Maryhill Winery is moving beyond making wine and into food service.
Now known as Maryhill Winery Tasting Room & Bistro, the award-winning business now serves regionally based foods at its Washington locations in Spokane, Goldendale, and Vancouver. Maryhill also plans to serve food at its soon-to-open tasting room in Woodinville, Washington.
This month, the tasting room and bistro here opened a new kitchen led by chef David Hill, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. Hill spent the last 25 years operating Hills Restaurant & Lounge with his brother, Steve Hill, before the downtown restaurant closed on Feb. 28.
Among the menu highlights, the bistro features charcuterie boards, Dungeness crab rolls, salads, and small, Mediterranean-style plates.
Maryhill owners Craig and Vicki Leuthold recruited Ron Vansaghi to head the overall culinary program. Originally from New Jersey, Vansaghi has more than 35 years of experience in the culinary field. Previously, he worked as the general manager for Chart House in Portland and has opened and operated pubs in that city and Seattle.
“We’re passionate about expanding our consumers’ palates and introducing them to completely different experiences,” Craig Leuthold says in a press release. “By adding bistros to all our tasting rooms, we’re building on our commitment to make high-quality, approachable wines accessible to more people.”
The Leutholds are Spokane natives who originally founded Maryhill Winery in Goldendale, on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge and just east of The Dalles, Oregon, in 2001.
The couple’s Goldendale winery on a bluff above the Columbia draws more than 75,000 wine aficionados from around the world on an annual basis.
The couple opened a 5,000-square-foot tasting room at 1303 W. Summit Parkway in Spokane’s Kendall Yards neighborhood last year.
The winery says it sources more than 30 varietals of grapes from across Washington and produces more than 50 wines.
Maryhill Winery has been recognized with more than 3,000 awards since its first vintage in 2001, including being named 2015 Pacific Northwest Winery of Year by Wine Press Northwest, and the 2014 Winery of the Year at the San Francisco International Wine Competition.