Christophe Baron can trace his farming roots back to the 15th century in the Marne Valley in Champagne. Track forward a few centuries to today, and though Christophe’s location has changed, in his famed Horsepower vineyards in the Walla Walla Valley, the farming techniques have not. Baron is a driven and curious grower who draws inspiration from tradition and finds practical applications for the future. So, when he announced he would plant five new vineyards using Champagne’s pre-phylloxera spacing (1m x 1m) and farm them using a team of draught horses, few who knew him were surprised. For context, a typical Cayuse vineyard will be home to 2,800 vines per hectare, whereas the Horsepower vineyards will hold 12,100 vines per hectare. A team of five draught horses—three Belgian and two Percheron—and their teamsters (using the 1800s historical name for a handler) cultivate the site.
The Tribe vineyard is 1.2 hectares and is covered in large stones, reminiscent of the great vineyards of the southern Rhône. 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 vines are staked, which facilitates shading as the sun arcs over the vines throughout the day and allows the grapes to reach optimal ripeness slowly and at relatively moderate potential alcohols (depending on the vintage, the Horsepower wines will usually sit between 13-13.5% abv).
The handpicked fruit arrives at the winery, is crushed and ferments naturally in concrete with 80% whole clusters. The wine then matures for 15 months in mostly large, old French foudres, with a few second and third fill demi-muids in the mix.