Tasting Notes
In 2008, Christophe Baron began to plant five new vineyards in the deep galets roulés of Walla Walla Valley using Champagne’s pre-phylloxera spacing (1m x 1m), which he farms with a team of five draught horses. For context, where a typical Cayuse vineyard is home to 2,800 vines per hectare, the Horsepower density is 12,100. The Tribe vineyard is 1.2 hectares and is covered in large stones reminiscent of the Crau plateau of Châteauneuf.
Just 12-18 inches of silty loam and basalt cobblestones lie above a layer of compacted cobblestones, which can plunge as deep as 100 metres in some pockets. Yields are understandably small, rarely exceeding 30 hl/ha, though often considerably smaller, and the site is farmed to organic and biodynamic principles. Necessarily, the vines are individually staked, facilitating shading as the sun arcs over the vines throughout the day and allowing the grapes to slowly reach optimal ripeness at relatively moderate potential alcohols. (Depending on the vintage, the Horsepower wines usually sit between 13-13.5%.) The 2020 Tribe was fermented with 80% whole bunches and matured for 15 months in primarily large old French foudres, with a few second- and third-fill demi-muids in the mix. - Importer Note
Less is more! Minimal intervention or Lo-fi wines encapsulate those producers who keep additions and manipulations to a minimum during the winemaking process. This means the wines are wild fermented, unfiltered and unfined, and only add sulfur during the process.
| Product Type | Wine Red Shiraz |
| Volume | 750ml |
| Country | USA |
| Region | Washington State |
| Sub Region | Walla Walla Valley |
| Winemaking Practices | Minimal Intervention |
| Vineyard Practices | Organic/Biodynamic |