Ask Browne Family Vineyards founder Andrew Browne about his beverage of choice during cocktail hour, and his answer might surprise you.
He's partial to a nice whiskey.
Sure, there's always "gonna be a glass of wine at the dinner table," says Browne, whose Walla Walla-based vineyard specializes in Bordeaux reds and full-bodied whites.
But as of late 2022, Browne can enjoy his first choice from a bottle that also bears his family's name.
Located in the former Warrior Liquor Distilling facility in East Central Spokane, the new Browne Family Spirits distillery produces a range of bourbon and rye whiskeys, from the First Look Collection of single malt whiskey to the Monogram Collection of 4-year-old bourbon aged in French oak cabernet barrels from the winery.
The facility also produces Gigi's Garden Lavender gin (named for Browne's grandmother) and Andy's Farm-Crafted vodka that, like all the Browne spirits, features locally sourced ingredients.
Flights ($20-$25), cocktails ($14) and bottles ($40-$90) of Browne Family Spirits are all available in the tasting room.
Try the old fashioned featuring reserve bourbon whiskey — aged in new oak barrels — and Browne Family Spirits' own small-batch bitters. Do a whiskey and chocolate pairing ($35), or add a light bite such as a cheese and charcuterie board ($18) or mixed nuts ($6).
The tasting room is a bright, welcoming spot with assorted merchandise, a bar, several couches and small tables. Two wooden doors frame the distillery, where master distiller Aaron Kleinhelter has spent most of his workdays since relocating from Kentucky to Spokane in 2020.
Kleinhelter brings a combination of academic and hands-on experience to Browne Family Spirits, plus a can-do attitude.
Part of the first graduating class of University of Louisville's distilling certificate program, Kleinhelter previously worked for two grain-to-glass operations: Kentucky Artisan Distillery and Jeptha Creed, which dovetails perfectly with Browne's approach of using locally sourced ingredients.
In fact, one of the first things Kleinhelter did was ask the operators of the grain storage facility across the street from the distillery (ADM Milling Co.) what was coming in and out by rail, hoping it could be used at Browne Family Spirits. (It's grain flour, so no, it couldn't be used).
"I feel like a master distiller is like a Swiss Army knife," Kleinhelter says, "a jack-of-all-trades."
One of only four staff members on-site, Kleinhelter is responsible for tours, tasting, distilling and managing more than a ton of raw ingredients that the distillery goes through on any given day. He also makes sure several thousand pounds of spent ingredients go to local farmers who are happy to haul it away for their hungry bovine.
"You don't need a fancy education" to be a master distiller, says Kleinhelter, who is working on plans to expand Browne Family Spirits' offering with four new products per year, like a cucumber mint gin or lemon huckleberry vodka for summer.
"What you need is, you gotta have the willingness to try new things," he adds.
This philosophy is built into the foundation of the Browne organization, which for its founder includes joining a small cadre of vintners who've expanded into spirits.
Spirits are in his DNA, says Browne, who now lives in Western Washington with his wife and three children, but spent his formative years in Spokane.
"We had a place up at Priest Lake, so we would go up there on the weekends and had friends out in Coeur d'Alene and skied at Schweitzer and did all the things that somebody from Spokane would do," says the Ferris High School grad. "On a scale of one to 10, if you could rate growing up and where you grow up, and the friends you get to meet and your life, man — Spokane — if it wasn't a 10 It was a 9.9."
"My grandparents' generation were spirit drinkers, and my grandfather was a big scotch guy," Browne adds.
He credits his grandfather, William Bitner Browne, with cultivating an appreciation for both wine and spirits. Browne also credits his grandfather with teaching him essential life lessons, like hard work, the importance of family, being a good steward of the land and producing a quality product.
And so, after a successful career that initially included working for beverage distributors and led to establishing his own wine producing company, Precept Wine, in 2003, Browne turned a scant four barrels of cabernet into Browne Family Vineyards.
"So, it really started out as just a tribute to [my grandfather], and it just evolved from there," Browne says.
The business continues to evolve, and Browne is excited about the future.
"People want experiences," he says. "And we're going to bring them the full experience from when we harvested all the way through the aging process to what they're sitting there tasting, either in our tasting room or at their home or in a restaurant with a really unique platform."
Browne already has a few catchphrases in mind.
"We've got to figure in hometown Spokane, how to paint the town Browne." ♦
Browne Family Spirits • 714 N. Lee St. • Open daily 11 am-6 pm • brownefamilyvineyards.com/spirits • 509-413-1885
