Barili Cellars

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This is a “hit or miss” winery and in fact more times than not you will miss Barili Cellars. The fact is they are rarely open due to the simple fact that Russ Feist and Steve Trabun both have day jobs. It’s a small-lot winery only producing about 500 cases per year and the dreaded “sold-out” sign is a distinct possibility. However, visitors to this downtown winery/tasting room will likely score if they time their visit to one of Spokane Winery Association’s many event weekends (e.g., Holiday Wine Fest, ValenWine and Spring Barrel Tasting). See www.spokanewineries.net for dates and times.

What started out as carboys in the basement grew to full-size 60-gallon barrels. In fact, the name “Barili” is Italiano for barrel and by relying on an Italian name Russ and Steve’s wine-quest vision draws on the Italian culture where wine is a condiment to life’s great pleasures. Oddly enough, however, this is a sangiovese free zone. You won’t find other Italian varietals such as pinot gris or barbera at least not yet. The current line-up of wines is primarily French inspired with chardonnay, viognier, and cabernet sauvignon leading the way. For Rhône varietal fans who love the floral-citrusy notes and crispness of viognier be sure and check out Barili Cellar’s viognier sourced from the Red Mountain appellation.

The tasting room itself offers a great atmosphere to explore their wines with its warm Mediterranean color scheme and nice “barrel-room” architectural touches. You half expect someone’s Italian grandmother to come from the back room with a large plate of caprese salad to accompany the cuvée blend of cabernet you are swirling. Alas, that’s not the case but visitors to this diminutive winery do have the real pleasure of visiting with nice guys Russ and Steve. Salute!