Wine for the Holidays: Sipping Our Way Through Downtown Coeur d’Alene

Saturday, November 7, 2026

Shelley and I look forward to this one every year. On Saturday afternoon we picked up our Wine for the Holidays glasses and joined the crowd sipping its way through downtown Coeur d’Alene. The Downtown Association’s Wine for the Holidays turns our local shops into tasting rooms for an afternoon, and it is exactly as fun as it sounds. You shop a little, you taste a little, and you run into half the town along the way. Here is our afternoon, stop by stop.

First Things First: Check-In and the Photo Booth

Check-in was at the Plaza Shops on Sherman, where Shelley and I picked up our glasses and tickets and walked straight into the Electric Photoland photo booth sponsored by Ziply Fiber. Shelley took the funny glasses. I kept hold of the wine glass. Both of us chose correctly. A shout out to Ziply Fiber’s marketing director, Nicole Barnett, for the photo booth fun.

First Pour: Tito’s Italian Grill at The Coeur d’Alene Resort

We started at Tito’s Italian Grill inside The Coeur d’Alene Resort, where the pour was the Resort’s own Washington Chardonnay, made for them by Coeur d’Alene Cellars. It is a fine way to open a wine walk, chilled and ready, and their table came with a board of crostini within arm’s reach, which is just good planning.

In our glasses: The Coeur d’Alene Resort Washington Chardonnay, by Coeur d’Alene Cellars.

An Idaho Pour at Marmalade

A few doors east, Marmalade had a taste of Idaho wine country waiting for us. Holesinsky Vineyard and Winery comes from Buhl, down in the Snake River Valley, and they were pouring their IDAWINE red. The winery’s own notes card reads like a poem: crushed earthy berry nose, a smoky black cherry and spicy tangerine front, with a warm gentle tannin finish. Their pairing advice is upland game birds, rhubarb pie and cool evenings. It was a cool evening. We approved.

In our glasses: 2022 Holesinsky IDAWINE Red Wine, Snake River Valley.

Mountain Madness Soap Company

Yes, a soap shop. Mountain Madness at 310 E Sherman had the host site sign on the door and a sandwich board out front promising free smells, which, in a soap shop, is a promise they can keep. Inside, the pour was a bright Sauvignon Blanc from Townshend Cellar over in Spokane, served cold off the ice.

In our glasses: 2022 Townshend Sauvignon Blanc.

A Pause at Rotary Centennial Park

Between pours we stopped at the plaque for Coeur d’Alene Rotary Centennial Park, marking a hundred years of Rotary in our town, 1922 to 2022. Shelley and I are both proud members of Rotary on the Rocks, the evening Rotary club here in Coeur d’Alene, so this stop was personal. No wine at this one. Just a moment to appreciate a century of Service Above Self in the place we call home.

T Blue Men’s

We popped into T Blue Men’s, where The Agency Coeur d’Alene also hangs its hat. Some stops on this walk are for the glass and some are for the browsing, and a good wine walk needs both.

A Cigar Detour

Full disclosure, not every purchase on this walk was wine. I stepped into Coeur d’Alene Pipe and Cigar on Sherman and came out with a Padron Damaso No. 34 Torpedo for later. Twenty dollars and nine cents, all in, sold to me by Bill Giesen. A souvenir you cannot get at a winery.

Manna

Manna is the kind of gift shop where you walk in for a look and find copper mugs you did not know you needed. We enjoyed the browse, and a flyer in the shop said something we say around here all the time: music and wine just go together.

Mix It Up

Mix It Up is a kitchen and gift shop after our own hearts. A sign on the wall reads, ‘Best friends don’t care if your house is clean. They care if you have wine.’ Preach. Their pour took us to Italy, a Tintero red from Piedmont, the kind of honest red that makes you want to put something on the stove when you get home.

In our glasses: Tintero Rosso, Piedmont, Italy.

Into the Woods

Into the Woods got a browse from us too, all cozy home goods. Then it was back out to Sherman Ave to see what was pouring next.

Bird and Lily

Bird and Lily had a Pinot Noir in our glasses, from Rickshaw in California. A bright, easy Pinot is a smart pour in the middle of a wine walk, and this one did its job.

In our glasses: Rickshaw Pinot Noir, California.

Magpie

One more stop, one more pour. Magpie was pouring a red blend, the Next Blend, and it kept the afternoon’s streak alive.

In our glasses: Next Blend, red blend.

Florette

Florette does coffee, snacks and wine, which covers most of our food groups. Their pour was the Villa Sparina Gavi, an Italian white from Piedmont that arrives in the most recognizable bottle in wine. You could spot that curvy bottle and sunny yellow label from across the street. And Shelley and I agreed, it was off the charts good, one of the standout pours of the afternoon.

In our glasses: Villa Sparina Gavi, Piedmont, Italy.

The Burger Dock

Bubbles at a burger joint. The Burger Dock was pouring ONEHOPE sparkling wine at the counter while the grill crew worked behind it, and there is something deeply right about sipping a Brut in a place that smells like burgers on the flat top.

In our glasses: ONEHOPE Brut Sparkling Wine, California.

Fun local note: The Burger Dock is run by Claire and Hunter Hartwig, who also own Florette, our Gavi stop from earlier in the walk. Small town, small world.

CDA Garment District

Wine among the clothing racks at CDA Garment District, where the pour was a classic Napa Chardonnay. Shelley shopped the racks. I shopped the pour. Teamwork.

In our glasses: 2022 Napa Cellars Chardonnay, Napa County.

Mix It Up Home

There are two Mix It Ups on Sherman Ave, and Shelley and I managed to visit both in one afternoon. The second one, Mix It Up Home down at 305 E Sherman, poured a serious red: the Somm’s Select reserve from Liberty Lake Wine Cellars, one of our Wine Time Fridays sponsors, made with Red Mountain fruit.

In our glasses: 2022 Liberty Lake Wine Cellars Somm’s Select Reserve Red Wine, Red Mountain.

Santa at the Realty Office: Tomlinson Sotheby’s

Only at Wine for the Holidays do you find Santa holding court in a real estate office, and only in Coeur d’Alene would the wine be this good. Tomlinson Sotheby’s International Realty had the full setup: tree, garland, Santa himself, and a Washington favorite on the table, Charles Smith’s Boom Boom Syrah. Shelley and I posed with Santa, wine glasses in hand. We regret nothing.

In our glasses: 2023 Charles Smith Boom Boom Syrah, Washington.

One Last Stop: Bottle Joy

This last one was not part of the official walk, and it might have been our favorite stop of the day. Bottle Joy, Curt and Joy Grady’s wine shop on East Sherman, just reopened, and Shelley had not been in since the doors opened again. We recorded an episode there with Curt and Joy for the reopening, so a visit was overdue. We tasted a Napa Valley Chardonnay from Black Stallion and a Rosso di Montalcino from Altesino, and Curt shared some news worth circling on the calendar.

In our glasses: 2024 Black Stallion Estate Winery Chardonnay, Napa Valley, and 2024 Altesino Rosso di Montalcino, Italy.

On Wednesday, November 18, Bottle Joy hosts an Italian tasting with a lineup that reads like a tour of Italy: a Prosecco DOC to start, the 2020 Seccal Valpolicella Ripasso from Nicolis, Bruni’s Poggio d’Elsa, a Sangiovese and Cabernet blend from Maremma in Tuscany, and the 2021 Barbaresco from Produttori del Barbaresco to finish. If you go, tell Curt we sent you.

That is the magic of Wine for the Holidays. Great wine shows up in soap shops and burger joints, Santa pours nothing but poses for everything, and downtown feels like one big neighborhood party. Thank you to the Downtown Association and to every shop that hosted a pour. We will see you all next year. Shelley and I already have our glasses ready.

Cheersing!