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Cayuse 'Impusivo' Tempranillo
Is Cayuse the best winery in Washington? Many will enthusiastically answer, “you bet your ass it is!” The problem is Cayuse wines are rarely seen as most are sold directly from the winery to their membership list. Yet occasionally a bottling magically appears in wine shops. That occasion has found us.
Cayuse was started by a French dude named Christophe Baron. Baron comes from a winemaking family and studied viticulture in Champagne and Burgundy. After a 1993 internship in Walla Walla, and a bit more traveling, he decided to start his own winery. In 1996, he came across a stone strewn field in Walla Walla Valley and fell in love with the place. He started with a 10 acre plot and produced world class Syrah. From there he bought more small vineyards. Today he has a whopping 47 acres of vines (very small in the wine world). His Impulsivo Tempranillo comes from only three acres of his ten acre En Chamberlin Vineyard. It has been offered since 2002, the same year the winery became the first winery in Walla Walla to fully implement Biodynamic farming practices. As are all Cayuse’s vineyards, The En Chamberlin is a rockpile of a vineyard. The land offers a mineral bath of flavors as a beautiful juxtaposition to the rich, nuanced fruit. Impulsivo is, without doubt, the greatest Tempranillo grown in America.
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