The Wines
Holus Bolus Santa Maria Valley Roussanne 2023
Amy + Peter Made This Grüner Veltliner Sta. Rita Hills 2024
The Joy Fantastic Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir Estate 2023
Holus Bolus Santa Barbara County Syrah 2023
Holus Bolus Presqu’ile Vineyard Santa Barbara County Syrah 2023
The Judgement
The Oxford English Dictionary defines “holus bolus” as “all at a gulp; all at once,” which implies ill-advised levels of turbocharged consumption: beer keg stands, shotgunning cans of Miller High Life, etc. Or that could just be my thirst-driven interpretation based on hazy memories of college debauchery.
While the ABV levels here hover in the moderate 13 percent range, I beseech the sober angels of your nature to savor slowly. Don’t guzzle. Avoid wearing a lampshade on your head at the neighbor’s next shindig, unless the theme is “Disinvited F@#%head Night.”
Owners Peter Hunken and Amy Christine build their wines on a refined European chassis, favoring calibrated extraction over raw horsepower. Some colossal wines act like dragsters — all smoke, noise, and high-octane ego. HB’s offerings are instead precision grand tourers, engineered for aerodynamic elegance, the kind of detail you’d actually notice at a more prudent speed. (No offense to Shirley “Cha Cha” Muldowney or “Big Daddy” Don Garlits.)
The bona-fide wine backgrounds of this couple (not Cha Cha or Big Daddy) predetermined the brand’s brilliant quality. Peter worked as right-hand man at Stolpman through most of the 2000s and cofounded Piedrasassi; his focus is now exclusively on wines under the Black Sheep Finds umbrella: Holus Bolus, Hocus Pocus, Amy + Peter Made This, and estate line The Joy Fantastic.
Amy’s experience as a sommelier in Los Angeles, and as an import specialist with Europhile Kermit Lynch in Berkeley, brings a broadly seasoned palate without a trace of the wearying stuffiness exhibited by so many restaurant vino-slingers. She’s also an MW, Master of Wine, one of only 418 on the planet, though not affiliated with the Justice League or any other outfit defending the world against evildoers. Evil wines, maybe. She wrote her thesis on syrah, which naturally deepened my admiration.
Here are five of their currently available releases, enjoyed during a recent sampling at their must-visit tasting room in downtown Los Olivos.
Holus Bolus Santa Maria Valley Roussanne 2023: Roussanne can be a plodding, elephantine beast, but at HB, the plush side is in complementary kinship with the zest. Sexy plushness integrates with citrusy notes of Cara Cara oranges and Meyer lemon, as opulence coalesces seamlessly into a crisp finale. This Bien Nacido fruit, initially made famous by Bob Lindquist’s Qupé Hillside bottling, nails the high-wire balancing act like a sure-pawed kitty navigating a backyard clothesline.
Amy + Peter Made This Grüner Veltliner Sta. Rita Hills 2024: Yes, that is the label name. Amy also produces a brand called WineSlut, so any pretense here was long ago kicked to the curb and hauled away by MarBorg. This native Austrian grape comes off racy, but not in the suggestive sense, and the tang expresses aromatics of wet river rock, delicate florality, grapefruit, and mint. This wine spoke to me, as I swear I heard a vocal demand from my glass saying, “Kick off a shuckfest with some Kumamoto oysters, big boy, and bust out some mignonette — it’s time to party!” Yes, this energetic wein will surely speak to you, too, and shellfish should be on your menu per its stipulation.
The Joy Fantastic Sta. Rita Hills Pinot Noir Estate 2023: TJF is organically grown at Amy and Peter’s own vineyard, and there’s a striking Burgundian stylistic kinship. Despite (or more likely because of) a mere 13.9 percent ABV, you’ll note tiers of baking spices, dried lavender, and an array of cranberry, raspberry, and pomegranate strolling across the palate. Not with the stomping thunder of Timberland work boots worn by the idiot neighbor upstairs mind you, but the easy shuffling elegance of LL Bean bedroom slippers. Fleshiness and delicacy combine to attract and seduce.
Holus Bolus Santa Barbara County Syrah 2023: The latest release blends half Bien Nacido fruit from Santa Maria with half Robert Rae Vineyard from southeastern Sta. Rita Hills. Darkness reigns within this syrah, not as in a cult-styled midnight gathering with chanting lunatics wearing goat heads, though it is robed in deep purple-black fruits. Spicy plum and blueberry glide along artfully without a trace of overbearance, and worshipping it is not a sin.
Holus Bolus Presqu’ile Vineyard Santa Barbara County Syrah 2023: HB’s homage to the syrahs of the northern Rhône is unmistakable, and at a minimal 13.2 percent ABV, the tribute is complete. You’ll need a legal pad to enumerate every aspect and nuance, as the endless interplay of plum, ripe berries, meatiness, florality, garrigue, and a massive kitchen spice rack of side notes will seize your attention and prompt applause. Clapping after each sip is entirely appropriate, especially at the tasting room when you visit!
Wine & Fire @ Historical Museum: See Amy in Action
Amy Christine will be the star of the Sta. Rita Hills Wine & Fire Hits the Road event at the Santa Barbara Historical Museum on April 18. More than 20 wineries will be pouring alongside wood-fired cuisine and other treats, while Amy will lead two seminars: one the Sta. Rita Hills as the ideal place for sparkling wine in California, and the other comparing the region’s wines against Burgundy and Oregon. Buy tickets at staritahills.com/events.
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