Pend d'Oreille Winery gets new leadership

SANDPOINT — After 32 years of winemaking, Steve and Julie Meyer passed the "winemaking baton" over to Jim Bopp and Kylie Kramer-Presta on Dec. 1.

The Meyers opened the Pend d'Oreille Winery 22 years ago. Bopp has worked for the couple for 10 years and is a third-generation "Sandpointian," Steve Meyer said. Kramer-Presta joined the team five years ago and also comes from a line of Kramers in the area, he said.

"I am very happy to see (the winery) go on," Meyer said. "It was time for us to pass it on, and we are doing that through these two people."

They are the winemaking team, he said. While the couple could have sold the business to someone else, Meyer said in the long run, that wouldn't make sense.

"So we have Jim and Kylie," he said. "They are very qualified to run the winery and we like seeing it happen this way ... We are totally in support of them and we couldn't be more excited."

Kramer-Presta said she has a background in chemistry, so she stepped in to help Bopp with winemaking and harvest.

"We just want to see the winery continue and honor what Steve and Julie had been doing," Kramer-Presta said. "We love making wine, so we felt vested in the wine enough to want to keep it going."

Since taking over, Kramer-Presta said the transition has gone well. The holidays went by smoothly and it has stayed busy, she said. The duo plans to keep everything the same as it was when the Meyers ran the winery. Bopp has been making the wine for a long time, she said, so that won't change.

"One change we hope to make is to add more community involvement, where we will have more events and barrel tastings, and try to reach out to the community that has been so supportive to us," Kramer-Presta said.

The wine is produced in an airplane hangar on North Boyer that has been transformed into a wine-making laboratory and processing center. It is at that location where Kramer-Presta said they will be holding more private barrel tastings. They will also continue the tradition of BYOB — blend your own bistro — twice a year.

Kramer Presta said she and Bopp are excited to release the 2016 vintage as well.

"We think that will be a really nice vintage," she said.

Using traditional French methods and grapes sourced from world-class vineyards around the Northwest, Pend d’Oreille Winery produces award winning wines including Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Pinot Gris, the very popular Huckleberry Blush and the Meyer Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, according to the winery’s website at powine.com.

The Pend d'Oreille Winery Tasting Room is opens daily at noon and is located at 301 Cedar St.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.