Grapevine: Spokane-area wineries

It’s time for the Spokane Winery Association’s annual Holiday Wine Festival. And there’s another new kid in the vineyard. Actually, they’ve been around the vineyard awhile, but Mark and Valerie Wilkerson of Emvy Cellars are joining the holiday festival for the first time. They’ll be giving tasters a sneak preview of their 2005 cabernet sauvignon and merlot blend called Devotion.

After more than 23 years, Sticky Fingers Bakeries is still walking off with awards. The Spokane-based company, probably known best for its scone mixes, is featured in the October edition of Cooking Light magazine. Editors gave Sticky Fingers’ Orange Curd a nod in its 2010 Taste Awards in the Best in Condiments category.

These are challenging times for wineries, which are facing increased global competition and rapidly falling prices for their wines. California brands that once commanded $100 and more a bottle are now being dumped for $35 or $40. And at the most affordable level – $6 to $8 wines for everyday enjoyment – the corporate California wines have the advantage of cheap and abundant fruit.

In many wine publications, reviews and restaurant wine lists you may notice the phrase “aromatic white wines” popping up. It’s an interesting concept, and may lead you to explore some newer wine styles that are becoming quite popular.

It’s a fact that more than three-quarters of all Champagne sales occur between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy good bubbly year-round. Well-made, dry sparkling wines are among the most versatile in the world. They pair with summer foods, appetizers, and picnic fare especially well.

My general advice to small, startup wineries is to focus. Make something your calling card. Don’t try to make 30 different wines until you’ve figured out how to do three or four well. Abacela, located in southern Oregon, is a fine example of a winery that started with a specific focus, built on it and now offers a breathtakingly large lineup of estate-grown blends and varietals, including some never before seen in the Northwest.

It’s baaaack. The wine that wine geeks love to hate. The wine that famously was drunk out of a spit bucket in the movie “Sideways.” The wine that new research shows “has the single largest consumer base of any varietal wine in the U.S. and ... is the one most closely associated with high quality at an affordable price.”