CellarTracker 2025 Team Retreat

All 23 of the fulltime employees trekked from more than a dozen states to sunny (and briefly) rainy Santa Barbara for our first company retreat in 2 years. We did some standard corporate retreat things, then a fast and productive hackathon (so excited about the feature ideas!!!!), and finally volleyball, frisbee golf, meals and 2 days of vineyard visits, wine tasting, and a peek into winemaking.

Anna and Joel did a quick tutorial to remind the team how to spit and evaluate the wines.

• 2022 Weingut Max Ferd. Richter Brauneberger Juffer-Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese

  Germany, Mosel Saar Ruwer

  (10/14/2025)

  Mmm, textbook Riesling, hint of diesel. Nice florals and a bit of white peach, some very textbook. Mmm, just textbook Mosel, green apple, sweet and tart, crunchy candy. Nice sour patch finish, mouthwatering, nice acidity.

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• 2023 Jean Paul & Charly Thevenet Régnié Grain & Granit 91 Points

  France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Régnié

  (10/14/2025)

  A little cloudy. Mmm, some stemmy and leafy notes, cranberry at first and then some strawberry and baking spice comes out with warmth and aeration. The palate has some really nice vegetal character, super tart, red fruit, really nice acidity. A little bitter, salty, granite, fairly long. Very nice.

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Tom, Pete Ruben and Nicole hosted us for a glorious visit at the picturesque Villa nestled into Ballard Canyon. This was a wonderful way to start the day, walk the vineyards, learn about the region and this estate, and then an amazing lunch. Plus that Cane Corso monster pup!

• 2024 Stolpman Uni

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  Honey, honeysuckle on the nose. Tons of acidity and minerality on the palate. Some viscosity and nuttiness from the 40% Roussanne but really dominated by 60% Chardonnay.

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• 2023 Stolpman Roussanne L'Avion

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  93% Roussanne with a 7% kiss of Chardonnay for some freshness. Pungent aromatics, some stonefruit, mmmm, really nice Roussanne, pineapple and honeysuckle with a nice bitter almond note on the finish.

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• 2024 Stolpman Trousseau Estate

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  Nice, some vegetal notes, 2/3 whole cluster, very light color, juicy, bright and crunchy.

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• 2024 Stolpman Gamay

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  (10/15/2025)

  Bubble gum nose moving to black fruit. Carbonic in concrete. Fairly mineral on the approach, bittersweet, slightly austere, firm.

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• 2024 Stolpman Syrah Estate Ballard Canyon

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  Cote-Rotie, smoky and funky charcuterie!! Black fruit, sweet and savory, really meaty, a bit chewy and peppery.

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• 2023 Stolpman La Cuadrilla Especial

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  58% Syrah, 24% Grenache, 11% Mourvedre, 7% Sangiovese. Mmm, quite fruit forward but with a firm, peppery tannic finish. Clearly Syrah dominated on the nose. Really vibrant, fun and tasty.

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• 2023 Stolpman Syrah The Great Places August James Stolpman

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  Wow, a holy s**t nose, smoky and meaty, blackberry, some blueberry as well. Peppery and powerful. There is a plummy sweetness on the mid-palate, but this is insanely savory and wonderful. Really impressive.

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• 2024 Stolpman Sauvignon Blanc So Fresh Unfiltered

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  Grassy, passion fruit. Not the typical Sauvignon Blanc profile but fresh and interesting.

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• 2024 Stolpman Vin Gris

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  70% Gamay and 30% Trousseau. "Rose con cojones..." A dark-edged rose, watermelon and red fruit, nicely herbal.

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• 2023 Stolpman La Croce

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  A 50/50 Syrah and Sangiovese co-ferment. The aromatics are dominated by Syrah, but there is an intense cherry acidity that lifts this a great deal.

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• 2023 Stolpman Hair of the Bear

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  75% Petite Sirah and 25% Roussanne. Inky, big black fruit, massive, juicy, lots of fairly wooly tannin on the finish.

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• 2023 Stolpman Angeli

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  Own-rooted Syrah planted in 2002. This has been pure Syrah since 2002. Really big, powerful, nice acidity and pepper.

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Pronounced ahm-veeve, it is a little play on ahm=soul and vive=lively -- LIVING SOUL. This was a special visit in the breezy Ibarra-Young vineyard, sitting under a gnarled oak tree, Alice's pup catching and munching a vineyard mouse. All of the wines had a special life and energy, really a treat.

• 2024 Âmevive Grenache Blanc

  USA, California, Central Coast, Ballard Canyon

  (10/15/2025)

  13.7% Nice, juicy, fresh and sunny, really lovely acidity. Two months in stainless for a "perception of focus." In Alice's own words this is "linear," but I would prefer to say it is focused, clean and direct.

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• 2024 Âmevive Sundrop

  USA, California, Central Coast, Los Olivos District

  (10/15/2025)

  13.2% Co-ferment of 38% Marsanne, 27% Roussanne and 36% Viognier. A little bit wild and spicy. Definite stonefruit notes from the Viognier, very lively.

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• 2024 Âmevive Roussanne

  USA, California, Central Coast, Los Olivos District

  (10/15/2025)

  12.0% Honey, very full on the palate, really expands to all corners of the mouth, some typical bitter almond notes.

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• 2024 Âmevive Ravie

  USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County

  (10/15/2025)

  13.5% A GSM blend of 50% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 25% Mourvedre. Earthy/funky, some smoky notes, meaty, lovely red fruit and spice. Alice says this does likely have some smoke taint, so I would drink this right away and not what to see what happens. For the moment it is fun and friendly.

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• 2023 Âmevive Syrah Ibarra-Young

  USA, California, Central Coast, Los Olivos District

  (10/15/2025)

  12.8% Very Syrah, more menthol than meat, very structured, peppery, very nice.

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Joan, Dave, Matt, Tristan, Neal (and I forgot the harvest intern's name) greeted us for a lovely visit. We started in the production facility and tasted several 2025 samples at various stages of fermentation and post-fermentation, watched some punchdowns and then tasted a small range of finished wines.

Finally, we also tasted THREE barrel samples of the in-progress 2024 Samsara Syrah Zotovich Vineyard.
1) 50% whole cluster - a slightly sweeter approach
2) 75% whole cluster - a little more savory and definitely more tannic
3) A combo from both the 50 and 75

My personal preference was #3, but that was clearly the least liked among the group as a whole. So we eliminated that and did a show of hands on which was preferred, the 50% or the 75% with a visible majority going to the 75% whole cluster. It will be exciting to see how this settles down when bottled and then how it ages. It is clearly no-nonsense Syrah for people who enjoy the very savory side of Syrah!

• 2021 Samsara Chardonnay Cuvée d'Inspiration

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  (10/16/2025)

  Beautiful notes of pineapple, mouthwatering acidity, salty and tart, very vibrant with just a faint hint of reduction.

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• 2022 Samsara Chardonnay Bentrock Vineyard Sta. Rita Hills

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  (10/16/2025)

  Quite reductive with some overt sulfur to swirl off at first. This moves to a wine that is flinty with lots of snap, dry and mineral but with impressive depth and concentration that becomes apparent with more time in the glass.

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• 2022 Samsara Pinot Noir Rancho la Viña Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  (10/16/2025)

  "Spicy, friendly." Wow, very complex, a little smoky and meaty, a little stalk on the nose, really juicy acidity.

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• 2022 Samsara Pinot Noir Radian Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  (10/16/2025)

  Wow, pomegranate at first but then quite savory on the finish, really nice fruit concentration, this simply explodes on the palate with fruit heading to all four corners of your mouth.

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• 2022 Samsara Grenache Spear Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  (10/16/2025)

  Ghostly pale, floral, nice stem notes, very white pepper, savory, quite spicy and surprising tannin.

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• 2021 Samsara Syrah Zotovich Vineyard

  USA, California, Central Coast, Sta. Rita Hills

  (10/16/2025)

  Hyper savory, olive and meat just bursting out the glass. Really juicy and vibrant on the palate, you can really feel the stems here.

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What an amazing week with the team! It was so great to meet everyone in person, so appreciated all of the wonderful energy and excitement. Thanks to everyone and special thanks to the planning team for putting this together!