Christophe Baron, aka the Bionic Frog, settled in Walla Walla when he fell in love with a river bed. He thought Chateauneuf.
Well, a Chateauneuf with much darker stones. But you get the idea.
Christophe said he was attracted to the vine freedom of America, but I'm not sure what exactly why he decided to go whole hog with biodynamics. It seems to suit him and the wines quite well. The whole operation is like an oiled glove and it smacks of Virgo with Leo rising.
When I was there in 2004, the place was a work in progress. Now? He's got 55 acres and a real winery with Noblot eggs and other more conventional but gorgeous cement fermenters.
Outside in the beginning of March the horse was plowing, the workers were toiling away rather happily.
Each vine is tied with straw.
The elements are obsessive. In biodynamic spirit, Christophe added pigs, 
bunnies, cows, chickens and sheep as well as cherry trees.
He's even preparing this kind of land next, in the 'canyon.'
There is no doubt that this is the work of a maniac, and I say this in only the most complimentary way, in fact he's a little crazy and obsessive the way Thierry Allemand of Cornas is. The wines of course, are quite different.
While Christophe was taking a little R&R on the beach, Trevor who has worked with him for years e showed me the 2007's, a vintage that most people will say is more Alice. More restrained. Not as powerful. Probably on purpose. The wines are big. Yes. But definitely had a lot of interesting things to say. Plenty of nuance. The syrahs, single vineyards, were all slightly different. Most of the soil is the same, elevation different, and the roots are different. I tended to like the francs pieds vineyards the best, Cailloux and En Cerise. If you can believe it, I even liked the Widowmaker '07--cabernet, which seemed to me more carignan-like. And he even has a tempranillo, called Impulsivo. Suspend any idea of Spain, but even it's home country can't figure out the grape these days.
Meanwhile, I tried to figure out what this
had to do with it all.
Well, a Chateauneuf with much darker stones. But you get the idea.
Christophe said he was attracted to the vine freedom of America, but I'm not sure what exactly why he decided to go whole hog with biodynamics. It seems to suit him and the wines quite well. The whole operation is like an oiled glove and it smacks of Virgo with Leo rising.
When I was there in 2004, the place was a work in progress. Now? He's got 55 acres and a real winery with Noblot eggs and other more conventional but gorgeous cement fermenters.
Outside in the beginning of March the horse was plowing, the workers were toiling away rather happily.
Each vine is tied with straw.
The elements are obsessive. In biodynamic spirit, Christophe added pigs, 
bunnies, cows, chickens and sheep as well as cherry trees.
He's even preparing this kind of land next, in the 'canyon.'
There is no doubt that this is the work of a maniac, and I say this in only the most complimentary way, in fact he's a little crazy and obsessive the way Thierry Allemand of Cornas is. The wines of course, are quite different.
While Christophe was taking a little R&R on the beach, Trevor who has worked with him for years e showed me the 2007's, a vintage that most people will say is more Alice. More restrained. Not as powerful. Probably on purpose. The wines are big. Yes. But definitely had a lot of interesting things to say. Plenty of nuance. The syrahs, single vineyards, were all slightly different. Most of the soil is the same, elevation different, and the roots are different. I tended to like the francs pieds vineyards the best, Cailloux and En Cerise. If you can believe it, I even liked the Widowmaker '07--cabernet, which seemed to me more carignan-like. And he even has a tempranillo, called Impulsivo. Suspend any idea of Spain, but even it's home country can't figure out the grape these days.
Meanwhile, I tried to figure out what this
had to do with it all.
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