The name is a tally. Decemil means ten thousand, and ten thousand is exactly how many vines Jerry and Toni Ulrich planted when they came to the Willow Creek District in 2014 and decided to do one small thing extraordinarily well. The estate is just five acres, organically farmed across four blocks, and devoted to the Rhone trio of Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre. With guidance from winemaker Anthony Yount of Denner, this is garagiste winemaking in its purest form: tiny, exacting, and entirely about the dirt under those ten thousand roots.

Two people, ten thousand vines

Jerry and Toni Ulrich did not set out to build something large. They set out to build something exact. When they arrived in the Willow Creek District in 2014, they spent their early years in careful analysis, studying the site and consulting winemaker Anthony Yount of Denner before they planted a single row. The plan that emerged was deliberately tiny: five acres, about 10,000 organically farmed vines across four distinct blocks, all dedicated to the Rhone varieties that this corner of Paso does best.

The name captures the philosophy. Decemil refers to ten thousand, the vine count itself, which tells you everything about the scale of ambition here. This is not a winery chasing volume; it is a micro-estate where every vine is accounted for. With Yount’s consulting hand and the Ulrichs’ patience, Decemil reads as a project where precision and place matter more than production, the very definition of the garagiste spirit Paso has come to celebrate.

Decemil is the Latin-rooted word for ten thousand, and the winery is named for the precise number of organically farmed vines the Ulrichs put in the ground.

A micro-estate on the limestone

Five acres in the Willow Creek District is a small footprint on serious ground. This is the limestone heart of the Paso west side, where vines grow on cool, high slopes built from calcareous, Monterey-Formation loams and clay over high bedrock. Those soils stress the vines and concentrate the fruit, and on a parcel this small, farmed organically and block by block, that concentration is the entire point. Nothing here is averaged out across hundreds of acres; the wine is the sum of a few exacting rows.

The climate completes the picture. Willow Creek sits in the cool Region II band, and the Templeton Gap funnels marine air inland each afternoon, producing the dramatic day-to-night temperature swing that defines the west side. For Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre, that swing is ideal: warm days build ripeness and spice, cold nights preserve the acidity and aromatic lift that keep Rhone reds vivid rather than heavy. On a micro-estate, where every choice is visible in the glass, that natural balance does a great deal of the work.

GSM at small-batch precision

Decemil is built around Grenache, Syrah, and Mourvedre, both as single varieties and as the GSM blends that have made the Rhone famous. Grenache brings bright red fruit, a high-toned perfume, and a silky texture; Syrah brings the dark core, the black pepper, and the savory, smoked-meat depth; Mourvedre brings earth, structure, and a gamey, brooding edge that anchors the blend. Together they make wines that are at once lifted and grounded.

Because production is tiny and the farming is organic, these read as detailed, transparent wines rather than blockbusters, the kind where you can taste the individual blocks behind the blend. There is a rose in the range as well, a natural extension of working with Grenache. Across the lineup the through-line is finesse: aromatic, balanced Rhone wines that prize lift and precision over sheer mass, exactly what you would hope for from five organically farmed acres of cool Willow Creek limestone.

What to pour Decemil with

GSM is one of the most food-friendly red styles there is, because it balances fruit, structure, and acidity. The tannin in the Syrah and Mourvedre binds to protein and fat, so a glass set against lamb, a fatty red-oak-grilled tri-tip, or duck will taste smoother as the tannin grips the fat instead of your palate. The wine’s acidity, meanwhile, cuts cleanly through richness, which is why a GSM handles everything from braised dishes to a cheese board without tiring.

The Grenache side opens up brighter options: roast chicken, pork, mushroom dishes, and herb-forward Mediterranean cooking all flatter its red fruit and perfume. Keep an eye on heat, since spicy food amplifies the perception of alcohol and can throw a Rhone red off balance; lean toward herbs and earth rather than chile. The estate rose, for its part, is a hot-afternoon natural with charcuterie and grilled vegetables. To match a specific dish to the right Decemil pour, our wine pairing generator is a quick way to plan the table.

Visiting Decemil Estate Wines

While the vines sit on five acres of Willow Creek limestone, Decemil pours in town, having opened a small, intimate tasting lounge in the historic 1888 Grangers Union building at 13th and Pine in downtown Paso Robles. That makes it an easy and characterful stop on a walkable downtown wine day, paired with the square and its restaurants. Because it is a small lounge and hours can shift, it is wise to confirm current times and reserve where you can before you go. Set aside time to taste through the GSM range, since the differences between the single varieties and the blends are the whole story here, and consider pairing the visit with a wider exploration of the appellation using our Paso Robles guide.

Decemil Estate Wines: common questions