The Story of a First Generation Family Winery
You only live once, so we took the leap. It’s been a challenging, yet incredible ride so far… and we’ve only just begun.
– Jennifer armstrong, Owner/General manager
We started Armstrong Family Winery to create a business that would produce world-class wines and support our family and community. From the early days of our winery, more than a decade ago, our family has worked to craft small-lot wines of the highest quality. We set out to make wines that were elegant, nuanced, and restrained with a classic, Old-World sensibility, as an alternative to the bigger, oakier West Coast style wines that had come to define much of what we were seeing from other U.S. wineries.
That is not to say we didn’t respect West Coast wines. Indeed, it was one of those big West Coast wines that first planted the seed that, 15 years later, would blossom into Armstrong Family Winery.
But our true passion for wine grew after that first seed was planted from our experiences drinking French wines – especially the wines of Bordeaux. We loved the complexity and layers. The juxtaposition of earth and spice, acid and tannin. How they evolved over time and elevated the meals – and times – they were paired with. How they reflected the weather of the vintage, the location of the vineyard and the decisions of the vignerons. How they told stories with every sip – and added to our enjoyment of time shared together.
Here is how the story unfolded…
2001
Tim grew up in Wisconsin and Jen grew up in New Jersey. Neither of us grew up around wine. However, in college, Tim worked in restaurants and gained an appreciation for hospitality. And on a business trip in New York in 1996, he had a glass of wine that opened his eyes to wine’s potential. That experience planted a seed and, when we met in 1999, Tim pulled out a bottle of wine on our third date – a canoe trip – and our mutual wine journey had begun.
In 2001, we went to our first winery together and Jen had her “aha” wine – a Cabernet Franc. We bought our first case of wine that day and every time we planned a nice dinner, Jen would declare “I want my Fronk!” The inspiration for our Cabernet Franc today…
2005
We were married in Chicago and soon began filling the cellar of the historic, 1921 Chicago bungalow (we were rehabbing ourselves) with wines Tim had researched and purchased. 2005 was also a great vintage in Bordeaux, providing him with the perfect excuse to research and collect more.
One night, during a late night dinner and bottle of Bordeaux, we realized there had originally been a fireplace and (likely) stained glass windows in the wall across from where we were eating. Inspired and optimistic, we took to the plaster wall with a crow bar and found the Hidden Windows. The inspiration for another future Armstrong Family Wine…
2007
As our family grew—with the rescue of our beagle, Bogie (a future wine inspiration), and the birth of our first child—so did our curiosity about wine. The more we tasted, the more intrigued we became. Eventually, Tim enrolled in a remote winemaking course through UC Davis. We watched the lectures together and were captivated—not just by what was in the glass, but by everything behind it: the history, culture, farming, science, art, food, and people.
Wine began to reflect many of the things we valued most. That realization sparked something deeper. We started researching what it might take to build a winery of our own. One day, Tim picked up a bottle of Merlot from Walla Walla. It reminded us of Bordeaux, but with a bit more fruit—balanced, vibrant, and undeniably delicious. From that moment on, our eyes turned toward Washington State and the Walla Walla Valley.
2010
As we awaited the birth of our second daughter, Tim accepted a new role at his company’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington. The family moved in August, weeks after Emily was born.
Before our furniture even arrived, Tim started working nights and weekends at Patterson Cellars in the booming Woodinville Warehouse District outside of Seattle. For fun, we bought a few hundred pounds of grapes and made wine that fall in our garage. Tim also started taking winemaking classes at South Seattle Community College and then enrolled in Washington State University’s Viticulture and Enology programs.
2011
In 2011, we took a meaningful step forward. After years of learning, planning, and dreaming, we sourced six tons of premium, hand-farmed grapes from a vineyard in Eastern Washington and got to work. That fall, while Tim was still working his day job, studying winemaking through WSU, and helping out at Patterson Cellars in Woodinville, he crafted our very first vintage.
One of the wine’s we made that year, our 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, turned out to be something special. It earned a gold medal at the 2014 Seattle Wine and Food Experience Competition and was described by Great Northwest Wine as “one of the best of its class,” with “luscious flavors of black cherry and plum” and “delightful acidity”. It was a proud moment and a sign we were on the right path.
2013
With three years under our belts and our 2011 vintage in bottle, we took a big step forward: we rented our own production space in Woodinville’s Warehouse Winery District. It felt a bit like moving out on your own for the first time—after years of sharing space and working alongside others, we finally had a place to call our own. The building was an empty shell, and we got to make it ours from the ground up: choosing the walls, the lighting, installing floor drains, and filling it with brand-new equipment to support the wines we were ready to make.
We received our Certificate of Occupancy the night before our first grapes were scheduled to arrive (just in time). That harvest, we were surrounded by an incredible crew of friends, neighbors, and early fans who leaned in to help us get through it. Their energy and support made it not only possible, but fun. It was a successful harvest, and it set the tone for our continued focus on Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Cabernet Franc—wines we’ve made from the very beginning.
Just days later, we opened our tasting room in the same space with 500 cases of bottled wine from our 2011 vintage. It was a soft launch and we were so busy with harvest that we didn’t even have time to plan a grand opening but the response was immediate and encouraging. The 2011 wines were immediately well received in the tasting room and went on to earning two Double Gold awards in the Seattle Wine Awards, attracting a growing group of wine enthusiasts (many of whom are still with us today).
It wasn’t our forever winery, but it was ours. And for the first time, it all felt real—we weren’t just dreaming about making wine anymore. We were doing it.
2016
From our first 6-ton harvest in 2011 to 50 tons in 2016, the growth was real… and very meaningful. It reflected the increasing interest in our wines, the feedback we were receiving, and the steady momentum we were building. By this point, our Woodinville tasting room, opened in 2013, had become a welcoming space for guests to discover our wines, join our Wine Club, attend events, and connect with our fantastic team.
Harvest season was a full-on family affair. Each year, Jen’s parents, Tom and Pam Robbins—the inspiration behind our Four “Birds” wine—flew in from North Carolina and moved in for six to eight weeks. Tom spent his days (and many nights) in the cellar with Tim and Jen, while Pam took over household and childcare duties—and still found time to help in the cellar. Even our daughters, affectionately dubbed “The Wild Angels” (yes, another wine name), were right there with us: sorting grapes, delivering tools, squeegeeing floors, and soaking up the rhythm of harvest.
That hands-on, all-in approach was starting to resonate beyond our circle. In 2015, our 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon was featured in Wine Enthusiast’s list of “25 New World Cabernets Under $35” which represented our first-ever mention in a national wine publication. It was a milestone that validated our efforts and introduced Armstrong Family Winery to a wider audience for the very first time.
2017
Following harvest 2016, it was clear we’d grown out of our space. We decided it was time to move to eastern Washington, where the grapes in Washington are grown. And it was clear to us that given Walla Walla’s reputation for wine excellence and high quality of life, it was the perfect place to raise our family and build our business. Through a twist of fate, we learned that a small farm on the north side of town that had caught our eye 2 years earlier was for sale. The 22-acre farm featured a vineyard with 2 blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon vines, an historic barn, a lovely home for our family, a guest house, and space to build a future winery.
In May, 2017, we began our next chapter with the purchase of our new property.
2018
In April 2018, we opened a second tasting room – this time in Downtown Walla Walla (we continued to welcome guests to our tasting room in Woodinville) . Located in a beautiful, historic building, the space was the perfect place to welcome guests and introduce Armstrong Family wines to our new community and its many visitors.
2019
The fall of 2019, we celebrated two milestones: our first harvest of our 2-acre estate vineyard, and our first partnership with a wine distributor, Well Crafted Beverage, to get our wines placed in bottle shops and restaurants in Maryland, Virginia and Washinton, D.C.
2020
2020 was a big year for Armstrong – and the world. That January, we entered into a long-term lease to farm a beautiful, 8.5 acre vineyard site called Wheat Ridge Vineyard. Wheat Ridge is located about 5 miles from our farm in the Mill Creek area of the Walla Walla Valley. It’s a gorgeous site with 25-year-old vines – 7 acres of Cabernet Sauvignon and 1.5 acres of Syrah. We look forward to growing our estate wine program from here.
In March, COVID brought massive change with months-long tasting room closures and 15 months of every-changing guidelines. To survive, we greatly increased our online offers and shipping, and created new virtual programs, and our Virtual Book Club that continues today.
2021
Inspired by extended time on the farm, and the flock of chickens we’d added to the farm the previous year, we decided to embrace the farm lifestyle and to begin to employ more regenerative farming techniques to reduce use of chemicals and better care for the land. We started by welcoming 6 lambs, who live in the barn and spend their days eating weeds in the vineyards and grass in the pastures. To keep them safe, we also brought home a maremma puppy named Louis (Armstrong) – a livestock guardian dog to live with them in the barn and deter predators around the property.
2025
At the end of 2022 we opted to move out of downtown Walla Walla and focused our efforts in 2023 and 2024 on private events and private tastings at our vineyard north of town. In May of 2025 we reopened a proper downtown tasting room, this time in a new location. We love downtown Walla Walla and are thrilled to once again have a tasting room that is open to the public. Our downtown Walla Walla tasting room offers an elegant tasting experience that focuses on the wines and stories behind the wines. Our hours are setup for both appointment-only times and walk-in times. Either way, guests will enjoy our diverse portfolio ranging from Estate Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, to unique red blends, along with a refreshingly dry Rosé of Cabernet Franc and Chardonnay. We love the charm and history of downtown Walla Walla and are thrilled to be part of a collective of wineries offering boutique wines and elevated tasting experiences that are within walking distance of the region’s most popular hotels.