STIRM WINE CO
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Ryan Stirm is a true Riesling fanatic. His arguments for why Riesling works so well in California are hard to refute after tasting his wines. According to his research, German immigrants brought Riesling from its ancestral home only to discover a grape-growing paradise perfectly suited to the variety. Until recently, it was the most planted and successful cultivar in the state, but a change in taste led to its downfall. In his experience, Riesling is shockingly heat resistant, the opposite of what most traditionalists will tell you. He also admits his goal is not to make Riesling resemble its cousins in Europe but to find its unique voice in California.
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Ryan started his winemaking career in the US, teaming up with the now legendary Justin Willett from Tyler and Lieu Dit. After four years, he ended up working in the Wachau, Austria, where he fell further in love with Riesling and Grüner Veltliner.
His winemaking philosophy is quite simple. They whole cluster crush their whites, allow for short periods of skin contact, avoid SO2 until fermentation has completed, let indigenous yeast do their jobs, and fine/filter as minimally as possible. The ultimate goal is to let the vineyards shine through.
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To better express his home state, he has begun experiments with propagating Vitis Californica, the local species of grapevine. He hopes to use these vines as rootstocks, helping traditional varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir, and Chardonnay better adapt to the soils. To close the loop, most of his red wine fermentations take place in fifty+-year-old redwood fermenters. These vessels are naturally antimicrobial, preventing spoilage organisms from taking hold. Unfortunately, they’re a nightmare to maintain, so Ryan has to put in a pile of extra effort pre-harvest each vintage.
As of 2016, he has finally accomplished his goal of farming his own tiny vineyard: a 2-acre plot of Pinot Noir high up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Moving forward, it’s his goal to farm more and see the wine through from ground to bottle.
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Ryan is one of the gentlest souls we’ve ever met. He surfs, climbs, and fishes near his home in Santa Cruz, connecting him to the land in an even more profound way. He fights to maintain a liveable habitat for his beloved Salmon, advocating and raising money on their behalf for conservation efforts. We hear he gives his neighbours backyard weed to watch his cat while he’s away; we love the barter system. His laidback attitude belies his work ethic, settling for nothing less than sensational wines.
MORE FROM CALIFORNIA: BROC CELLARS | LES LUNES
GROWN AND MADE ON THE TRADITIONAL LANDS OF THE: CHUMASH | SHMUWICH (BARBAREÑO) | SOUTHERN POMO | ME-WUK (COAST MIWOK) | GRATON RANCHERIA | POPELOUTCHOM (AMAH MUTSUN) | OHLONE | AWASWAS
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE (AB): $35.00 CAD
AB: 895236
2022 NEPTUNITÉ
This wine is a blend of Chardonnay (82%) from Gimelli Vineyard (1997) and Cienega Road Vineyard (1964), Pinot Noir (9%) from Gimelli Vineyard, and Riesling (9%) from Wirz Vineyard (1964), all in the Cienega Valley. The grapes are crushed and macerate for twenty-four hours before being pressed off into tank. After a day of cold settling, the juice is racked for fermentation in barrel. The wine is racked once more before a light filtration and bottling with 32 ppm of SO2. 294 cases were produced. 12.4% ABV, 5.8 g/L TA, 3.51 pH
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE (AB): $32.00 CAD
AB: 855080
2022 CALCITE
This wine is a blend of Chardonnay (56%) and Riesling (44%) from Wirz Vineyard (1964), Cienega Road Vineyard (1964), and Gimelli Vineyard (1997). Soils here feature calcite, an old form of limestone that makes their soils more alkaline. The Cienega valley also experiences large diurnal swings, helping grapes retain freshness. The grapes are crushed and macerate for twenty-four hours before being pressed off into tank. After a day of cold settling, the juice is racked for fermentation in barrel. The wine is racked once more before a light filtration and bottling with 32 ppm of SO2. 538 cases were produced. 13% ABV, 5.8 g/L TA, 3.56 pH
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE (AB): $37.50 CAD
AB: 895235
2022 JOAQUINITE PINOT NOIR
The Pinot Noir for this project comes from two blocks planted in 1997 in Gimelli Vineyard. Soils here are limestone dominant. The extreme diurnal shifts in the Cienega Valley lead to maximum flavour intensity while preserving acid. Harvest took place on August 20th and 27th. The grapes were destemmed into redwood vats where the wine fermented for eight days, receiving the occasional pump-overs. The wine is pressed into tank and then racked into barrel with minimal solids. It sees one more racking before bottling without fining or filtering. 12.5% ABV, 7.2 g/L TA, 3.41 pH, 26 ppm SO2
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE (AB): $52.50 CAD
AB: 802093
2021 SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS PINOT NOIR
In 2016 Ryan took over farming a tiny vineyard near the mountain town of Glenwood, east of Santa Cruz. Planted in 1997, this organic two-acre plot is on a 30% grade. It is neither tilled nor irrigated. Soils here are mostly sandy loam, decomposed from lompico sandstone and clay-loam from weathered Purisima Mudstone. This is a vineyard in the forest – it’s surrounded by redwoods, oak, and bay trees. A dry winter resulted in early bud-break. Spring frosts immediately decimated a third of their crop but a temperate growing season allowed the fruit to ripen slowly. On September 14th and 15th the grapes were harvested and destemmed into a redwood fermenter. Gentle pump-overs were done once daily for two weeks before pressing into neutral puncheon. After eighteen months, the wine is racked into stainless steel, settled, and then bottled without fining or filtration. 105 cases were produced. 13% ABV, 6.2 g/L TA, 3.59 pH, 27 ppm SO2
2019 KICK-ON RIESLING
Kick-On vineyard is located 16km east of the ocean in Los Alamos Valley, just north of Santa- Barbara. As this is an offshoot of the transverse range, the valley runs west-east which means oceanic breezes cool the vineyard daily. Ryan’s vineyard block is planted mostly on windblown sand with just a pinch of clay and chirt cobbles. Strong winds cause the vines to close their stomas which results in incredibly delayed ripening. The grapes were macerated as whole clusters for two days before being pressed off into stainless steel. After three days of cold settling the juice was racked into tank for wild fermentation. No Sulphur was added until after malolactic conversion. The wine was bottled without fining, nor filtration. 120 cases produced. 12.9% ABV, 3.29 pH, 6 g/l TA
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $27.00 CAD
CSPC: 855080
2020 CALCITE
Ryan’s latest cuvée is made from Wirz Vineyard Riesling (88%), Glenwood Vineyard Chardonnay (6%), and C5 Vineyard Scheurebe (6%). The three disparate sites (Cienega Valley, Santa Cruz Mountains, and Santa Ynes Valley, respectively) were picked in several passes. The aromatic varieties were whole- cluster macerated for a day before being pressed off into tank. After cold settling and racking, the wine ferments in barrel. After malolactic conversion the wine sees a small dose of SO2 before a modest élevage. A month before bottling the wine is racked off of heavy solids. 340 cases were produced. 12.2% ABV, 6.2g TA, pH 3.29
2019 WIRZ ZINFANDEL
These vines were planted in 1902. They are own rooted, organically farmed, and thrive without irrigation. Sitting at 1000 feet above sea level, Wirz Vineyard is in the obscure Cienega Valley on the San Andreas Fault Line. Whole clusters were fermented in old open top redwood tank with 1% Riesling. After seventeen days on skins the wine is pressed off into ten-year-old barriques for an eighteen-month élevage on fine lees. One month before bottling the wine is racked into stainless steel with 10% Riesling from the same vineyard. 190 cases produced. 14.8% ABV, 3.47 pH, 6.6 g/l TA.
2020 LOS CHUCHAQUIS ALBARINO METHODE ANCESTRALE
The grapes for thus cuvée come from Matthew Rorick’s Heritage Vineyard high in the Sierra Foothills, and C5 Vineyard in Santa Ynez to the South. Whole clusters were pressed into stainless steel for a warm and fast fermentation. A small amount of juice was frozen and reserved as liqueur de tirage. The wine was bottled in the spring with a small amount of the frozen juice for secondary fermentation in bottle. The resulting wine has about three atmospheres of pressure. No Sulphur was added, and it was not disgorged.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $38.50 CAD
CSPC: 860253
2020 LOS CHUCHAQUIS BANDITO
According to ampelographers, Négrette, the main constituent of this wine, is related to Malbec. Despite their best efforts, no genetic studies have been able to shed any more light on its origins, although many legends still circulate (the Knights of Templar?!). Traditionally from near Toulouse in France, the thin-skinned berries are hard to farm thanks to their susceptibility to botrytis, mildew, and insect damage. A small amount of Cabernet Pfeffer, Zinfandel, and Albariño (14% all together) also contribute to the blend. Whole-clusters were fermented in open-top redwood tank before being pressed into neutral barrel for a ten-month élevage.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $35.50 CAD
CSPC: 792993
2020 KICK-ON EOLIAN RIESLING
This wine comes from the famed Kick-On Ranch Vineyard, located in the Los Alamos Valley in Santa-Barbara. The grapes were crushed and macerated on skins for two days before being pressed off into stainless steel. After a short settling period the wine is racked into tank for fermentation. After nearly a year of élevage, the wine is bottled without fining, filtering, or SO2. 145 cases produced. 12.2% ABV, 3.2pH, 6.9 TA.
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $37.00 CAD
CSPC: 792995
2019 WIRZ RIESLING
Own-rooted, head trained, dry farmed Riesling vines planted in the 60s are what make this wine so special. These are the second oldest Riesling vines in North American. Sitting at 1000 feet above sea level, Wirz Vineyard is in the obscure Cienega Valley on the San Andreas Fault Line. Whole clusters were crushed, and the juice macerated with the skins for twenty-four hours. Spontaneous fermentation was carried out in stainless steel and the wine spent the next twenty-two months on the fine lees. It was bottled unfined and unfiltered. 225 cases produced. 13.5% ABV, TA 5.2 g/l, pH 3.38
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $43.50 CAD
CSPC: 860251
2020 CABERNET PFEFFER
There are less than 10 acres of Cabernet Pfeffer left in the world. Ryan believes it may be Bordeaux’s long forgotten Mourtaou/Mancin, but there are so many origin stories floating around in the literature, we’re not sure what to believe any more. The grapes were grown in San Benito County at a few old vine vineyards including Wirz. The grapes were fermented in open-top redwood fermenters with roughtly two-thirds stem inclusion. After two weeks the wine was pressed off into old barrel for a ten month élevage. 245 cases produced. 12.9% ABV, 6.3g/l TA, pH 3.79
ESTIMATED RETAIL PRICE: $53.00 CAD
CSPC: 802093
2018 SANTA CRUZ MOUNTAINS PINOT NOIR
In 2016 Ryan took over farming a tiny vineyard near the mountain town of Glenwood, east of Santa Cruz. Planted in 1997, this organic two-acre plot is on a 30% grade. It is neither tilled nor irrigated. Soils here are mostly sandy loam, decomposed from lompico sandstone. This truly is a vineyard in the forest – it’s surrounded by redwoods, oak, and bay trees. After a growing season defined by cool night, the grapes were harvested between the 21st and 25th of September. Destemmed berries were fermented in open-top redwood tank for two weeks before being pressed off into neutral oak puncheon. After 18 months, the wine was racked and bottled. 195 cases were produced. 13% ABV, 6.6g/l TA, pH 3.6