11 products
Cayuse Vineyards
Horse-plowed Vineyards in Walla Walla Valley
The story of Cayuse is the story of its founder, Christophe Baron, a Frenchman from a Champagne family. In the early 1990s, while scouting land in Oregon for a pinot noir vineyard, he drove across the border into the Walla Walla Valley. He stumbled upon a plot of land in the Walla Walla River's stony flood plain, which reminded him of the galets roulés (rounded stones) found in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Cayuse was one of the first vineyards in Washington to be farmed biodynamically, and in a iconic image, Christophe uses Percheron draft horses to plow his vineyards. This minimizes soil compaction compared to tractors, allowing for healthier root systems and better expression of the terroir. Cayuse is almost exclusively dedicated to Rhône varieties. Their wines are powerful, complex, and profoundly mineral-driven, reflecting the stony soil they come from.
