Knipprath Cellars

Knipprath Cellars, housed in a 1913 schoolhouse in Spokane Valley, is the offspring of a family’s love affair with wine.

You might find yourself humming the Sly and the Family Stone song “Family Affair” as you take in Knipprath Cellars. While Henning Knipprath is making the wine using traditional methods from Germany, his mother, Christa, is serving it in the tasting room. Knipprath Cellars is a port lover’s oasis and it enjoys a solid reputation around the Northwest for its port-style wines. You can find Knipprath ports, along with many of its other wines, in select restaurants around the Northwest.

Knipprath Cellars serves as many as five different port-style wines inoculated with a extra dose of alcohol, which makes them 20 proof. So a sip here and a sip there can add up, and the tasting room can become a pretty lively place, especially when Christa shares stories about her family’s winemaking adventures. Offering vanilla- and chocolate-flavored port, Knipprath can satisfy a sweet tooth. Its ports include “Northwest Positron,” “Au Chocolat!,” “Lagrima” white port, LaV! dessert wine (V is for vanilla), and “Matrix” port. Christa likes to pour the white port on ice with a slice of lemon, Portuguese style.

Knipprath produces a number of wines in addition to its port wine series. WineTrail enthusiasts can find its other wines under the labels Knipprath, Mica Peak, and Werner-Ernst-Friederich. The Mica Peak label offers a good value for your wine dollar. A personal favorite is the Alpine wine, which is served warm (but not too hot—you don’t want to boil off the alcohol). It's great to drink as you sit by the fire après ski or with a nice holiday turkey dinner. Knipprath’s Alpine wine is made from a family recipe for Gluhwein, which calls for steeping the wine with assorted holiday spices. You can definitely taste the notes of clove and other spices in this full-bodied red wine.

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  Knipprath Cellars was featured in WineTrails of Washington as part of the Spokane Valley-Kettle Falls WineTrail on page 554!