The story began near the village of Charly-sur-Marne in France's Champagne region, where a very young Christophe Baron walked the family vineyard with his father and grandfather. He was the youngest member of the century-old Champagne house Baron Albert, and his ancestors had worked the land since 1677.
Like the generations of fathers and sons before him, being a grower and maker was in his blood: a true vigneron. "It's a title you're born with, not something you acquire or learn at school," says Christophe.
Young and restless
After studying viticulture in Champagne and Burgundy, Christophe realised he wasn't ready to join the family business yet and gave in to the urge to travel. In Burgundy he fell in love with Pinot Noir and met some Americans who owned land in Oregon.
An unexpected internship at a winery brought Christophe to the Walla Walla Valley for the first time in 1993. Afterwards, he travelled the world, gaining more experience in Australia, New Zealand, Romania and Oregon. He intended to buy land and start a vineyard from scratch in the Willamette Valley, but those plans came to an abrupt halt one April morning in 1996.
Acres of stones
Christophe returned to Walla Walla for a purely social visit and drove around the countryside with a friend. On the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley, he spotted an open field covered in acres of baseball-sized stones. Plans to move to the Willamette Valley were quickly dropped, and Christophe decided to buy the property and plant a vineyard.
