Thompson vineyard is located southeast of Los Alamos on Alisos Canyon Road in Santa Barbara County. Owned by David Thompson this vineyard was originally planted by Jeff Newton in 1991. More importantly, Jeff Newton manages and cares for the vineyard today. The vines are planted 10' by 5' (871 vines per acre). The soil is a sandy clay loam. Elevation is approximately 900 feet. Thompson has a very cool microclimate similar to White Hawk with Syrah ripening in November. Tim is very familiar with these vines thanks to his previous winemaking position at Red Car (first Thompson harvest was 2001). Clos Mimi has contracted 0.86 acre of own-rooted Estrella clone starting with the 2006 vintage. Yields will be kept at or below 2.5 tons per acre on Clos Mimi's rows. No fertilizers are used on these vines.

"One of my favorite Central Coast sites is the Santa Barbara vineyard in the Alisos Canyon known as the Thompson Vineyard and made famous by Ojai's Adam Tolmach."

Robert M. Parker Jr.
The Wine Advocate
Issue 168
26 December 2006