Description
In the stony Rocks District context near Milton-Freewater, the 2023 Cayuse Vineyards Cailloux Vineyard Syrah is a Walla Walla Valley AVA red from the Oregon side of the appellation in the United States, composed of 97 percent Syrah and 3 percent Viognier. Christophe Baron, born into the Champagne Baron Albert family and trained in Champagne and Burgundy, founded Cayuse after finding a ten-acre field of basalt stones in 1996 and planting it in 1997. Cailloux is that original vineyard, where Freewater-series silty loam and basalt cobblestones from Walla Walla River deposits define the root zone; exact exposure and altitude are not published in the reviewed sources. Farming is biodynamic, in keeping with the estate’s closed-circle model. The Syrah and Viognier are co-fermented, then aged 18 months in French oak, 15 to 20 percent new. Cailloux functions as a foundational parcel in Cayuse’s work with stone-derived soils, Rhône varieties, and site-specific élevage.