2011 Sur Echalas Vineyard Grenache

The 2011 Grenache Sur Echalas Vineyard is a sensational blend of 100% Grenache that comes all from a vineyard located just to the west of Cayuse’s Armada Vineyard. Planted to 4,840 vines per acre, it’s farmed completely by horse. Showing every bit as well from bottle as from barrel, it offers up layers of pepper, smoked herbs, gunpowder and black fruits to go with a deep, structured style on the palate. Incredibly concentrated, especially in the vintage, it has a gracefully, balanced feel before firming up substantially on the finish. Give this beauty 2-3 years of bottle age and enjoy over the following decade. Unfortunately, there are only 131 cases of it to go around, so if you get the opportunity to grab some bottles, don’t miss it. I was blown away by these new releases from Christophe Baron and Elizabeth Bourcier last year when I tasted them from barrel, and I’m thrilled (and relieved) to see them show so well from bottle this go-round. These are some of the most exciting new releases out there today. In addition, their 2012s look even better. As I suggested last year, this is one mailing list spot you don’t want to pass up. Tel. (509) 526-1515; www.horsepowervineyards.com