In 1996, Christophe Baron of the Baron Albert family, a champagne house that has been in business for hundreds of years, fell in love at first sight with this area of Walla Walla, a place with which he had no connection.
Since then, he has been cultivating this land, which is littered with softball-sized rocks, biodynamically, following his own beliefs, despite being looked at strangely by those around him.
It has now appeared on the covers of wine magazines, won numerous awards, and become a cult wine coveted not only in Washington State but around the world.
In the United States, it is rarely seen in stores and is sold through mailing lists.
This is an extremely rare wine series that sells out immediately after being imported into Japan.
<Washington Wine Blog - Owen Bargreen> Satisfying and rich on the palate, this stunning wine is truly one of the best in North America.
<Wine Advocate - Jay Miller> As I've said for several years, my contender for best American Tempranillo is Christophe Baron's Impulsivo.
Ann Chamberlin Vineyards is located on the ancient riverbed of the Walla Walla River on the Oregon side of Walla Walla.
The topsoil consists of a 30-46cm layer of silt loam and basalt boulders.
Beneath this lies a layer of purely compressed cobblestone, tens of metres deep in places.
It has been grown using biodynamic farming methods since 2002.
Planted: 2000 Area: 3.44 hectares Spacing: 3 x 1.2m Density: 2,690 plants per hectare Elevation: 266m The vineyard is located on the ancient riverbed of the Walla Walla River on the Oregon side of the Walla Walla Valley.
The topsoil consists of 30-46cm of a mixture of silty loam and basalt boulders.
Beneath this lies a layer of compressed cobblestone, tens of metres deep in places.
Born into the Baron Albert Champagne House, which dates back hundreds of years, Christophe Baron's family has been working the land in France's Marne Valley since 1677.
He had planned to take over the family business, but those plans were thwarted one April morning in 1996 when he set his sights on the softball-sized boulder-strewn fields of Walla Walla, near the Oregon-Washington state line.
The terroir reminded him of the cobbles of the southern Rhône Valley and Châteauneuf-du-Pape in his native France.
Christophe purchased the property in 1997 and planted the first vines.
"People were saying I was crazy," he recalls.
"But we knew that to get the best grapes, the vines would have to struggle in difficult soil.
He named the operation Cayuse Vineyards after the North American name "cailloux," which means "stone" in French.