Grande Ronde Cellars

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Started in 1997, Grande Ronde Cellars was the inspiration of four partners: Dave Westfall, Michael Manz, John Mueller, and J. David Page. It was Michael Manz, however, that became the winemaking heart and soul for Grande Ronde Cellars and moonlighted as the vintner for Mountain Dome. Unfortunately, Michael’s premature death in 2007 resulted in a huge loss for Grande Ronde Cellars. Nevertheless, the remaining team is committed to producing premium wines and permit Michael’s legacy to live on. Now at the helm of winemaking is Michael’s brother, John Mueller and Dave Westfall tasked with obtaining fruit from the Walla Walla Valley appellation.

The winery’s moniker is eastern Oregon’s Grande Ronde River and the wine produced near Mt. Spokane sharing the facility with Mountain Dome Winery. However, you won’t need to venture to Mt. Spokane to sample Grande Ronde’s wines. For that, you simply need to head to downtown Spokane. There you can taste Grande Ronde wines and its other labels including Kibitzer and Bridge Press.

“Kibitzer” is a Yiddish term often associated with a bridge or board games and refers to a non-participant who hangs around a game, offering (often-unwanted) advice or commentary. This tells you that the partners involved in this venture play a lot of bridge and perhaps it also refers to the fact that the wine is a bridge to Walla Walla where they source grapes from such premiere vineyards as Pepper Bridge and Seven Hills.

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  Grande Ronde Cellars was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Spokane-Pullman WineTrail on page 538!