Grapevine: Spokane-area wineries

Twenty years ago, Walter and Judy Haig were entertaining friends on the deck of their Lake Roosevelt summer home when the conversation turned to the history of their 1,000-acre property.   The previous owners had passed along the original homesteader’s scrapbook, which included an old U.S. Department of Agriculture map identifying what crops were planted in the area at the turn of the previous century. To everyone’s surprise, wine grapes were highlighted on the land where they sat.

As a pharmacist, Debbie Hansen’s job was straightforward: Provide the right pill in the right dose to the right patient at the right time. Winemaking is different.

Someone named Robert Karl occasionally stops by Robert Karl Cellars in downtown Spokane. He is not the owner.

SANDPOINT – Stephen Meyer was so eager to break into the wine industry that he took the first job he found: catching gophers. “After I proved myself in the vineyard and they saw I had a good palate, they made me cellar master,” Meyer said.

Mike Conway came to winemaking through the back door. Fresh out of the military, Conway worked as a microbiology technician at Gallo in California. In 1977, he joined Parducci Wine Cellars as an assistant winemaker. “Looking back,” he says, “if I’d stayed there I’d probably have been an assistant winemaker for many, many years.”

The perfect turkey wine?

The bar at the downtown tasting room shared by Grande Ronde, Mountain Dome and others was three people deep on a recent Saturday. Enthusiastic fans were swirling glasses, sniffing and comparing notes with friends as music played in the background and folks munched on snacks. It felt like a party.