Cayuse Impulsivo Tempranillo 2021

As I have said for several years now, my nominee for best domestic Tempranillo is Baron's Impulsivo," wrote Jay Miller of The Wine Advocate. While Miller's compliment  is nice and all, surely the biggest tip of the cap for the Impulsivo Tempranillo is that this wine is exported to Spain. Cayuse vineyards sell the lion’s share of their wines directly to their cohort of private customers (for which there is a lengthy waiting list), leaving a small portion available for restaurants and selected export markets. That the Impulsivo holds a fan base in the variety's spiritual home is both testament and triumph. We’re very pleased to receive an allocation for Australia.

Climatically, the Walla Walla Valley has quite a lot in common with continental Spain: warm summers and very cold winters. So, in typical Cayuse fashion, Christophe Baron asked himself, why not give it a shot? The Tempranillo vines were planted in 2000 in the En Chamberlin vineyard. It’s a four-hectare site to the north of the winery, covered in the same large stones as the Armada and Horsepower vineyards. Just 12-18 inches of silty loam and basalt cobblestones lie above a layer of compacted cobblestones, which can plunge as deep as 100 metres in some pockets. Yields are small, rarely exceeding 30 hl/ha, and the site is farmed to organic and biodynamic principles.

The handpicked fruit arrives at the winery, is destemmed, and ferments naturally in concrete as whole berries. The wine then matures for 18 months in 50% new oak foudres.