White Raven Winery [August 2022]

Welcome back to Montana!! By now, we are about halfway through our summer in Driggs, Idaho, and my involuntary winery sabbatical. [Hahaha!!] Do not feel sorry for me, though… what an amazing summer it has been so far!! The time off from the operating room, the views, the outdoor activities, and the ballooning are all just what the doctor ordered. Plus, there is still wine available and places around to drink wine, just no tasting rooms or vineyards in the area. I have survived thus far, and you know what they say about absence making the heart grow fonder!!

I'm super excited about visiting an actual winery again with one of my favorites, Deb while here in Montana!! There are still not that many to visit, but we are only here for a week, so I am totally satisfied with just one (or maybe two) to get me through the summer. LOL!! I know we first saw White Raven Winery along our route to visit Glacier National Park, as you can see in the photo below, it's pretty hard to miss. However, I do not remember if we stopped right then and there or if I made a mental note and we went back at a later time. Regardless of when we went, the story is that we went!

The White Raven Winery was opened by Dan and Rebecca Murphy in 2020, but their story starts way before this. Dan and Rebecca were both born and raised in Montana and in fact were high school sweethearts. [Awwwww!!] They left home for close to 30 years while Dan was serving in the Marine Corps. Then Dan ended up working at a wine-bottling company in California. This when he decided he wanted to come back home to the Flathead Valley. He wanted to take things to the next level, if you will, by emulating the intelligence and observation skills of the raven. 

You can also see in the above photo why I thought the name of this winery was Raven Winery. I mean, you see the raven and then the big word “winery,” so to me, this was a given. I actually did not know until this writing that it was called White Raven Winery. That also makes sense because the raven is painted white!! LOL The winery is named for the elusive and legendary white raven. The Murphys chose this name to stand out and be as unique as the artisan wines they created, specializing in locally grown Montana grapes. The goal was to offer a total Montana grape to glass experience.

Now you may be thinking… [because I know I sure did] how can you grow a vineyard in Montana and not freeze your grapes off!? [Hahaha] Let me tell you, with all of Dan’s experience with bottling for hundreds of different wineries and all that it entailed, he learned of a grape that could survive through those long Montana winters. In fact, this particular grapevine can handle temperatures as cool as 30 degrees below!! As soon as Dan heard of this very hardy vine, he purchased around 18 acres at the base of the Columbia Mountains and started planting the first vines in 2017.

With an elevation of 3,390 feet, the vineyard gets an average of only 18 inches of rain and 57 inches of snow every year. That is half the amount of rain and almost double the amount of snow as the rest of the country! What vine can withstand these kinds of conditions? The Vitus Riparia vine, indigenous to North America, that’s who. Varietals include Marquette, Sabrevois, and Petite Pearl. This could be why I didn't recognize any of the wines on the tasting list. I have never heard of such a grape!! They take roughly 3 years to mature and produce, so it wasn't until the year 2021 that White Raven officially opened its tasting room doors.

Now, remember how I said last week that I may have a special guest visiting me during our visit with the Flanagans!? Well, my very good friend, Katie Gordy [who you have met many times before] had never been to Glacier National Park, and there is simply no better way to experience the area then with me and Deb!! LOL!! We made sure we stopped at the White Raven Winery one day on the way one the way to the park.

Next week Wine with Wixy will be heading on yet another road trip that I will never forget. We’ll be heading to Keystone, SD and Mt Rushmore!! I would love to tell you all about since it is one of my all-time favorite trips… however, since this is a wine blog you will only hear the wine end. 

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