On a fall afternoon in downtown Sandpoint, after the drive down from Schweitzer, there is a brick-walled room where the day slows down over a glass of wine. That room is the tasting room of Pend d'Oreille Winery on Cedar Street, and the winery sums up its invitation plainly: wine, friends and food. Part of Sandpoint since 1995, it gives visitors staying on the mountain an easy evening in town, and locals a familiar place to gather, taste something made close to home, and linger a little longer.
The winery was first established in 1995 by Steve and Julie Meyer. In 2017 it was purchased by Jim Bopp and Kylie Presta, who continue its legacy of award-winning wine production. Bopp, a Sandpoint native, worked the harvest season of 1998 at the winery and returned in 2007 as a mentee of Steve Meyer. He is now the lead winemaker, involved with each varietal through the entire process, from vine to bottle, with a stated devotion to balanced, outstanding wines and no room for compromised quality or character. His own label, Cottage Island Wines, carries its own honor: his 2013 Deadhead Red, made from 100 percent Petit Verdot, took home a double gold at the 2015 Tri-Cities Wine Festival.
The current list shows the range the winery works in. Whites include a 2024 Albarino, a 2022 Chardonnay and a 2022 Pinot Gris, while the reds run from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot to Syrah, Petite Sirah and Primitivo, among others. There is also a Huckleberry Blush, a fitting nod to North Idaho's favorite wild berry. The winery describes its wines as locally produced and regionally sourced, drawing on Northwest fruit from the cool Chardonnay and Pinot Gris to Cabernet Sauvignon. Regulars also know the refillable 1.5-liter growlers, among the first introduced in the Northwest, currently filled with the Bistro Rouge blend and rotating tap select wines.
A visit is about more than what is in the glass. Guests can settle into the tasting room for a glass or work through a wine tasting, order small plates, including fresh pizzas, and stay for the room's steady calendar. The winery hosts live music on weekends, piano nights and Paint and Sip gatherings, and its year carries traditions of its own: Fire Dancing in February to heat up Winter Carnival, and the BYOB, or Blend Your Own Bistro, party to welcome spring. It is the kind of programming that turns a tasting stop into a standing date for Sandpoint friends and a memorable evening for Schweitzer visitors.
You will find Pend d'Oreille Winery at 301 Cedar Street, Suite 101, in Sandpoint, open Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 8 p.m. Come down from the mountain for an afternoon tasting, bring friends for music and a glass in the evening, or take a bottle back to the condo for dinner. Three decades after it began, the winery remains what it set out to be: a Sandpoint gathering place where the wine is made with care and the welcome is genuine.