Whitefish's first production winery opens
Nicole Erickson is the owner of Unleashed: A Winery on Spokane Avenue. It’s the first full-production winery in Whitefish. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
A water vapor fireplace inside Unleashed: A Winery provides a view into the production room adjacent to the tasting room. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
Unleashed: A Winery include plenty of space for enjoying a glass of wine in view of the winery’s production room. The winery on Spokane Avenue also includes a private event space. (Heidi Desch/Whitefish Pilot)
Nicole Erickson envisions her winery as a relaxing place to enjoy a glass of wine whether you’re a seasoned enthusiast or new to wine.
“Our wines are easy-drinking and approachable,” she said. “I don’t want to be intimidating. People have made wine approachable for me and I want to do that for others.”
Whitefish’s first winery, Unleashed: A Winery, is located on Spokane Avenue south of Stumptown Marketplace. The winery is set to open this week holding its grand opening on Jan. 18-19 with tastings, discounts and raffle prizes both days.
Unleashed: A Winery will sell wine by the glass and bottle and offer tastings. In addition, they’ll serve cheese and charcuterie boards, chocolates and desserts.
Erickson sources her grape juice from vineyards in California’s Central Coast region. Then the fermentation in stainless steel, bottling, corking and labeling processes take place in the production facility that can be viewed from the tasting room of the downtown winery.
“The central coast is an up and coming region in wine,” she said. “They’re really making a name for themselves and I’m excited to work to develop wines with them.”
Originally from Helena, Erickson had visited Whitefish many times and decided it was the ideal location to open a winery. She was looking to create a winery in a small mountain town.
Erickson has a background in running dog-related businesses, which ultimately became the inspiration for the winery’s name — Unleashed.
Labels for the wine include graphics of dogs — all unleashed — enjoying the Flathead Valley’s great outdoors. One shows a dog on the slopes of Big Mountain among snow ghosts.
“It’s hard to leave my love of dogs behind,” she said. “Dogs are playful and have attitude and that matches with this — it’s about enjoying everything in life.”
The space has been renovated while keeping some historical touches — like the burned wooden beams in the ceiling that appeared to have been the result of a fire when the building housed a cabinet warehouse. The main tasting room includes a bar and several high-top tables with comfy seats and in a large space at the back provides an opportunity for private events.
Erickson hopes to partner with local businesses to provide special evenings, such as art and wine nights or food and wine pairing events.
Unleashed’s wine list includes 12 varietals that includes reds, whites, flavor-infused specialty wines and a port. They also plan to create seasonal offerings with flavors such as huckleberry and cherry, and a rose in summer.
Erickson’s favorite is the syrah.
“I lean toward the reds,” she said. “The syrah is well-balanced with flavors of tobacco and vanilla.”
The flavored wines currently on the list include blackberry merlot, peach chardonnay, strawberry white zinfandel and pomegranate zinfandel.
“We will do seasonal options and create custom flavors,” she said. “All our wine will be available for retail purchase.”
Unleashed: A Winery is located at 20 Spokane Ave. Hours are Monday through Thursday 1 to 9 p.m., Friday from 1 to 11 p.m., Saturday noon to 11 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m.
For more information, visit www.unleashedwinery.com