Norm McKibben is Walla Walla. Obviously, you also have give credit to Leonetti, L’Ecole No. 41 and Woodward Canyon, whose great wines showed the possibilities of this region, but it was Norm that pushed it over the top. In 1991 he planted Pepper Bridge and in 1994 he purchased Seven Hills Vineyard making him the owner of two of the Northwest’s finest vineyards and the two vineyards that define Walla Walla.

As well as Norm speaks, nothing can speak better than his wines at Pepper Bridge, which are nothing short of spectacular. The Pepper Bridge wines, merlot and cabernet sauvignon, are wines that make you stop and take notice that you are tasting wines on a different level. Sourced from both Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills vineyards, these wines prove the potential for greatness in wines from Walla Walla.These are world-class collectibles that should be cellared for years before pulling their corks. Those that wait will be rewarded with wines of incredible depth and complexity. Those that don’t will get the same thing, but on a lower plane of consciousness.