Lifestyle

Wines of the Spokane area
Handcrafted, award winning

- Sandra Hosking Photo.

From Lake Chelan to the Walla Walla valley, Eastern Washington is home to touted grape-growing areas that are the source of award-winning wines. Spokane and North Idaho host about two dozen wineries, many of which are family owned and use hands-on vintning processes.

Winemaker Greg Lipsker, of Spokane-based Barrister Winery, calls the Spokane region a gateway to Washington wine country.

In the Spokane area, tasting room visitors are more likely to meet the winemakers.

"It's a unique experience meeting the principal winemakers that you don't get anywhere in the state," says Mike Conway, winemaker and co-owner of Spokane Valley's Latah Creek Wine Cellars. "They all have a passion for it. That's the reason they're doing it. If you come to a tasting room and you're being served by the winemaker that passion comes through."

The 30-year-old Latah Creek is best known for its white wines.

Michael Haig, a winemaker and general manager of Whitestone Winery, believes the Spokane-Coeur d'Alene area is the perfect place to tour tasting rooms.

"Where else can you have a weekend getaway where you start off with a round of world class golf, followed by lunch at an amazing bistro, followed by wine tasting at national award winning wineries?" he says.

Whitestone, which operates vineyards near the shores of Lake Roosevelt, opened a tasting room in downtown Spokane's historic Carnegie Square in 2009.

"It has been absolutely great for us. We enjoy participating in the many great events, like First Friday and creating some of our own," Haig says. "It has made it really easy for our customers in Spokane to get our wine without having to drive an hour outside of town. In addition, it feels nice to be part of downtown Spokane. There really seems to be a building buzz around the entire downtown core."

The wine industry in the Spokane region has been growing steadily. Including Whitestone, six wineries from outside the area have opened tasting rooms and new companies have formed in recent years.

When Kristina Mielke-van Löben Sels and her husband, Jim, took over Arbor Crest Winery from her relatives in 1999, there were 113 wineries in Washington. Now there are more than 700, she says. And the number of wineries in the Spokane area has been increasing. "I don't foresee the growth to stop at all," she says.

Conway, who is president of the Spokane Winery Association, calls the growth of the winemaking business in the Spokane region amazing. In the future, he expects wines produced here to continue receiving recognition. "The quality of wines in Spokane will continue to rival others in the state," he says.

Says Barrister's Lipsker, "In five years, the wine scene in Spokane will be completely different. I wouldn't be surprised if there would be 30 wineries and 35 tasting rooms in Spokane." Citing the saturation of wineries in other areas of the state, he says, "The wineries are having to go where the public is. Spokane, for the Washington wine industry, is an untapped marketplace."

What makes the Spokane region's wineries special is the people making the wine.

"Across the board in Spokane, the winemakers are very skilled and the wines can be completely different from one winery to the next, but wine is such a matter of individual taste. You can find a wine in Spokane that is going to meet your taste," Lipsker says.

Mielke-van Löben Sels echoes that. "All of us (winemakers) in Spokane are doing our absolute best to make incredible wines, going to nth degree to do research ... making sure our quality sets us apart from other areas."

Both Lipsker and Mielke-van Löben Sels believe that the Spokane area is a good place to operate such a business, in part, due to community support.

"People in Spokane are supportive of local business and local industry," Lipsker says.

Barrister Winery specializes in limited production red wines. In 2011, it hosted 70 events at its tasting room at 1213 W. Railroad Ave., including wedding receptions, dinners, corporate events, and First Friday art exhibits.

The 10-year-old winery produced 130 cases of wine in 2011. Arbor Crest, meanwhile, produces about 20,000 cases of wine each year and operates tasting rooms at River Park Square in downtown Spokane, and at its historic Cliff House estate that has panoramic views.

Barrister, Arbor Crest, Latah Creek, and Whitestone are members of the Spokane Winery Association, which produces three wine-tasting events a year, including the Holiday Wine Festival in November, "Valenwine," and the Spring Barrel Tasting on Mother's Day weekend.

Other members include Robert Karl Cellars, Latah Creek, Townshend Cellars, and more. In North Idaho, wineries include TimberRock Winery, Coeur d'Alene Cellars, Pend d'Oreille Winery, and others.

Says Latah Creek's Conway, "We love Spokane. It's home to us. I can't see (making wine) elsewhere."

For information on Spokane-Coeur d'Alene wineries, visit www.spokanewineries.net or www.winesnw.com.