Syrah 'Sur Echalas Vyd', Horsepower 2022

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.\nWith 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.\nThe Sur Echalas Vineyard is 2 acres of Syrah and Grenache. With 3-foot by 3-foot spacing and 4,840 vines per acre, this is the highest density planting in the Walla Walla Valley, and one of the highest in North America.