Horsepower Sur Echalas Vineyard Syrah 2018
Located in the Stones of the Walla Walla Valley, Horsepower Vineyards is about tradition and history—and making history. It’s a connection between a vigneron and his roots. An homage to craft and family. An embrace of the earth that seems at once old-fashioned and new.
And at its simplest, it’s a man slowly working the vineyard with his horse, just like generations before him.
Tradition isn’t an abstract concept to Christophe Baron, founder of both Cayuse Vineyards and Horsepower Vineyards—he was born into it.
The oldest son of the centuries-old Champagne house, Baron Albert, his family has worked their land in the Marne Valley of France since 1677. As recently as 1957 horses still did all of the vineyard cultivation.
Horsepower represents a return to that time, to a simplicity of craftsmanship and purpose that has been largely lost in the modern translation. It’s a window to the Old World—right here in the new.
| Vintage | 2018 |
| Varietal Composition | Syrah |
| Appellation | Walla Walla Valley |
| Vineyard | Sur Echalas Vineyard |
| Alcohol | 13.80% |
| Volume | 750 ml |
| Country of Origin | UNITED STATES |
| State of Origin | Washington |
| Artificially Carbonated | No |
| Sparkling Wine | No |
Owen Bargreen 98 Points:
The 2018 ‘Sur Echalas Vineyard’ Syrah is one of the wines of the vintage from this famed estate. Due to the shade of the vineyard, this is a later ripening vineyard for their program which allows them to utilize roughly 70-80% stem inclusion in this wine. They also choose not to use any new oak on the wine, only used demi-muid aging. Weighing in at 13.8% alcohol, this provides immediate appeal with its downright intoxicating bouquet, delivering loads of white pepper woven together with steak tartare, cigar ash tones as well as Hoisin sauce, Umami and menthol that all meld in the glass. The aromatic range here is extraordinary. The textural elements of the wine are just gorgeous. The 2018 edition displays more mid-palate weight than the ’17 bottling but also embodies plenty of finesse. Rich ripe dark cherry and dark raspberry tones mingle with wet stone, seaweed, green olive tapenade, and salted meats on the palate. This finishes exceedingly long. Gratifying to enjoy in its youth, this sensational wine will cellar well over the next eight to ten years. Drink 2020-2030
