After a successful corporate career, Norm McKibben retired in 1985 and moved to Walla Walla, Washington.

Norm soon realized the great potential Walla Walla had for growing quality wine grapes and decided to start a vineyard. In 1989, Norm McKibben and his wife, Virginia, planted their first vines. In 1991, Norm and his partners created Pepper Bridge Vineyard by planting Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot on land adjoining their high-density plantings of exotic apples.

Over the next several years, Norm worked closely with Leonetti Cellars, Woodward Canyon, L'Ecole N° 41 and Andrew Will wineries to improve farming procedures and trellising on the 191-acre Pepper Bridge Vineyard. In 1994 Norm purchased Seven Hills Vineyard on the southern edge of the Walla Walla Valley Appellation. When he told Gary Figgins at Leonetti and Marty Clubb at L'Ecole N° 41 of his plans to expand Seven Hills Vineyard, they said they would like to join him as partners. The partnership expanded Seven Hills Vineyard to almost 200 acres.

In 1997 after seeing the excellent wines made with grapes from his vineyards, Norm decided to leave his involvement as partner and director at both The Hogue Cellars and Canoe Ridge Vineyards to start his own winery. The first vintage of Pepper Bridge Cabernet Sauvignon was in 1998 and by 2000 Norm and partners had completed construction of the current gravity-flow winery.

Norm is currently managing partner and/or consultant for more than 600 acres of the top vineyard sites in Walla Walla (Pepper Bridge, Seven Hills, and Les Collines), and he has introduced state-of-the-art irrigation systems and soil moisture/temperature monitoring equipment. He was appointed to the Washington Wine Commission in 1997 and served as Chair from 1998 until he retired in 2001. The Washington Association of Wine Grape Growers also honored him as "Grape Grower of the Year" in 1998.