2001 Clos Mimi Bunny Slope Vineyard Syrah

The 2001 Bunny Slope Vineyard was hand harvested 24 August at 25.1 degrees Brix, 4.10 pH, and 4.1 grams per liter tartaric acid (2.7 grams per liter sulfuric acid). Just a couple weeks before harvest started I fell in love with a newer two-acre hillside block surrounded by a deep ravine at Rabbit Ridge. Similar to the block harvested in 2000, this larger parcel was also planted 6' by 5' to the Estrella clone on 101-14Mg rootstock. Yields in 2001 were 5.7 pounds per vine or 4.1 tons per acre. The 2001 growing season was the warmest in Paso Robles since the 1997 vintage. Berry shrivel, tannin maturity, sugar accumulation, and an increase in pH of the grapes occurred earlier than all previous vintages of Clos Mimi. At the winery the grapes were completely destemmed into ½-ton macrobin fermentors. The must was sulphured immediately at 10 g/hL (e.g. 100 ppm SO2). The bins were treaded by foot exclusively during both the cold soak and fermentation. In accordance with nineteenth century French winemaking traditions, fermentation was performed by native yeasts without the addition of nutrients, tartaric acid, enzymes, or water. Once the individual fermentor reached 1.0 degrees brix the macrobin was sealed for extended maceration. After 37 days total maceration (e.g. two full moons after hand harvesting the grapes) the fermentors were gravity drained into a stainless steel tank. Likewise, barrels were gravity filled with this vin de goutte exclusively after 48 hours of settling. As in years past the press wine was sold off in bulk to minimize herbaceous and astringent tannins going to barrel. The 2001 Bunny Slope was aged in Seguin Moreau "Yquem" château traditional 225L barrels for 30 months (e.g. 44% new barrels). Three and four year old "Yquem" barrels were purchased from Dolce expressed for the 2001 Bunny Slope. Why switch to the "Yquem" barrel, one that is used extensively at Château d'Yquem in Sauternes? Extended élévage. As Marcel Guigal's La Landonne became more of a reference point for me, it seemed obvious that Clos Mimi needed a barrel capable of aging red wine longer than 24 months. Coopers at Seguin Moreau hand select 30-month air-dried stave wood possessing the tightest grain visible for the "Yquem" barrel. Oak for the "Yquem" barrel originates entirely from the Tronçais forest, which is located 100 km west of the Côte d'Or. Curiously this is the same forêt sub-appellation in France used to age a handful of the greatest red Burgundies. As I learned a little later in my career it is very Burgundian to specify one forest for all the barrels in one's cellar. Hence, the vineyard's typicity is given the chance to express itself more fully via fewer winemaking (e.g. barrel) variables in the upbringing process. This winegrowing concept is very important for the wines of Clos Mimi. After the completion of native malolactic fermentation in barrel this wine was gravity racked barrel-to-barrel once upon the summer solstice of 2002. Displaying slightly less fruit and mouthfeel than the 2000 vintage, this wine was racked one final time to the bottling tank. The 2001 vintage was gravity hand bottled 19 April 2004 under the new moon without acidulation, fining, nor filtration. The wine contains 14.40% alcohol, a pH of 3.93, and 6.7 grams per liter tartaric acid (4.4 grams per liter sulfuric acid).

Maggie learns the art of filling bottles