Christophe Baron came to Walla Walla from Champagne and found what he was looking for in a field of cobblestones. Armada sits in the ancient riverbed of the Walla Walla River on the Oregon side, silty loam over basalt stones, planted in 2001 at the tightest spacing anyone here was attempting at the time. This 2022 is mostly Grenache, biodynamically farmed, and it carries that riverbed in the glass: red fruit with a stony, savory undertow and tannin that's fine rather than heavy through the mid-palate. Cayuse built its name on Syrah, but the Grenache is where the vineyard talks loudest.
Winemaker Notes
Practicing Biodynamic Red blend, mostly Grenache Walla Walla Valley AVA Armada Vineyard Vineyard located in the ancient riverbed of the Walla Walla River on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley Topsoil is a mix of silty loam and basalt cobblestones Planted in 2001 at the highest density for the region at the time ... Read More
Professional Ratings
100
Jeb Dunnuck
97
James Suckling
97
Wine Enthusiast
97
Vinous
96
Wine Spectator
About the Producer
Among the most compelling examples of Syrah outside France are made in the most unlikely of places—on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley—and by a Frenchman, born not in the Rhône, but in Champagne. The winemaker is Christophe Baron, who discovered an area in the valley littered with cobblestones. Astonished by the Châteauneuf-like stones, he instinctively knew he could make great wine here. He planted the first commercially successful vineyards in these stones, including Coccinelle Vineyard in 1996.
