made by folks who care not only about the juice in the bottle and the land that produced it, but also about each other—will find much to love in the Para Maria.