The Spokane Winery Association is holding it's annual Mother's Day Spring Release Weekend, so tell mom you love and appreciate her with a bottle of wine or an afternoon of tasting.

Spring is when wineries release their selections for the season and local wineries are celebrating with tasting events and other festivities. There are 21 Washington wineries featured at 17 local tasting rooms throughout the area.

The Mother's Day Spring Release Weekend events run from 12pm-6pm through Sunday, May 12th, at area wineries and tasting rooms. Tasting fees vary depending on the location. You can download a map of local places at http://www.spokanewineries.net 

Few things are better than ending the day with a great glass of wine. Except maybe having that wine delivered right to your door. Nectar Tasting Room in Downtown Spokane is making that possible for the Washington wine makers that it features.

Owner Josh Wade started his adventures in wine in 2008 with his wine blog. That blog later grew into the Nectar Tasting Room and features five Washington wine makers. Wade says the purpose of opening the tasting room was to give wine makers outside of Spokane a presence in the area.

The direct buy will run through Nectar's already thriving blog and Wade is hoping to capitalize on the web traffic. He has redesigned the site to make it easier for uses to not only buy wine, but also to read the blog and rent event space.

Greater Spokane Incorporated says the Spokane region continues to remain very competitive in the cost of living compared to other cities across the nation.

The ACCRA Cost of Living Index measures regional differences in the cost of consumer goods and services.

They've compiled a table comparing Spokane to other cities around the country. In Washington, Spokane is slightly more expensive than Yakima and Tric-Cities, but cheaper than Seattle.