From 2024, right to left: resident vigneronne Karin Gasparotti, vigneron Christophe Baron, and former resident vigneronne Elizabeth Bourcier.

Plus reviews of the 2022 vintage Bionic Wines

Last summer I had the pleasure of tasting a series of library wines from Horsepower Vineyards, part of vigneron Christophe Baron’s Bionic Wines. With the first releases from the 2011 vintage, Horsepower Vineyards has a deeply personal connection for Baron.

Baron has a family history of winegrowing in France’s Marne Valley that dates back to 1677. Until as recently as 1957, draft horses ploughed the family’s vineyards. In tribute to that, Baron created a series of vineyards in Walla Walla Valley that are farmed by draft horses, as opposed to tractors.

Horsepower Vineyards is not, however, simply a family tribute. As with all of the Bionic Wines sites, each of the Horsepower vineyards is farmed biodynamically according to the astrological calendar. Farm animals, such as these horses, are an important part of the holistic biodynamic system.

Additionally, all of the Horsepower vineyards are planted at high density. For example, Sur Echalas Vineyard has three foot by three foot spacing. Conventional vineyards would be double that or more. Moreover, Sur Echalas Vineyard is planted at 4,840 vines per acre, making it among the highest density sites in North America.

Given the tightness of the rows, the draft horses are truly the only ‘machine’ that could plow these vineyards. Baron refers to the horses as “gentle giants.”

The result with Horsepower Vineyards has been a considerable evolution from Cayuse Vineyards, which Baron established in 1997. To my palate, the higher density plantings at Horsepower have shown both exceptionally high quality as well as greater consistency from vintage to vintage. The wines have both a slightly higher ceiling and a higher floor.

“People compare Cayuse and Horsepower,” Baron said on my visit. “I don’t think it’s fair.”

For our library tasting, we tried three sets of wines from the 2011 through 2015 vintages. The first was the Sur Echalas Vineyard Grenache, the second the Sur Echalas Vineyard Syrah, and the third The Tribe Vineyard Syrah.

The big takeaway for me was how youthful most of the wines were. Personally, I’ve tended to enjoy the Horsepower wines between six and ten years after vintage. This tasting will lead me to push that out by several years, at the very least for the Syrahs. The wines also clearly have the stuffing to go considerably further if one has the patience.

Overall, the Horsepower Vineyards offerings are consistently among the highest quality wines in the world. They offer power, intensity, exceptional balance, length, and a sense of place. More impressively, they do it in a lower alcohol frame.

To me, this is the holy grail of winemaking. It is relatively easy to achieve additional intensity by dialing up ripeness and extraction. It is much, much harder to achieve that while keeping alcohols in check and maintaining balance. These wines do both. The Horsepower wines are ones to seek out, either through the mailing list, the secondary market, or both.

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In other news, on my visit, work was underway on a new 20,000-square foot facility that has since been completed. Historically, Bionic Wines has had some inventory and library wines off-site. Now, everything will be at the domain.

Baron was excited for the additional space. “It’s going to take Bionic Wines to the next level,” he said. “For us, it’s the future.”

The current Bionic Wines red releases are from the 2022 vintage. Bionic Wines consistently provides a benchmark for vintages in the Pacific Northwest and for west coast wine more generally. The 2022 vintage is no exception

Due to cool temperatures, 2022 was a challenging year. It was a year where the battle was won – or in cases lost – in the vineyard.

As I have written previously, among the reasons that the Bionic Wines are of such consistently exceptional quality is that Baron owns and manages all of his fruit sources. The vineyards are also, pardon the expression, a stone’s throw from the winemaking studio, meaning Baron and his team can be in the vineyard every day during the growing season.

All this was certainly to the domain’s benefit in 2022. Reviews for the 2022 vintage reds are listed below as well as the 2023 vintage Viognier and Rosé. They are, as always, among the top wines coming from these vintages.

HORSEPOWER VINEYARDS LIBRARY WINE NOTES

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