Grapevine: Spokane-area wineries - Special coverage at The Spokesman-Review

A&E > Food

Looking for holiday bubbly? Check the Blue Book

Wed., Nov. 25, 2009

Wine Blue Book is an online/e-mail buying guide that regularly compiles reviews and scores on hundreds of wines, lists them by price and ranks them by value. A free trial issue is available at this Web site: www.winebluebook.com. I have no financial interest or connection with this enterprise, but they do include many of my reviews in their database, and it’s a useful tool in anyone’s wine-finding kit. The current issue looks at champagne, just in time for the holidays.

A&E > Food

Several Washington wines make Best Buy list

Wed., Oct. 28, 2009

There is no question that tough times are upon us for grape growers, wineries and retailers. But for consumers, there are more outstanding value wines than I’ve seen in a decade or more. Here in Washington, some wineries are offering discounts of up to 50 percent. Many are dramatically cutting their case production of expensive wines and ramping up production of their budget bottles – often using the same grapes that would previously have gone into the high-priced stuff.

A&E > Food

Wine enthusiasts should take in fermentation experience

Wed., Sept. 30, 2009

Crush is on, in full-ferment mode, and there is no better time to visit your Spokane wineries. Walk in and you are almost certain to see grapes arriving, being sorted and de-stemmed, and gently sent to fermentation bins and tanks. The heady scents of fermentation fill the air, and winery workers are energized by the crisp mornings, the late nights, the frenetic activity, the excitement of the new vintage. Where else in the modern world can a city-dweller experience the scents and flavors of the harvest as it unfolds?

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Summer a good time to expand wine interests

Wed., July 29, 2009

Hot weather demands cold wines. But that doesn’t mean you have to stop exploring new varietals and regions. In fact, summer is arguably the best time to hit the trail in search of crisp, unoaked whites that refresh your palate and your interest in wine. Here are some good options. Sauvignon blanc

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Lake Chelan area looks promising for quality wines

Wed., June 24, 2009

Washington’s 11th and newest American Viticultural Area – the Lake Chelan viticultural area – was officially approved on May 29. Located at the far northwest corner of the sprawling Columbia Valley AVA, Lake Chelan includes just 15 wineries and 265 acres of vineyard. The first modern vineyard plantings were done in 1998, and a number of growers recall that as recently as 2001 they were advised by a U.S. government official that they were “wasting their money” on wine grapes – they would never survive the winters.

A&E > Food

Barili Cellars opens with team approach

Wed., May 6, 2009

There’s a new winery that isn’t on the official Spokane tour map this weekend. Barili Cellars recently began pouring wines and will be open Friday, Saturday and Sunday to introduce its viognier, chardonnay and a red blend called Double Barrel Red. The downtown Spokane winery is a collaboration of the winemaking talents of Steve Trabun and Russ Feist, with help from their wives Dana Trabun and Marlene Feist. They missed the chance to be on the Spokane Winery Association maps for the Spring Barrel Tasting, but plan to join the area’s 14 other wineries in the group later this year.