Latah Creek Winery celebrates 25 years

Mike and Ellena Conway of Latah Creek Winery and Gift Shop should be considered Spokane pioneers.

After all, they established the oldest winery in the Spokane area in 1982, and are now celebrating the 25th anniversary of their first crush.

Latah Creek, 13030 E. Indiana Ave., was among the first three dozen wineries in Washington, which now has more than 500 wineries, Mike Conway said.

Their 1982 vintage chenin blanc won best of show at the Tri-Cities Wine Festival the following year. In succeeding years, the Conways produced vintage after vintage of affordable wines widely popular with consumers.

“It was so much fun,” Ellena Conway said of the early years when Washington winemakers were like a small coterie of artists.

Mike Conway said, “We’ve met tons of great people.”

The winery and tasting room are thoughtfully stocked with gifts, making a visit to Latah Creek as much a shopping expedition as a chance to taste the wines.

Huckleberry d’Latah, a blended white with huckleberry juice, is traditionally one of the Spokane area’s favorites and accounts for 60 percent of the winery’s production.

Mike Conway said his favorite wine consistently is the Riesling, a well-regarded, nicely balanced, lower-alcohol white that offers a little tingle on the tongue. It is one of 13 wines being produced, although two wines are currently sold out.

But after 25 years, the winery is ready to offer something new.

The Conways and their daughter, Natalie Conway-Barnes, are adding a couple of higher-priced wines to the successful lineup. “We are calling it the next generation of Latah Creek wines,” Mike Conway said.

The slogan is based in no small part on the birth of granddaughter Ana Lisa Barnes.

Newly available is the 2005 cabernet-syrah blend for $19.99, and a soon-to-be released 2006 reserve red made from the petit verdot grape for $30.

Mike Conway, who learned winemaking at large producers in California and has taught his skills to his daughter, said the shift is an acknowledgement that wine consumers are increasingly turning to boutique-style wines that offer distinctive flavors.

But the amount of boutique wine at Latah Creek is small compared with the winery’s larger production. Conway made 330 cases of petit verdot, compared with the winery’s total production of 17,000 cases.

The consistency the Conways have sought to achieve over the years can be seen in their well-designed and seemingly timeless label, which has graced Latah Creek bottles since 1982.

The label was conceived after Yakima Valley artist Floyd Broadbent contacted the Conways and offered to provide each year an original artwork of birds or fish set against a natural backdrop. Wood duck, heron, salmon and trout have made the labels.

Latah Creek’s cursive italic script was drawn by hand and placed on the label with the Broadbent art by graphic designer Tim Girvin.

“There isn’t a winery out there that’s had the same label for 25 years,” Conway said.

Although Broadbent is now unable to continue the art because of illness, the Conways are going to continue the tradition for now by republishing the wood duck on the 2005 vintages.

While art remains on the labels, the Mission-style building (that has a very Tuscan feel) now sports a new mural of a wine cellar and outdoor wall done by artist John Jennings of North Idaho.

Beneath the wine, the gifts and the art is the business, which the couple likes to call a community business. Mike Conway said he is proud that during the past quarter-century he’s been able to operate the winery and gift shop as their only income. He serves on a committee that is recommending grants through Spokane Valley’s tourism promotion funds.

Also, the Conways recently made the last payment on the mortgage that financed their business career.

“We’re debt-free, so that’s exciting for us,” Ellena Conway said.