Sarah Jane Gates: Find a way to do it

COEUR d'ALENE - Many people have a "to do" list.

If Sarah Jane Gates had an "I've done it" list, it would be a long one.

She's a co-owner of Coeur d'Alene Cellars, an artist both in watercolors and in the kitchen, an extreme gardener, a crafter of broken china mosaics, a traveler, mother and grandmother.

"It's a great big world out there with so much to see, learn and experience," said Gates, relaxing on the patio of Coeur d'Alene Cellars on a sunny August morning. "If you decide you want to do something, you'll find a way to do it."

Gates and her husband, Dr. Charlie Gates, live above Hayden Lake. In the summers, they live in their family cabin right on the water.

"The cabin is 25 minutes from our house," she said. "It's really strange, but why drive a long ways? It's the same experience. I wouldn't live any place else."

She credits husband Charlie for giving her the best advice she ever received - "You can do it" - and says he has also influenced her life more than anyone else.

"He is always encouraging with me and the children," she said. "With everybody, he's like that."

Gates, born and raised in Spokane, grew up just five blocks from her husband in the Cannon Hill neighborhood on the South Hill.

"We raised each other," she said, adding that it's hard to talk about her life without talking about him because they've known each other from such a young age.

"We went out once in high school and had a terrible date," Gates said, laughing spiritedly. A couple of years later, during a Christmas break home from college, the two went skiing together and had a great time.

Not a year had passed before the two - both still in college - married.

She studied English literature and art. During her senior year at University of Iowa, just before she was to start her student teaching, Gates became pregnant.

Prohibited by the college from doing her student teaching, Gates spent her last semester taking all art classes.

"I'd already taken a lot of art and kind of wished I had majored in that," she said.

From there, the couple went to Salt Lake City where Gates spent five years studying oils and watercolors under the painter Harold Olsen.

"When I had my third child, I put away the oils," she said. "I've been painting watercolors for 40 years."

Every variety of wine from Coeur d'Alene Cellars has a unique label featuring one of Gates' watercolor paintings. Her work is displayed gallery-style in the winery and the attached Barrel Room No. 6 wine bar, which is used for tastings and private events.

While Olsen was her mentor in art, Gates said she had many other wonderful mentors who shared their talents with her and nurtured hers.

"There are wonderful people out there," she said. "You should take advantage of them."

For 10 years, Gates had a Mexican gardener named Virginia.

"She was a fabulous gardener," Gates said. "She taught me gardening from a different culture, things I hadn't learned before."

Virginia divided plants to spread them throughout the garden - a method Gates utilizes in her Red Wine and White Wine garden surrounding the patio at Coeur d'Alene Cellars.

"I got all these from five plants," Gates said, motioning toward a lush border of hostas edging the garden of white and burgundy flowers.

Gates' garden at home is about a half-acre in size. She also has an orchard with 45 different fruit trees - mostly heritage apples, a large vegetable garden, a 20-foot pond with waterfalls, and she raises chickens and honey bees.

In 2002, Charlie and Sarah Gates started Coeur d'Alene Cellars with their daughter, Kimber. Today Coeur d'Alene's lone winery produces more than 3,400 cases of wine each year.

How did you get involved in wine-making?

That was my daughter's fault. Kimber wanted to start a winery and just like my husband always said, you can do it. I became involved because I'm very enthusiastic about it. I do all the gardening and help with special events and I do a lot of cooking. I do all the fun stuff. Kimber does all of the hard stuff.

Before starting Coeur d'Alene Cellars did you have an interest in wine at all? Was wine a thing for you?

My husband and I really had enjoyed wine. And we were always checking the ratings, like in wine magazines. We thought (Coeur d'Alene Cellars) was really a good idea because we're so close to the Columbia Valley, which is where we get our grapes.

What has it been like working in this industry?

It's really interesting because it's so varied. There's the grape growing, the making of the wines, marketing of the wines, running of the wine bar and events. It's just really varied, interesting.

How has Coeur d'Alene Cellars grown since it has opened?

We have a new winemaker from South Africa. Dirk Brink came about a year and a half ago. We're making many more different wines. Our wine club is growing, expanding. Our offerings at the winery have expanded with the wine bar and the patio and entertainment and events.

Tell me a little bit about how you got started cooking?

Cooking's just part of the creative thing. I just always enjoyed it and making food taste good. Everybody appreciates it. Everybody gets hungry every few hours. You never lose the audience. I like feeding people. It's just enjoyable for me.

Is there a particular style of cooking you most enjoy?

I love all kinds of cooking, even barbecuing, smoking, different ethnic foods. I love cooking from my garden.

You cook to pair with the wines?

During lunch if we especially like a dish we pair a wine with it. I publish about 200 recipes under "Culinarea" on our website, www.cdacellars.com.

What's your favorite pairing?

I can't do that. That's like somebody asking what my favorite wine is. I can't answer that. What if somebody asks you what your favorite fruit is? It depends on what season it is.

You do a lot of traveling?

I just love to travel and so does my husband. We've been to so many different countries. We enjoy the culture and the art and the food and the sites. I think it gives you much better perspective in life if you travel and see how others live. It also makes you feel very fortunate.

You've done a watercolor painting for every one of Coeur d'Alene Cellars' wine labels. How many different paintings have you done for the winery?

I don't know. We use my paintings for other things, too. We've got posters, cards, event stationary, lots of commercial purposes. It's a fun process, figuring out the name of the wine and the painting to use. It gets a little wild and crazy sometimes.

What's the most unique name you've come up with?

I think the most unique one would be 'Scarlet Lake,' which is from a painting of my granddaughters jumping off the dock nude after sunset on Hayden Lake. Of course, you can't tell they're nude because they're silhouetted, but they were very embarrassed. We almost called the wine 'Skinny Dip.'