Heading to Spokane in October for a convention and wondered what the wine scene is there? Any wineries worth visiting? Wine shops? Restaurants with good wine lists?
Also interested in other things to do like fly fishing, hiking, etc. Things I should not miss. Breweries?
Spokane is a few hours north of the main wine scene (WW) but October is a wonderful time to visit the NW so you will have a great time whatever you choose to do. Barrister is the first winery that jumps to mind re: local wineries.
It is also a great place to fly fish. Lakes, river… it really depends on what you like to do. October is prime time for steelhead on the Grande Ronde. Are you familiar with spey casting? Spending a day two-hand casting to steelhead and later sampling NW wineries == a good day.
Not sure how much free time you have on your trip but plenty of options!
It’s been years since I lived in Spokane, but Mountain Dome was the only good winery (they make sparkling). Lots of mediocre wineries back then.
May have changed by now.
If need hotel rec, we stayed at the Northern Quest Casino Hotel near the airport last summer on a pass thru.
It sounds strange and normally I’d never recommend a casino in Spokane, but this was outstanding.
Better than the Davenport Hotel downtown.
I second Barrister. Excellent Cab Franc (a varietal I don’t usually like), an underrated Sauv Blanc, and very good Merlot. Definitely worth a visit.
Arbor Crest is also worth a stop. Beautiful grounds and some decent wines, although a bit touristy from what I remember. Dionysus is stellar.
Robert Karl has gotten some good press for their cabs so you might throw that in the mix as well.
Bumping this post to see if there are any other good recommendations. Going next week. Also would be interested in additional things to do like hiking or “don’t miss”.