Cult Cayuse: Forty 100-99pts "Crazy, Perfect, Greatest on Earth" USA's Hermitage
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Originally sent to our list on October 18, 2026. Pricing and availability reflect that date — for current pricing and stock, see artisan.wine.
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A Personal Note
Dear Artisans,
This is one of those offers where I don’t even know how to begin. I’m still in shock that I’ve tasted three of the greatest wines of my lifetime, and that I can offer them to you. It is our first Cayuse offer.
These unicorns are nearly impossible to get in any meaningful quantity. Their director of sales, Jeff Von Bargen, told me the mailing list is maxed out at 15,000 people, with 10,000 more waiting, and no one gets off their lists. The wait was already eight to nine years back in 2019; it is longer now. There’s a reason: Over 40 of 99- and 100-point scores across Baron’s wines. And only a few hundred cases are made of the Hors Catégorie and the High Contrast; fewer than 900 of the Cailloux.
But I got to sit down with Jeff to taste them, and to get access for you. Here is the lineup we tasted.
The lineup we tasted
These are three profound Syrahs from Christophe Baron’s Cayuse family that immediately jumped to the top: the most magically complex, singular, unique, exotic, otherworldly-textured, intoxicatingly fragrant, crazy wines I’ve had. Our sentiment is echoed by the critics. James Suckling, on the Hors Catégorie: “This is a crazy wine, purely mineral.”
It is completely worth owning all three. They were kaleidoscopic upon tasting right now, but they will age magically for 30 years if you are inclined; Jeb Dunnuck’s team gives the Hors Catégorie 20 to 30 years.
And they are LOW ABV, the Cailloux at 13.8% and the Horsepower at 13.6%, yet so powerful and complex. These are built to evolve like crazy.
The Field Of Stones
Christophe Baron found the place almost by accident. Visiting the Walla Walla Valley in 1996, he spotted a freshly plowed field strewn with stones the size of softballs, and he got ridiculously excited. The stony ground reminded him of vineyards he knew in France and Spain, and he knew what it would do: stress the vines into giving riper, more concentrated fruit.
He bought the land and planted his first vineyard, Cailloux, in 1997. Christophe Baron had found a new home.
The Rocks District Of Milton-Freewater
The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater is the most exciting and unique terroir not just in the United States, but in the entire world. It is the only AVA in the United States whose boundaries were determined by a single land form and a single soil series: the cobblestones you see below.
The stones: Milton-Freewater cobbles
Hors Catégorie: America’s Hermitage
The Hors Catégorie is equal to or better than the Hermitage of Jean-Louis Chave and Chapoutier, and the Cornas of Thierry Allemand.
It is a tiny parcel, about two and a half acres, on fractured basalt with slopes as steep as 60%. The grade is too steep for standard tractors, so cultivation is done by hand or with machinery winched between the rows. The name means “beyond categorization.” Wine Spectator called its resemblance to Hermitage “uncanny.”
Hors Catégorie, from above
Slopes as steep as 60%, on fractured basalt
Cailloux: The Prettiest
The Cayuse Cailloux Vineyard Syrah compares to, or outclasses, Jamet, Guigal’s La La’s and the Côte-Rôties of Rostaing, with the Viognier in it. So profoundly pretty. Vinous: “You can literally taste the rocky terrain in this wine.”
Cailloux was Cayuse’s first vineyard, planted in 1997 in the stones of Milton-Freewater. The reviews below are for the 2023, and they describe the 2024 as well.
Horsepower: Plowed By Horses
Horsepower is Christophe Baron’s return to the farming of his family’s Champagne vineyards: its tightly spaced vines are plowed by Belgian and Percheron draft horses, owned and managed by Christophe Baron, instead of tractors. The High Contrast is as good as, or better than, the Cornas of Thierry Allemand and Clape.
Intense power and perfume, and, as Owen Bargreen puts it, “Very meaty and stony.” Mind-bending complexity.
Christophe Baron
A Handful Of Cases
There’s a handful of cases available to us and it may not happen again, so don’t miss out on adding these unicorns to your cellar.
Hors Catégorie
James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits
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Why This Matters
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The Three Wines At A Glance
Every score, every price. A handful of cases of each.
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The Prettiest · Cayuse’s First Vineyard
2024 Cailloux Vineyard. Syrah.
On the 2023, Vinous: “You can literally taste the rocky terrain in this wine.”
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Cayuse Vineyards Cailloux Vineyard Syrah 2024
Walla Walla Valley · Oregon · 750 mL
We are offering the 2024. Critics have reviewed the 2023, and those reviews describe the 2024 as well. All three are below.
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Plowed By Horses · A Handful Of Cases
2023 Horsepower High Contrast. Syrah.
Jeb Dunnuck 100: “tension for days.”
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Horsepower Vineyards High Contrast Vineyard Syrah 2023
Walla Walla Valley · Oregon · 750 mL
Five critics, from 95 to 100, plus International Wine Report. Every review is below, highest score first.
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America’s Hermitage · A Handful Of Cases
2022 Hors Catégorie. Syrah.
Owen Bargreen 100, Vinous 99: “Every bit a world-class wine.”
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Hors Catégorie Vineyard Syrah 2022 · Christophe Baron
Walla Walla Valley · Oregon · 750 mL
Six critics, from 95 to 100. Every review is below, highest score first.
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The Bottom Line
Three unicorns. A handful of cases.
The 2024 Cailloux at $134.99 (Bargreen 98 on the 2023), the 2023 Horsepower High Contrast at $149.99 (Jeb Dunnuck 100) and the 2022 Hors Catégorie at $314.99 (Owen Bargreen 100, Vinous 99).
Drink one now, kaleidoscopic as it is, and lay the others down for 30 years. Our first Cayuse offer may be our last for a while.
Cheers,
— James Tran
Artisan Wine & Spirits
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Also From The Rocks District
Cimento: Cayuse’s Border Neighbor.
Every Cimento wine we have, all from estate vineyards in the same AVA.
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Cimento farms only its estate vineyards in The Rocks District of Milton-Freewater, right on the border with Cayuse. The wines were crafted by Todd Alexander, formerly winemaker at Bryant Family Vineyard and Force Majeure; Stephen Morina took over in 2025. Native yeast, minimal intervention, scores up to 98 on the wines below, and a 100-point wine of theirs that has not even been released yet.
Click any wine for every review.
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• A Handful Of Cases · May Not Happen Again
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Artisan Wine & Spirits · 2495 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View, CA 94043
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The Artisan VIP List
Prices so low… we can’t show!
Join our VIP list to receive private sale offers with prices too low to publish, along with rare allocations.
Join The VIP List →
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