Decemil Estate Wines – An idyllic hillside of ten thousand vines.

When Jerry and Toni Ulrich set out to plant ten thousand vines on their 5.1-acre parcel in the Willow Creek District, they knew they had a perfect name for their wine brand — Ten Thousand Vines Estate.

Oops, that name was already trademarked and unavailable.

So the couple, intent on planting Rhône varieties, got creative. They opted for the X symbol with a line above it. Jerry then reached back to his high school Latin for further inspiration.

Although the exact number is 10,066 vines, Jerry rounded it off to an even 10,000. “Dece is 10, Mil is 1000, so we combined it into Decemil,” Jerry stated. The name also pays homage to the Rhône Valley’s Roman roots, where Caesar’s clan first made wine in France.

I had a lively chat with Jerry at his Decemil tasting lounge in downtown Paso Robles. A modern take on a 1920s speakeasy, the design concept is by Toni, an interior designer by profession.

Jerry grew up in Toledo, Ohio. Toni was born in Germany, raised in Michigan and later moved to California, where she met Jerry at a disco in Newport Beach. They have been married for 46 years and have a son who is not in the wine industry.

From their Southern California base, the family relocated to the Bay Area where they spent more than 20 years before Jerry retired from the finance and technology profession. Being close to Napa and Sonoma drew the couple into the wine world, expanding their appreciation.

“As I say, our diet, when we were up in the Bay Area, was pretty much Cabernets and Pinot and maybe some Chardonnay,” Jerry mused. “But we really didn’t develop a significant interest in specific wineries until we started coming to Paso Robles.”

The two were exploring the possibilities of a retirement move. They had considered a few options but Paso was simply a drive-through region on trips between northern and southern California. Then somebody mentioned, “You should look at Paso.”

They did.

“We started coming here, and got educated about Rhône wines,” Jerry told me. “We really fell in love with the west side of Paso Robles.”

Coming from a Napa and Sonoma experience and enjoying their stellar Cabernets and Pinots, I asked Jerry what made them decide on the Paso region.

“One of the things that people say about Paso Robles is that it’s more approachable,” Jerry answered. It wasn’t just from a pricing standpoint. The community and the access to winemakers was another draw, plus Paso’s enticing Rhône-style blends.

Jerry, who is drawn to Burgundies, remarked: “I love Pinot but now I really love Grenache, and I’m trying to make Grenache in a kind of Pinot style — lighter, acidic but with an interesting fruit profile.”

Narrowing his focus on Rhône-style wines, he soon met winemakers in the Willow Creek District area where he found an endearing camaraderie. “Anthony Yount was one of our early influencers.”

The real estate search, begun in 2010, ended in 2014 with the purchase of a ten-acre property, an organic and dry-farmed walnut orchard with some 90 trees. To prepare the ground for vineyards, all the trees were removed save for a dozen or so for the family. “We still have a nice harvest every year,” noted Jerry.

By 2019, vineyard planting began with the expertise of Bill Kesselring, with whom Jerry formed an immediate connection.

“We had a kind of a meeting of minds, you know, as we are both a little bit anal,” he mused. “But in a good way.”

Jerry did in-depth research on clonal varieties while brainstorming with Yount and Kesselring. “We talked a lot about what the approach would be.” Most importantly was following organic and regenerative farming incorporating polyculture through native wildflower cultivation; cover crops of barley and legume; sheep for grazing and fertilizing and a no-till practice.

Upon retirement in early 2020 and intent on being more than a weekend hobbyist, he enrolled in a wine school program at UC Davis. “I wasn’t playing around in the garage, you know, with yeast and stuff. I wanted to do it right,” Jerry reflected. He studied hard and brushed up his chemistry.

This was during Covid lockdown. After 18 months, Jerry received his Winemaking Certificate Program from the Division of Continuing Education at University of California Davis.

By 2021, the vineyard was producing as the plants came from a nursery, so they already had a year and were on their third leaf by ’21, Jerry explained.

He was able to sell fruit from the 2021 vintage to a couple of wineries, including kukkula where he established a relationship with owner Kevin Jussila. Jerry interned with him for six months and by 2022, produced his initial vintage there. What began with 300 cases has grown to a 700-case annual production.

As for production at kukkula, Jerry said: “We’re sharing the crush pad, the de-stemmers, the press, the fermentation tanks. And after that, I’ve got my own barrels.”

On an overcast afternoon a few days later, I visited Jerry and Toni at their Willow Creek vineyard, an idyllic estate with sloping vineyards draped like a garland offering a variety of row orientations around their hilltop home. We hopped into his Kubota for a drive around the vineyards.

“It’s got some good slope and nice rocky soil, and we’re adjacent to Opolo,” he said, pointing to his vineyard, which scales from 1,300 feet down to 1,100 feet. The entire ten-acre property is embraced by neighboring Opolo Vineyard’s expansive estate vineyards.

We return to the garage, artistically designed and lined with an impressive collection of cars, including a vintage Willy Jeep. Designed by Toni, the vast multi-purpose space is more than a vehicle garage. There’s a pool table, a mini work-out area and an intimate tasting room where the couple conducted a tasting of their lineup.

What is his winemaking philosophy? I asked.

“I want an Old-World style, but with a Paso influence of course. With the weather we have, you can’t force the wine into a particular Old-World style.”

I asked him to define the ‘particular Old World style.’

“While it’s generally accepted that the west side of Paso has many similarities to the Southern Rhône, there will still be certain weather and other variables that make it impractical to exactly duplicate the  [Old World] style,” answered Jerry.  “For example, we pick for balance of flavor and chemistry which ultimately will reflect the terroir of our Willow Creek site,” he added.

What the tasting revealed was a collection of wines, understated yet flexing a defined structure. Amid a sea of bold Paso reds, there is a thread of sophistication and a luxurious palate that runs through Decemil’s portfolio of Rosé, varietal Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and a GSM blend, all expressing a certain elan.

 We began with a 2023 Mourvèdre-driven pale-hued Rosé, effusive of watermelon, expressing a scintillating acidity. This was followed by a side-by-side inaugural tasting of 2022 and 2023 vintages: the ’22 Grenache was redolent of strawberries and dried flowers, whereas the ’23 was a rush of red fruits, highlighted with shades of Paso garrigue. Both wines were framed by fresh acidity.

The 2022 and 2023 deep-hued Syrahs were both gamey and gutsy— the ‘22 smoky with delicious boysenberries on the palate and the ’23 unfolded with lush cherries and hints of savory spices. Both vintages showed firm tannins and a lingering finish. The 2022 varietal Mourvèdre was floral on the nose and earthy on the palate, its color boosted with a ten percent splash of Syrah.

The 2022 and 2023 Syzygy expressed a heady synergy of the GSM blend — the ’22 a delicious compote of red fruits punctuated with herbs and the ’23, aromatic with lavender and cranberries on the palate. Another GSM blend, the Mourvèdre-driven 2023 Trivia, effusive with violets, cherries and spice, flexing bold tannins.

Across the board, the lineup of wines shared a strong structure and focused tannins with softness on the palate, all wrapped in a robe of elegance. For someone new to winemaking, Jerry is off to a promising start capturing the essence of Willow Creek District, its confluence of soil types and microclimates along with the camaraderie of fellow Paso winemakers.

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About Mira Honeycutt

Mira Honeycutt, author and journalist has covered California’s wine region for over two decades, specifically Paso Robles. She is the co-author of “Sideways Uncorked: The Perfect Pairing of Film & Wine” and the author of “California’s Central Coast: The Ultimate Winery Guide – From Santa Barbara to Paso Robles.”

She is the curator and writer of “Signature Wines & Wineries of Coastal California,” curator of “The Winemakers of Paso Robles.” She is the host of Wine Country, a segment on the weekly Issues & Ideas show on KCBX FM. Mira also contributes to SLOW Wine Guide USA, Napa Valley Register and Sommelier India Wine Magazine.