Cayuse Cailloux Vineyard Syrah 2018

When it comes to Syrah, there are few winemakers in the world who can claim to make wines that can stack up to the best examples from the Northern Rhone, but the Champagne-born vigneron Christophe Baron has broken this mould to become one of the most revered Syrah producers outside its native home.

The youngest of the centuries-old Champagne house Baron Albert in the village of Charly-sur-Marne, Christophe already knew from a young age that it was in his blood to become a winemaker, shadowing his father from a young age to gain first-hand experience of what it took to be a true vigneron. He studied viticulture in Champagne and Burgundy, but realised he wasn’t ready to enter the family business but the urge to travel brought him to the Walla Walla Valley where he discovered a piece of land scatteredwith soft-ball sized cobblestones, reminding him of the famous Galets that are found throughout Chateauneuf du Pape. Without a second thought, he quickly purchased the property and land and planted his first vineyard in 1997, naming his new venture Cayuse Vineyards – a nod to the Native American tribe whose name derived from the French word “Cailloux” meaning stones.