2016 Red Wine Camaspelo

My tasting at the Cayuse winery in The Rocks was one of the highlights of my annual visit to Walla Walla this summer. Happily, the winery had a full range of 2016 red wines to present—in contrast to the 2015 vintage, from which Christophe Baron released only three (later-bottled) Cayuse reds due to a problem with faulty corks that affected all of the wines he bottled in May of 2017. It did not hurt that the wines were served at perfect temperature in an impeccably clean, lab-like tasting room. In spite of the neutral environment, the glorious aromatic perfume, energy and depth of these wines came through loud and clear.

In the absence of Baron, who was in Champagne tending to his vines there, Elizabeth Bourcier, assistant vigneronne for the Cayuse venture and the author of the No Girls and La Rata wines, was my guide. She noted that 2015 was a hotter vintage than 2016 but that the latter year was still very warm in spite of cooler weather in July and August. “The vines were far ahead early on,” said Bourcier. “The weather was very pleasant in early September, then there was heat toward the end of the month. But we finished before the rains started on October 6. The ‘16s are fresher and better-balanced than the ‘15s, with similar pHs." Incidentally, Bourcier noted that, as a general rule, “the sweet spot” for the Cayuse reds is between 6 and 10 years after bottling.