Cayuse En Cerise Syrah 2018
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Distinctly darker, the way the Cote Brune is darker than the Cote Blonde in Cote-Rotie.
Professional Ratings
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Lots of red and blue fruits, sappy herbs, beef blood, iron, sweet earth, and violet notes all emerge from the 2018 Syrah En Cerise Vineyard, and it's another incredibly pure, seamless wine from Baron that does everything right. Medium to full-bodied and flawlessly balanced, with silky tannins on the palate, it shows the purity and freshness of the vintage as well as a Jamet-like complexity and meatiness. It's going to benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and keep for 20 years in cold cellars. Rating: 97+
-
James Suckling
Blueberries, violets, charcoal, peppercorn, thyme and dried oregano on the nose. Mushroom and earth, too. It’s full-bodied with firm, well-integrated tannins. Salty and juicy. So concentrated in flavor, yet fresh and refined, with great length. Drink or hold.
-
Wine Spectator
Handsomely structured, with an appealing hint of wild game, this red unfolds deliberately with blueberry, river stone and pepper accents. Drink now through 2030.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Displaying a deep ruby core and magenta rim, the 2018 Syrah en Cerise bursts with elements of smoked meats, black pepper, umami, dried tobacco and smoked pipe before elements of black raspberry, dusty cherry and spiced plum compote sway out of the glass. Medium to full-bodied, the palate shows impeccable balance with a fine mineral tension followed by elements of smoked herbs, dusty lavender and hints of summer sausage across the mid-palate with youthful tannins. The wine concludes with a wonderfully expressive finish with elements of roasted herbs, cold firepit and cured meats. The wine should continue to drink well for the next decade. The wine rested for 19 months in approximately 15% new French oak. Rating: 94+
Other Vintages
2021-
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert
-
Suckling
James -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Dunnuck
Jeb
-
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Suckling
James -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Dunnuck
Jeb -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine
-
Parker
Robert -
Spectator
Wine -
Enthusiast
Wine
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
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.
Marked by an unmistakable deep purple hue and savory aromatics, Syrah makes an intense, powerful and often age-worthy red. Native to the Northern Rhône, Syrah achieves its maximum potential in the steep village of Hermitage and plays an important component in the Red Rhône Blends of the south, adding color and structure to Grenache and Mourvèdre. Syrah is the most widely planted grape of Australia and is important in California and Washington. Sommelier Secret—Such a synergy these three create together, the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre trio often takes on the shorthand term, “GSM.”
Responsible for some of Washington’s most highly acclaimed wines, the Walla Walla Valley has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years and is home to both historic wineries and younger, up-and-coming producers.
The Walla Walla Valley, a Native American name meaning “many waters,” is located in southeastern Washington; part of the appellation actually extends into Oregon. Soils here are well-drained, sandy loess over Missoula Flood deposits and fractured basalt.
It is a region perfectly suited to Rhône-inspired Syrahs, distinguished by savory notes of red berry, black olive, smoke and fresh earth. Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot create a range of styles from smooth and supple to robust and well-structured. White varieties are rare but some producers blend Sauvignon Blanc with Sémillon, resulting in a rich and round style, and plantings of Viognier, while minimal, are often quite successful.
Of note within Walla Walla, is one new and very peculiar appellation, called the Rocks District of Milton-Freewater. This is the only AVA in the U.S. whose boundaries are totally defined by the soil type. Soils here look a bit like those in the acclaimed Rhône region of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are large, ancient, basalt cobblestones. These stones work in the same way as they do in Chateauneuf, absorbing and then radiating the sun's heat up to enhance the ripening of grape clusters. The Rocks District is within the part of Walla Walla that spills over into Oregon and naturally excels in the production of Rhône varieties like Syrah, as well as the Bordeaux varieties.