Horsepower Syrah 'The Tribe Vineyard' 2020 750ml

At Christophe Baron’s family vineyards in the Champagne region of France, it wasn’t until 1957 that his grandfather’s last horse was finally retired. His name was Bijou, which means “jewel” in French, and his legacy has been reborn at Horsepower.

With Cayuse Vineyards, Baron was not only the first vigneron in the Walla Walla Valley to fully implement biodynamic farming practices, but also the first to use horses for cultivation. Zeppo arrived in 2008, and Red followed a year later. They cultivate tightly spaced, 19th century-style vineyards that only they can navigate, using specialized farming equipment created by a blacksmith in Burgundy, France.

"The 2020 Syrah The Tribe Vineyard lifts from the glass with a savory bouquet, mixing crushed peppercorns with grilled herbs, wet stones and currants. It’s profoundly textural and massive upon entry, with a core of vibrant acidity to balance, along with tart wild berry fruits and zesty acidity that offsets its power and intensity. The 2020 finishes remarkably fresh yet grippy, with inner violet and olive tones, as silty tannins add a pinch of cheek-puckering tension. The 2020 The Tribe mixes vibrancy and power in a way that I find wildly attractive. There is 90-100% whole-cluster fermentation, and it’s refined for fifteen months in neutral oak French demi muids and foudre 97 points" Vinous Media