Clos Mimi Bunny Slope Vineyard Syrah 2000
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Impressively endowed, the 2000 Syrah Bunny Slope (200 six-packs produced) boasts sweet creme de cassis and blackberry notes intermixed with smoke, camphor, and roasted spice. With good fruit concentration, earthy, tarry fruit flavors, and a big, plush finish.
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Wine Enthusiast
Here's a big, plummy wine with hints of dark chocolate, roasted coffee bean and grilled meat. It's soft in the mouth, but not flabby, with decadently rich flavors of wild berries, cassis and chocolate. Very dry, but high alcohol creates sweet heat on the finish.
Tim is the "vigneron" for Clos Mimi. Thanks to his traditional convictions from a previous lifetime, Tim is "très religieux" in his pursuit of natural winegrowing. In 1988, Tim had the good fortune of interning alongside a young Jean-Louis Chave in California. Three years later while spending an entire day hiking the steep vineyards of Hermitage in Jean-Louis' royal company and tasting the unblended and highly spiritual 1990 Chave Hermitage from "barrique," Tim was smitten by Syrah.
The label for Clos Mimi symbolizes everlasting love and commitment. The mark itself intimates a spiritual connection with Burgundy. The "fleur de lys" heralds the Spear Family Coat of Arms described as "argent, a thistle with three heads, stalked and leaved vert, flowered gules." The thistle is the symbol of a noble but humble heart whose honor will be defended with the sword. The color argent (white or silver) denotes peace and sincerity. The color black was borrowed from Coco Chanel (not medieval England) known for her timeless design. According to Chinese "feng shui" the color black represents career and water. The color black is believed to be powerful, thus absorbing other colors. In fact, Pierre-Auguste Renoir called black "the Queen of colors" once upon a time in Paris.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Paso Robles has made a name for itself as a source of supple, powerful, fruit-driven Central Coast wines. But with eleven smaller sub-AVAs, there is actually quite a bit of diversity to be found in this inland portion of California’s Central Coast.
Just east over the Santa Lucia Mountains from the chilly Pacific Ocean, lie the coolest in the region: Adelaida, Templeton Gap and (Paso Robles) Willow Creek Districts, as well as York Mountain AVA and Santa Margarita Ranch. These all experience more ocean fog, wind and precipitation compared to the rest of the Paso sub-appellations. The San Miguel, (Paso Robles) Estrella, (Paso Robles) Geneso, (Paso Robles) Highlands, El Pomar and Creston Districts, along with San Juan Creek, are the hotter, more western appellations of the greater Paso Robles AVA.
This is mostly red wine country, with Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel standing out as the star performers. Other popular varieties include Merlot, Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Grenache and Rhône blends, both red and white. There is a fairly uniform tendency here towards wines that are unapologetically bold and opulently fruit-driven, albeit with a surprising amount of acidity thanks to the region’s chilly nighttime temperatures.