Latah Creek Wine Cellars [May 2021]

Last week I mentioned this beautifully painted [wine themed] building that I saw on my way home from working in the city… I also mentioned that it was “one of a kind” and I’m about to tell you why!! Over the years I have never seen a winery that was open, much less that offered wine tastings in the early morning!! Yes, in the morning. After a little research into Latah Creek Wine Cellars, I found out that they were open Monday thru Friday 9am to 5pm, closed only for New Years Day, Superbowl Sunday, Easter, 4th of July, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. [so staff can be home with their families]

Say what!? Wine tasting at 9am!? I’m sure you can guess what time of the day I went to visit [LOL] and you'd be absolutely correct; I have never tasted wine at 9am so I had to do it and so I could say that I actually did it!! Shawn and Steele went along with [as you can see from the photo below] and it was such a lovely morning activity!! Turns out the tasting room hosts are local, retired couples who “volunteer” to work in the tasting room… you know, just for something to do. Such a great idea!! They were so warm and welcoming, the gentleman kept Shawn busy with stories, so the women could get down to the whine... I mean wine!! Haha

Latah Creek Wine Cellars was opened in 1982 by Mike and Ellena Conway. There are only a handful of wineries in Washington that can say their beginnings go back to the early 1980’s. It starts with the wine mural on the building; it draws you into the parking lot. Then the beautiful walkways to the patio, [seen below] and finally the warmth of the tasting room itself to complete the whole package. Did I mention the large and unique gift shop?? How about the back room [where you can see wine making magic] both open to wander through while you are working on your wine tasting!!    

Ok, let's get to my favorite part... the winery name. When Mike and Ellena decided to open a [still unnamed] winery, they had an article written about it in the local paper. As luck would have it, one of their neighbors read this article and stopped by for a visit the next morning… around 6am!! He told them he had been up all-night thinking about possible names for the winery. He, along with Mike and Ellena went through pages of names and “Latah Creek” spoke to them. They did not know at the time, but the creek that they live near was named Latah Creek!! How is that for divine intervention!?

The naming of the winery is one of my favorite parts of blog research. However, I found a bonus story about how Mike and Ellena picked their first wine bottle label!! After finding the perfect winery name, they went down the list and needed to decide on a label. They met with a Spokane native artist and narrowed it down to a three, but they wanted to pick just one, so the decision making continues. They printed the three labels, glued them onto bottles, and took them to the grocery store. They proceeded to place the three bottles in the wine aisle, on different shelves and locations!! Haha [this actually sounds like something I would do just for a photo opp!!]

Walking down the aisle, [as potential customers] the first label that caught their eye was the one they picked!! There are a lot more interesting stories on how they decided on future labels, so you should go check it out on their website!! In 2005 Natalie, Mike and Ellena’s only child, joined the winery team. Father and daughter worked together to make Latah Creek’s first red dessert wine. It’s called Natalie’s Nectar, and it is delicious!! As you can see below, we visited Latah Creek Wine Cellars multiple times, most recently this past summer with my work daughter Hayley and it is my pleasure to introduce my work granddaughter Juliette!! LOVE!!

To this day, Latah Creek Wine Cellars is family owned and run. They produce between 13,000 and 15,000 cases of wine each year!! This is a combination of red wine, Pinot Gris, Riesling, sweet white wines, and Spokane’s # wine of the year, the Huckleberry d’Latah!! [I have 2 bottles in my wine rack as we speak!! HA!!]

To coin a popular phrase… “and now you know the rest of the story” about Latah Creek Wine Cellars anyway!! Next week Wine with Wixy will be taking a little road trip to Northern Idaho and surprise, surprise… we went right by a winery!! Haha

Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!