The 2011 Syrah Cailloux Vineyard is the only Syrah to incorporate a splash of cofermented Viognier, which in some vintages, can be as much as 10% of the blend. Including 5% in 2011, it has a fabulous perfume of crunchy black fruit, crushed rocks, smoked earth and layers of violets and crushed flowers. Straight-up awesome on the palate, with full-bodied richness and a seamless texture, it opens up in the glass, has superb concentration and blockbuster length. Give it another 2-3 years and enjoy bottles through 2026, although it will certainly evolve longer as well. Enough can’t be said about the quality coming from this estate, and Christophe Baron, who’s assisted by Elizabeth Bourcier, produces, in this reviewer’s opinion, some of the most distinctive and exciting wines on the planet. As I said last year, there’s no secret here, and Christophe simply has fantastic terroir, works his ass off in the vineyard (everything is farmed biodynamically), and then gets out of the way in the cellar. Looking at the vintages reviewed here, his 2011s (which come from the lowest yields ever at this estate) check in at the top of the vintage and have uncommon richness and depth. Stating that it was the coolest vintage of his career, Christophe loves the European style of the wines and feels they’ll reward 5-7 years of cellaring. As a group, they show superb aromatics, medium to full-bodied richness and fresh, lively characters. In contrast, the 2012s are flamboyant and decadent, with awesome textures, beautiful purity of fruit and brilliant underlying structure. To my palate, 2012 is up there with finest vintage from this team to date. 2012 is possibly the best vintage I’ve ever tasted from Christophe. Across the board, the wines shows incredible aromatics, awesome purity and full-bodied richness and concentration. Tel. (509) 526-0686; www.cayusevineyards.com

The 2011 Syrah Cailloux Vineyard got a big “Awesome Wine!” in my notes. Almost Cornas-like with its meaty, exotic bouquet of black fruit, spice, olive, saddle leather and bloody meat, it has full-bodied richness, a layered, concentrated mid-palate and an overall beautifully fresh, energetic profile. Up there with, and possibly surpassing, the 2010, it will have 12-15 years or more of longevity. Drink now-2025. These singular efforts are made by Champagne transplant, Christophe Baron, from his winemaking studio that lies just outside of the town of Milton-Freewater, in Oregon. I doubt these wines need any introduction, yet it is worth pointing out that it is rare to find such a complex and diverse portfolio today where all of the wines are at such a high level. Certainly, this unique terroir has something to do with it, yet Christophe falls into the realm of the Manfred Krankls and Michel Chapoutiers of the world, who stand apart from the crowd and produce a range of incredible wines that always make me scratch my head and wonder what, exactly, is going on. Having visited with Christophe and tasted these wines over the past 4-5 years now, both from barrel and bottle, I don’t believe there’s any hidden magic going on and it is a dedication to the vineyard, to low yields and to a simplistic, hands-off approach in the cellar that creates these singular wines. Looking at the recently bottled releases, 2010 is an interesting case where the wines are still tight and compact at this stage. For comparison, the 2009s at this time last year has completely filled in and fleshed out and were showing heart-rate-increasing levels of fruit and texture while these 2010s are more reserved, focused and medium to full-bodied at this stage, with supple textures and focused profiles. I don’t think they’ll hit the high of the 2007s, 2008s and 2009s, hence, they’re rated a handful of points below those wines. Nevertheless, they will continue to gain in richness and depth over the coming 3-4 years and will warrant these lofty ratings. Made in a similar vein, the 2011s actually have additional richness and concentration over the 2010s and have beautiful mid-palate density and depth, as well as ripe tannic frames. They should match, or surpass, the 2010s.Tel. (509) 526-0686; www.cayusevineyards.com