Tim and Jennifer Armstrong were a young couple in Chicago when Tim brought home a bottle of Walla Walla Merlot that reminded them of the Bordeaux they loved — riper, but with the same structure. They enrolled Tim in a remote UC Davis winemaking course, started fermenting a few bins of grapes in a Seattle-area warehouse in 2011, and spent years commuting between corporate jobs and the cellar. A 2015 feature in Wine Enthusiast's "25 New World Cabernets Under $35" gave the project its first national notice, and by 2017 the family had outgrown the warehouse; they bought a farm north of the city and moved to Walla Walla for good. Armstrong now farms two estate vineyards, including Valley Grove in the wheat country north of town, growing Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah with minimal intervention alongside long-term grower partnerships, restrained and Old-World in style rather than the denser wines the region is often known for. The downtown Walla Walla tasting room occupies a historic storefront at 14 West Main, across from the Marcus Whitman Hotel.