flathead lake winery

Definitely off the beaten path but they let you try all the wines. We went to try the huckleberry and it I must say was terrible but we did buy some of the others. the only think missing was a way to cleanse your pallet after tasting each as after 3 it was kind of hard to tell flavors. Very friendly and recommended places for us to eat that evening in bif fork where we were spending the night.

We spotted a sign in "downtown" Columbia Falls and decided to give it a try. They're 9 miles outside of town and hidden from the road. It was well worth the search. Incredibly friendly, and the owner insisted we sit down and enjoy the 10 different wines on the lineup. As vacationers in the area, she gave us all the lowdown on where the really best food and service were found, and some great recommendations on things to see that aren't well advertised. This small boutique winery is all fruit-based vintages, but pleasantly not over-sweetened. The two different huckleberries are accompanied by stories of the local huckleberry harvesting, which almost sounds like a black market operation where some harvesters will jealously guard their pickings from strangers. The winery's fare is priced quite reasonably at $10/bottle with a case discount.

A bit out of the way but a really nice experience. Enjoyed the wines and the friendly tasting. Good wine from local fruit. Nice people.

5 of us recently stopped here for a wine tasting. We were a little unsure that we had found the place, as the location itself was not what we were expecting. However, the woman and her husband who manage the winery greeted us and seated us at a covered picnic table outside, with many bottles of wine in hand. The woman told us about each of the wines as we sampled. Each of the wines were 100% local Montana wines. The tasting was free, which was a pleasant surprise. The wine was reasonably priced for purchase at $10 per bottle ($20 for the huckleberry wine) and $7 per wine glass.

Now here is one of those places that is hard to find but worth the effort. It is a tiny little hole in the wall (literally) about 9 miles north of Columbia Falls on road 406, in the Flathead Forest. We stopped just to check it out, but got a great surprise by the friendly couple who operate it. They were both very knowledgeable about their wines and other local wines, but also were willing to take the time to be friendly and nice just to talk about the area. We tried most all their variety's. Being from wine country in Missouri we are spoiled to great wines, they were able to fill the bill with their Huckleberry wine and the Rainier cherry wine. Both being excellent.

Decided to stop at the winery on a day we did not go to Glacier. Very surprised with the wine. Did not like some fruit wines in the past but these were good. The owner was great. Helped with some suggestions other than Glacier as we were spending ten days in Columbia Falls. Bought two bottles for the road. I did not see any space to park RV's as the parking area is small. Posted by grinandbreakit.com

Loved this stop on our trip to Glacier National Park. Fruit wines with a Montana twist and the vitner, Paddy, was a great host and conversationalist. He was generous and informative in the wine tasting samples and provided us with many suggestions for our trip regarding day excursions, great restaurants, and other places of interest. It is exactly what you hope to experience when visiting a new area of the country, friendly and honest advice and lots of helpful suggestions to make your visit to the area enjoyable. The Wild Huckleberry Wine is fantastic as are his other varieties (our favorites were Flathead Lake Red, Ranier Cherry Wine, and the Huckleberry). Not difficult to find, look for signs to turn off of Highway 2 just a few miles from Glacier's Entrance (just past Hungry Horse, MT). Remember, some of your best stops on a trip are those little side trips away from the main tourist traps!

They have an impressive list of Montana grown fruit wines. I'm not much for fruit wines but Flathead Lake Winery does an impressive job with it. I had intended to just try their huckleberry, the most expensive wine they have, but ended up buying five of them. The prices are actually cheap for a fun, easily drinkable wine. Again like a lot of off the beaten track Montana places this is hard to find and easily missed even with a GPS. Map for Moose Lane and you'll get there.