Cayuse Camaspelo 2018
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Winemaker Notes
This fruit hails from Cayuse’s “En Cerise” vineyard. Literally translated, “En Cerise” means “cherry”—appropriate since this 10-acre vineyard planted in 1998 was a cherry orchard in its former life.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Lots of ripe cherries, mulberries, brambly herbs, tobacco, and earth emerge from the 2018 Camaspelo, although it's one of the more reticent, backward wines in the lineup and takes plenty of air to show at its best. Offering full-bodied richness, a round, mouth-filling texture, and building yet ripe tannins, it needs 3-5 years of bottle age to round into form and should have two decades or overall longevity. Rating: 95+
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James Suckling
Aromas of plums, currants, dried herbs, tangerine, gravel and spices. It’s full-bodied with silky, firm tannins and bright acidity. Intense and savory with rich yet balanced layers. Hints of chocolate at the end. A Bordeaux blend. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Elegant yet dynamic, with expressive wild berry, licorice and toasty spice flavors that glide on the long and savory finish. Drink now through 2030.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Boasting a warm and generous nose that offers firm and expressive aromas of crème de cassis, black plum skin, dark cherry compote and spiced blackberry jus, the 2018 Camaspelo displays elements of resinous purple flowers and brown baking spices in the glass. Full-bodied and with silky tannins, the wine glides across the mid-palate with elegance and ease, leaving juicy flavors of macerating dark berries, cardamom madeleines and plum reduction. The wine has all of its elegance on display and concludes with an elongated finish that begs me back for another sip. The wine rested for 19 months in about 35% new French oak. It has me daydreaming of pan-seared Tomahawk chops.
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Wine Enthusiast
Mostly Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, this wine has aromas that enchant, with notes of cigar box, savory herbs, cherry, wet stone and fresh flowers. It coats the palate from end to end, showing intensity and richness but still plenty of vibrancy. It's outrageously delicious now but will only pick up steam with some time in the cellar. Best after 2025.
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An adventure in the new world
Christophe Baron grew up among the vineyards and cellars of his family's centuries-old Champagne house, Baron Albert. His sense of adventure, however, led him to become the first Frenchman to establish a winery in Washington State.
While visiting the Walla Walla Valley in 1996, Christophe spotted a plot of land that had been plowed up to reveal acres of softball-sized stones. This stony soil, this terroir, was just like that of some of the most prestigious French appellations. The difficult ground would stress the grapevines, making them produce more mature, concentrated fruit.
He named his vineyard after the Cayuse, a Native American tribe whose name was taken from the French cailloux--which means, rocks. Hours of back-breaking work later, Cayuse Vineyards has become five vineyards encompassing 41 acres.
The majority is planted with Syrah, and the rest dedicated to Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Mourvèdre, Roussanne, Tempranillo and Viognier. All of the vineyards are planted in rocky earth within the Walla Walla Valley appellation. Cayuse was the first winery in Washington State to use biodynamic farming methods.