The Inland Northwest wine guide: 15 wineries from Sherman Avenue to the Snake River

Kootenai County sits between two wine worlds. Washington makes more wine than any state but California. Idaho is younger and smaller, and it is growing. You can taste both within a day’s drive, and some of it right downtown.

This guide covers 15 wineries, from Sherman Avenue to the Snake River. We checked each one on Nov. 8, 2026, against winery and tourism websites and regional reporting.

At home in North Idaho

Coeur d’Alene Cellars

Kimber Travis grew up in Coeur d’Alene. She opened Coeur d’Alene Cellars in 2002, and today it makes its wine on Schreiber Way. The grapes come from Washington’s Columbia Valley. For about 10 years the winery has made the house wines for the Coeur d’Alene Resort. This year it bottled special labels for the Resort’s 40th anniversary, the spa’s 30th and the golf course’s floating green. The winery turns 25 next year.

Rivaura on Sherman Avenue

Rivaura is a family estate on the Clearwater River near Juliaetta, in the Lewis-Clark Valley, a little over two hours south. The Hewett family grows its own grapes there. Its second tasting room is downtown at 505 E. Sherman Ave., open Wednesday through Saturday afternoons and evenings. Many people find Rivaura here first, then drive south to see the vines.

Rosemary Manor, Post Falls

Cara and Keelan Dickson make small batches of wine under the Rosemary Manor name in Post Falls. You will find them at Post Falls markets and at winemaker dinners around town; their website has the latest.

Pend d’Oreille Winery, Sandpoint

Steve and Julie Meyer opened Pend d’Oreille Winery in 1995. Jim Bopp and Kylie Presta, who both worked there for years, bought it in December 2017. It is at 301 Cedar St. in downtown Sandpoint, in the old Belwood building, and it bottles its wine in-house.

Hours change with the season. Call or check each winery’s site before you go.

Across the line: Spokane and Liberty Lake

Arbor Crest Wine Cellars

Harold and Marcia Mielke started Arbor Crest in 1982 and bought Royal Riblet’s cliff-top estate in 1984. Riblet, an inventor who built mining tramways, put up the house in the 1920s. Today it is the Cliff House, the winery’s tasting room, 4705 N. Fruit Hill Rd. Their daughter, Kristina van Löben Sels, makes the wine.

Latah Creek Wine Cellars

Mike and Ellena Conway founded Latah Creek in 1982. Their daughter, Natalie Conway-Barnes, now makes the wine with her father. Their Huckleberry d’Latah, first released in 1996, is about half of what they make. 13030 E. Indiana Ave., Spokane Valley.

Barrister Winery

Two Spokane lawyers, Greg Lipsker and Michael White, started Barrister in 2001 after a home winemaking kit got out of hand. The winery is in an old brick building at 1213 W. Railroad Ave., and the barrel room sits under the railroad tracks. A second tasting room is downtown across from the Davenport Grand.

Liberty Lake Wine Cellars

Mark and Sarah Lathrop were wine club members before they bought the winery from its founders in 2015. Their reds come from Red Mountain, near Benton City, and are unfiltered. In 2023 the Washington State Wine Awards named it one of the state’s wineries of the year. 23110 E. Knox Ave., just off I-90.

Winescape

Phillip and Patricia Butterfield, two retired Washington State University professors, opened Winescape in 2017 on a 14-acre farm in the rural Glenrose area. Spokane-born architect Tom Kundig designed the winery to echo the old red barn beside it. 6011 E. 32nd Ave.

Washington and Idaho both require you to be 21. Several of these places host summer concerts; check their calendars.

A weekend in Walla Walla

Woodward Canyon Winery

Rick Small grew up on a wheat farm near Lowden. In 1981 he and his wife, Darcey Fugman-Small, opened Woodward Canyon, only the second winery in the Walla Walla Valley. The tasting room is a restored 1870s farmhouse at 11920 W. Highway 12 in Lowden, about 13 miles west of town. Their children are now co-owners.

Walla Walla Vintners

Myles Anderson and Gordy Venneri founded Walla Walla Vintners in 1995, the valley’s eighth winery. In 2017 the Haladay family, Scott and Nici, took over. 225 Vineyard Ln.

Sleight of Hand Cellars

Trey Busch started Sleight of Hand in 2007 with Jerry and Sandy Solomon. The name comes from his favorite Pearl Jam song, and music runs through the place.

Spring and fall release weekends fill up fast. Book tastings ahead, and pick a driver or stay the night in town.

Idaho grapes: the Snake River Valley

Cinder Wines, Garden City

Melanie Krause grew up in Boise and learned winemaking at Chateau Ste. Michelle. In 2006 she and her husband, Joe Schnerr, started Cinder, named for the valley’s volcanic soil. The winery is in an old produce warehouse at 107 E. 44th St. in Garden City, minutes from downtown Boise.

Fujishin Family Cellars, Sunny Slope

Martin Fujishin grew up farming row crops across the river in Adrian, Oregon. He started Fujishin Family Cellars in 2009. The tasting room sits in the Sunnyslope wine district near Caldwell. Since 2024 he has also run the wine program at Walla Walla Community College.

Bitner Vineyards, Caldwell

Ron Bitner is a bee scientist. In 1981 a neighbor talked him into planting Chardonnay and Riesling on his 15 acres above the Snake River. Today Ron and Mary Bitner’s vineyard has some of Idaho’s oldest vines. 16645 Plum Rd.

The Sunnyslope wineries sit close together. A day there pairs well with a night in Boise.

Before you go

Hours change with the season, so call ahead. Release weekends in Walla Walla book up. You must be 21, and whatever the distance, have a sober driver.

ESPOvineyard, the wine notebook these stories started from, is made by Accelerated Experiences LLC, Kcounty.Media’s parent company. No winery paid to be included. You must be 21 to buy or drink wine. Pick a driver.