Mimi and I are very happy to announce the completion of Clos Mimi's new winery located in Santa Maria. Six months in the making, I have personally designed and improved a brand new 2700 square foot commercial warehouse 2.5 miles west of Highway 101. Interior design for the winery was greatly influenced by Chinese Whispers, Rosalyn Dexter's fine book on Feng Shui for the workplace. The south-facing winery is completely painted, dry walled, insulated and refrigerated. Paul Mueller Company (Springfield MO) and Viking Mechanical (Santa Maria CA) engineered a refrigeration system for the custom fermentation tanks and air conditioning fan coils. Plumbed inline with the Mueller refrigeration unit is a Mueller Fre-Heater, which supplies the winery with 140°F water for sanitation. Another unique feature is a custom barrel rinsing station, which operates with either cold or hot water. Designed to produce 4000 cases of "petite rousse" and 250 cases of Clos Mimi per vintage, the winery has space to barrel age "petite rousse" for 9 to 10 months and its single vineyard Syrahs for 24 to 42 months. Clos Mimi will continue to be fermented in Mueller open top tanks, porta-tanks and small bins. Clos Mimi will continue to be hand bottled with its own stainless steel GAI equipment. Most importantly, Clos Mimi single vineyard Syrahs are a product of 100% gravity flow. Starting with the 2005 vintage, I have purchased new cellar equipment, which allows me to produce "petite rousse" alongside Clos Mimi. What's even more significant than having my own "cuvier" and "chai" is having newfound peace of mind.

feng shui in the cellar

biodynamics in the cellar

biodynamics as a cornerstone to quality by Nicolas Joly