Christophe Baron came from Champagne, found a stretch of the Walla Walla Valley buried in cobblestones, and planted Syrah in it. Silty loam over basalt cobbles with a compacted stone layer beneath, farmed biodynamically. Eighteen months in 15–20% new French oak at just 13.6% alcohol means the oak is a frame, not a filling: this is all site, structure, and stony savor through the mid-palate. Some of the most compelling Syrah outside France, and it's grown twenty minutes from here.
Winemaker Notes
Practicing Biodynamic 100% Syrah Walla Walla Valley AVA mix of silty loam and basalt cobblestone topsoil with a layer of compacted cobblestones below that 18 months aging in 15-20% new French oak 13.6% alc
Professional Ratings
95
James Suckling
95
Jeb Dunnuck
94
Vinous
92
Wine Advocate""The 2020 Wallah Wallah Syrah Special marks the 14th edition and offers an open-knit and dark-fruited core with savory and spicy notions that sway on the mineral-driven nose. There are dusty cherry skin"
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.
