Basalt Cellars
If you live in the Pacific Northwest and haven’t had the pleasure of visiting the twin cities of Lewiston-Clarkston, you need to put them on your “top 10 local places I need to visit” list. Why? How about history? This is where Lewis and Clark camped in 1805 as the guests of the Nez Perce. How about beauty? The Lewis-Clark Valley will make you pull the car over and get out to soak in the view. How about wine? At one time in the late 1800s, there was a bounty of vineyards producing premium wine grapes throughout the area. But with Prohibition, the fledging wine industry came to a stop. Now, however, a re-emergence of the vineyards and wineries is in the offing, beginning with Clarkston’s Basalt Cellars.
Founders Rick Wasem, Don McQuary, and Lynn DeVleming took enology classes at the Clarkston campus of Walla Walla Community College and discovered in one another a kindred passion for crafting wine. It wasn’t long before they bonded the winery, and Basalt Cellars was born in 2004. From just 200 cases produced in their first year, they have enjoyed phenomenal growth using local grapes as well as from the Columbia Valley. By the way, if you are wondering how they came up with the name Basalt Cellars, you simply need to take your nose out of the glass and look around. The surrounding hills are composed of basalt rock, the result of past volcanic activity.
Rick Wasem is Basalt Cellars’ chief winemaker and he is one of a half-dozen other Washington winemakers who have backgrounds as pharmacists. (More than a pharmacy, Rick’s drugstore, Wasem’s Drugs, is a key retail and home medical supplier for the Lewiston-Clarkston area and employs a small army of locals.) Rick has garnered medals at San Francisco, Tri-Cities and a number of other wine tasting competitions. In addition to Bordeaux and Rhone-style wines, Basalt Cellars produces rosé and dessert style wines.
Clarkston might be the Gateway to Hells Canyon for many, but for WineTrail enthusiasts, it serves as the entrance to a heavenly selection of Basalt Cellars wines.
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Order the book!
Basalt Cellars was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Spokane-Pullman WineTrail on page 548!
WineTrail: Spokane-Pullman WineTrail
Owner: Confluence Cellars, LLC; Rick Wasem, Lynn DeVleming and Don McQuary
Winemaker: Rick Wasem
Opened: 2004
Tasting Room: Open to the public
Amenities: Tasting Room, Wine Club, Facebook, RV/Bus Parking, Twitter, RV/Bus Parking and Facebook
Where To Buy: Winery Our tasting room is open Monday thru Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sunday 12:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. or by appointment.
Phone: 509-758-6442
Website: www.basaltcellars.com
Official Winery Rep/Owner: Information Change? Click Here
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Basalt Cellars
Winery/Tasting Room
906 Port Drive, Clarkston, WA 99403-1805 -117.050506 46.424132Hours: Monday through Saturday 12–5:30 and Sunday 12–4 or by appointment
Directions: From US-195 heading south of Pullman cross into Idaho (the road name changes to US-95). Proceed on US-95 about 9 miles toward Lewiston-Clarkston. Go right onto US-12 and proceed 3.2 miles. Turn left (south) onto US-12 [1st St.] and continue into Washington .7 miles. Turn right (north) onto 5th St. and proceed .2 miles. Bear left onto Port Dr. and continue .3 miles. Arrive at Basalt Cellars on your right.
