Stephen Tanzer's notes on the producer for Vinous: "Christophe Baron’s adventures in Walla Walla Valley quickly bore fruit, and since the turn of the new century his wines — especially his Syrahs — have consistently stood out from the crowd in Washington State. His Bionic Frog bottling is the best of them, as a comprehensive recent vertical tasting made clear. First things first: Christophe Baron is the Bionic Frog. That’s the nickname the Australians gave this indefatigable Frenchman when he worked a harvest there in the mid-1990s and the name he chose for what would become one of Washington’s top cult wines in the decade that followed. Baron showed me a complete vertical tasting back to year one (2000) in Seattle at the end of July, and the wines stunned with their richness, complexity and Old World wildness. This is truly one of America’s handful of great Syrahs — and it’s not Baron’s only wine on my short list." (7/2017)