2004 Clos Mimi Shell Creek Vineyard

Limestone, limestone, limestone. When it comes to Shell Creek Vineyard the first thing that comes to mind is limestone. Limestone is the reason I believe so strongly in this great "terroir." As this remote one-acre vineyard continues to produce ageworthy wines I constantly give thanks to the off-white chunks of calcareous shale found in the soil. In my opinion limestone is what Shell Creek Vineyard has in common with all the great "terroirs" in the Paso Robles appellation. My colleagues at L'Aventure, Linne Calodo, Justin, Saxum and Tablas Creek talk about limestone's major influence on Syrah in Paso Robles. Limestone is what makes every vintage of "shell creek vineyard" so unique when tasted next to my single vineyard Syrahs from Santa Barbara County. Shell Creek produces a wine with a very unique color due to its high pH and low yields.
Shell Creek tends to produce a wine with an elevated nose of blueberry, blackberry and cassis liqueur. Yet more important than Shell Creek's color and nose to me is Shell Creek's old world palate.
Shell Creek yields tannins which are silky, sweet, yet deceptively tannic. I feel these super-ripe and gently-extracted tannins are responsible for the wine's longevity in the barrel and in the bottle.

A petite 0.97-acre block at Shell Creek Vineyard yielded Clos Mimi with 2.84 tons of Syrah (2.92 tons per acre) in 2004. An especially hot vintage for Paso Robles, the grapes were hand harvested at 28.5? Brix and 4.22 pH on the 17th of September (e.g. 1997 and 2003 are the only other Shell Creek vintages harvested before the fall equinox).
In fact, the 2004 "shell creek vineyard" pushes the alcohol and tannin maturity envelope to an all-time high. Per tradition the grapes were 100% destemmed and 100% treaded by foot. Similarly, the wine was fermented with 100% indigenous yeasts. No water. No yeast nutrients.
No enzymes. No tartaric acid. No grape concentrates. No "saignées" or bleeding the tank to concentrate the solids. No pumps from the vineyard to the bottle. The wine was macerated for 69 days, or more importantly, three full moons after harvest. No press wine.
Malolactic fermentation was performed in barrel without inoculation.
In celebration of the summer solstice, the barrels were racked barrel-to-barrel on the 22th of June 2005. This wine was aged 33 months in 100% three year old Seguin Moreau Tronçais 225-liter barrels. No fining. No filtration. No residual sugar. 100% bottled by hand via gravity. Alcohol content is 17.5%. 100% Syrah. Total production is 120 cases.