Come catch the most beautiful weather of the year in Washington – right now! There are tons of fun activities waiting for you on the Olympic Peninsula and at our wineries. Why not come for Labor Day weekend?
Whether you come for the whole long weekend or just drive up for the day, the Olympic Peninsula wineries are not-to-be-missed!
Just when you thought all the lavender fun was finished for the summer – you were wrong. If you missed the Lavender Festival, or you prefer to avoid a crowd in Sequim while still enjoying the fields of lavender colored – well, lavender, join in the Tour de lavender, a cycling event with rides for every skill level and interest.
The Tour de Lavender takes place August 3 & 4, 2013. If you are a serious cyclist, looking for a dynamic and challenging ride, try the Metric Century Ride from the Kingston-Edmonds Ferry to Sequim. For families and recreational riders, enjoy a family fun ride thorough the lavender farms of Sequim. Read more about each of the routes below.
This is a classic long distance ride, taking place on Saturday, August 3, 2013. It will have all the technical support needed for a ride of this distance. The route will travel on back roads and the Olympic Discovery Trail with only 3 miles on Hwy 101. Our Olympic Discovery Trail is a very important part of this ride.
A part of the Olympic Discovery Trail in Sequim. Part of the route for Tour de Lavender.
The ride organizers have plans that include options for luggage delivery from the Ferry to Sequim local lodging, transportation to the Ride the Hurricane event on Sunday, and/or rider and luggage return to the ferry on Sunday afternoon. The entry fee is $40 per person. See the Tour de Lavdender website for more ride plans and packages.
This family cycling tour is designed for parents and children of all ages and abilities on Saturday and Sunday, August 3-4, 2013. This is a relaxed trip for spouses or partners, kids, and even babies in “carriers,”or agile grandparents to visit welcoming lavender farms on the back-roads of the valley in what is a mostly level and easy route. Riders are encouraged to ride the Olympic Discovery Trail. Each of the five lavender farms on the ride will have special attractions for families.
This is a great reason to visit the Olympic Peninsula and enjoy a little wine tasting along the way!
The biggest event on the Peninsula is just around the corner! The annual Sequim Lavender Weekend is taking place July 19-21 this year and we want to make sure you save time for tasting some delicious Washington wines while you are visiting the Olympic Peninsula.
Visit us at the Wine & Beer Garden at Lavender in the Park – a fair taking place during Sequim Lavender weekend, located inside Carrie Blake Park. The Park is located directly off the Washington Street exit from Highway 101 at the east end of town. For those with GPS, the address is 202 Blake Avenue, Sequim, WA 98382. Admission to Lavender in the Park and the concerts are free!
A selection of two wines from each winery will be available for tasting. You will also be able to buy wine by the glass or purchase a bottle.
Lavender in the Park Hours:
Friday and Saturday 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Sunday 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.
The eight wineries here on the Peninsula will be pouring new releases as part of the festivities. All the wineries will be open during normal tasting room hours. The closest to the Lavender Festival is Wind Rose Cellars tasting room, at 142 W. Washington St. They are open Friday & Saturday from 1 – 9 p.m. and Sunday from 1 – 4 p.m.
If you are staying in Port Angeles, make sure to stop by Olympic Cellars in between Sequim and Port Angeles at 255410 Hwy 101 East, Port Angeles, open from daily from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Also in Port Angeles is the Black Diamond Winery, at 2976 Black Diamond Rd. Enjoy their stunning vistas during a tasting from 12 – 5 p.m. Friday through Sunday.
If you are visiting or staying in Port Townsend, check out Fair Winds Winery at 1984 Hastings Ave. West. The tasting room is open daily from 12 – 5 p.m.
See all of our member listings on our winery map page.
One of the biggest events on the Olympic Peninsula is the Sequim Lavender Weekend. Believe it or not, the Olympic Peninsula is one of the largest national producers of lavender and lavender products. To celebrate this pungent and relaxing herb, a festival is held the third weekend in July each year. For 2013, the Sequim Lavender Festival will take place from July 19 -21.
There are more than a dozen lavender farms in the Sequim area, where you can tour, buy goods and even taste lavender treats, like ice cream!
The growers responsible for the success and heritage of the festival will be available all weekend through a self-guided and free “U-Tour” attraction. With a map of the farms, visitors may leisurely drive (or bike) and visit any and all lavender farms they are interested in seeing. 
Lavender-themed gifts and fresh cut bouquets will be available for purchase. As always, admission, advice and fragrance at the farms are free! Additional regional attractions are highlighted on the map as well – like our wineries.
The Lavender Festival Street Fair occurs in downtown Sequim on Fir Street. Admission is free and visitors will enjoy three days of musical entertainment, fragrant Sequim lavender and tasty vendors. A talented group of artists, jewelers, photographers and “craftsmiths” will showcase their products for purchase. The Sequim Sunbonnet Sue will have their quilt show just around the corner at the Sequim Middle School.
The other main attraction during the Lavender Festival is Lavender Arts & Crafts Faire in the Park – also running all weekend long, there will be live music in the band shell, an awesome array for food vendors and a beer and wine garden, featuring our Washington wines. We will be serving beverages from all seven of the local wineries and of course the famous Olympic Cellars lavender wine. There will also be Northwest micro-brews from Olympic Distributing and sparkling hard cider.
Make sure to save some time to visit our wineries and tasting rooms on your trip to the Peninsula!
Are you planning to take a trip to the beautiful Olympic Peninsula this summer? We recommend that you stay at least two days – not only is there plenty to see, but we are somewhat rural and it will take you time to reach us and get around.
Here are some of our favorite places to stay on the Peninsula, along with the wineries closest to them.
The Sol Duc hot springs
Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort: 12076 Sol Duc Hot Springs Road, Port Angeles. Stay in a cabin adjacent to the hot springs and enjoy a rustic setting with the beauty of the valley surrounding you. A great way to really soak up the hot springs (pun intended!) Nightly rates start at $119. Nearby wineries: Black Diamond, Harbinger & Camaraderie.
The Inn at Port Ludlow: One Heron Road, Port Ludlow. Among acres of majestic forests, woodland trails and saltwater beaches, The Resort at Port Ludlow is a quintessentially Northwest destination. Located on the pristine shores of tranquil Ludlow Bay, the resort provides views of the majestic Olympic Mountains at every turn. Room rates start at $209 in the summer. Nearby wineries: Finnriver Farm & Cidery, Eaglemount Wine & Cider.
Sunset Marine Resort: 40 Buzzard Ridge Road, Sequim. This place has rooms, cabins and group lodging for family reunions and the like. Rent kayaks and view bald eagles, seals and herons, just outside your room. Prices start at (approximate): $240. Nearby wineries: Fairwinds Winery.
These three locations are only examples. If they are booked, or you simply want to do additional browsing, see a full list of our recommended Olympic Peninsula lodging on our website.
The Brass Screw Confederacy is the Olympic Peninsula’s signature Steampunk event. Set in the beautiful Victorian community of Port Townsend, The Brass Screw Confederacy weekend is full of adventure, art, music and mayhem. It will be taking place this year the weekend of June 7th.
Port Townsend will embrace a history that might have been with this quirky festival. Sponsored by the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals Network (YPN), the three-day event introduces a new twist on the city’s Victorian heritage, taking place in Port Townsend’s National Historic Landmark Districts.
The Brass Screw Confederacy event invites participants to step into a world somewhere between 1881 and a “time yet to be,” celebrating creativity, weird science and a sense of the absurd.
Classic Victorian homes like this one make Port Townsend a perfect place for a Steampunk Event.
Festivities will include live music, a strange science fair, absinthe tastings and burlesque, as well as a Steampunk zombie hunt. Performers, artist-vendors (known as “bodgers” in the Steampunk world), and an extraordinarily well-dressed assembly of participants will transform Port Townsend into a “City of Dreams.”
Event co-chair Dominc Svornich says, “Sometimes you need to look backward, in order to go forward. We view Steampunk as a positive regression, drawing a new audience to experience our Victorian seaport and arts community.”
The weekend’s itinerary will culminate with the Steampunk Hootenanny, a vaudeville show, Saturday night. Bring a sense of adventure and come experience something completely different!
According to Wikipedia, “Steampunk is a literary genre which came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s and incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternative history, horror, and speculative fiction. It involves a setting where steam power is widely used—whether in an alternate history such as Victorian era Britain or “Wild West”-era United States —that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy. Works of Steampunk often feature anachronistic technology, or futuristic innovations as Victorians might have envisioned them, based on a Victorian perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art.”
What could be more appropriate for a weekend of Victorian silliness than some delicious wine? We invite you to come by one of our wineries over the weekend. Both FairWinds and Finnriver Wineries are located in Port Townsend, with our other six member wineries located around the beautiful Olympic Peninsula.
Our last two blogs posts have given your driving routes for a tour of Olympic Peninsula wineries from Seattle. Here, we finish that itinerary with our last two winery stops.
After Black Diamond Winery and their beautiful views, head back down Black Diamond Rd. towards Port Angeles. Continue onto Pine St. and then turn right onto W 16th St. Get back on US 101 W for about a mile and then turn left on Benson Rd. About a third mile up the road, Camaraderie Cellars will be on the left, at 334 Benson Rd.
It’s a quick mile and half to our final winery: Harbinger. Simply head back to Hwy. 101 from Benson Rd. Take a left onto 101 West and about a mile down you will see Harbinger Winery on the left at 2358 Highway 101 West.
What a day! This is a good 8-9 hours of wine tasting and touring. You will see a wide array of Olympic Peninsula communities and environments. By the time you pull away from Harbinger Winery, you are sure to be ready for some dinner. Stop in Port Angles for a delicious dinner at one of our recommended restaurants. After all that, you can make your way back to the Bainbridge Ferry on Hwy 101. Or, if you’re done driving for the day, stay on the Olympic Peninsula for the night in a hotel, bed and breakfast or inn.
Looking for a good weekend to come up and visit us this spring? May 4th & 5th is our annual Northwest Wine and Cheese Tour. We invite you to sip and savor new wine releases and ciders paired with a variety of cheeses crafted by local, artisan creameries. The Olympic Peninsula Wineries and eight local creameries will treat visitors to a truly local culinary experience, with interesting pairings that provide an authentic sense of place.
In our last post, we began outlining a driving route for someone visiting the Olympic Peninsula from Seattle. Here is more of a perfect day on the Peninsula:
Leave Eaglemount Winery outside Port Townsend and drive to Sequim. This adorable town, famous for it’s lavender fields, is home to the Olympic Peninsula’s newest winery, Wind Rose Cellars.
Head West on Hwy 20 for about two miles. 
Hit Hwy 101 and take a right. About 16 miles down, take the East Washington St exit and take a right on N. Rhodefer Rd. Take another right on W. Sequim Bay Rd and then a final right on Bell Bottom Road. Wind Rose Cellars will be on the left at 233 Bell Bottom Rd.
Half way between Sequim and Port Angeles is a huge, historic barn, which houses Olympic Cellars.
Get back on Hwy. 101 N and drive about nine miles. Olympic Cellars will be on your left, so you need to exit the freeway at Agnew Cutoff and get back on in the opposite direction briefly. You can’t miss the big Olympic Cellars barn! 255410 U.S. 101, Port Angeles.
Keep heading West on Hwy 101 for about 6 miles until you arrive in the town of Port Angeles. Follow the signs to Forks and stay on 101 through town. Take a right on South Pine St. This road curves to the left and becomes West 16th. Then, take a full left onto South Pine St. and continue on to Black Diamond Road. About three miles up the road, you reach Black Diamond Winery on the right, at 2976 Black Diamond Rd. Enjoy the scenic vineyard and delicious fruit wines here.
We have two more wineries to guide you toward. Come back later this month for the rest of the driving route!
Are you visiting Seattle soon? Do yourself a favor and spend a day on the stunningly beautiful Olympic Peninsula, a scenic ferry ride and one hour drive from downtown Seattle.
A great way to see the peninsula and view the scenery is by taking a wine tour. We have eight member wineries on the peninsula. You can see them all during one full day of touring the Peninsula! Note: Make sure to check winery listings for when you can stop by or make an appointment for a tasting!
Once you’ve crossed the Hood Canal Bridge, head about 10 miles further until you see Center-Sr 104 loop and take a right. Take an immediate right into Center Rd. Four miles later, turn on Country Meadow Rd. About a quarter mile down, take a right on Barn Swallow Rd. This brings you to Finnriver Farm and Cidery, at 62 Barn Swallow Road in Chimacum.
This is a fun route through the back roads to the adorable town of Port Townsend.
Eaglemount Wine and Cider in Port Townsend
Head south on Barn Swallow Rd., back the way you came in. Take a left on Country Meadow Rd and then take a right to get back on Center Rd. Head about two and a half miles and take a left on Rhody Dr. Three miles later continue onto Airport Cutoff Rd. This will bring you to Rte. 20 E. Drive about two miles down and take a left on S. Jacob Miller Rd. Two more miles and take a right on Hastings Ave West. FairWinds Winery will be on the left, at 1984 Hastings Ave W.
If you leave Seattle around 9 a.m. it will probably be about lunch time when you leave FairWinds. Head into Port Townsend to get a bite before getting back on the road.
Get back on Rte. 20 heading West. Six miles down, take a left on Eaglemount Rd. Eaglemount Wine and Cider will be about two miles down, at 2530 Eaglemount Rd. Cider is a nice, light way to start a day of tastings!
Check back soon to see the rest of our Olympic Peninsula Wine Tour Routes!
Looking for a great weekend getaway this spring? Come to the Olympic Peninsula! Along with charming waterfront communities and beautiful landscapes, we also have natural hot springs.
There are two different places where you can bathe in Hot Springs on the Peninsula. One is easily accessed and built up into a resort style destination. The other requires about a two mile hike into the woods and is significantly more rustic.
Sol Duc Hot Springs offers three mineral hot spring soaking pools and one freshwater pool. Temperatures vary between the pools, so you can find the perfect one for you preferences. Relax and soak in the hot mineral baths, then jump into the cool freshwater pool for an exhilarating experience!
Each mineral pool is closed twice daily to allow for a ‘resting period’. During this time the pool is being tested to ensure health and safety requirements are met. All of the mineral hot springs are drained nightly, cleaned and then fill again naturally.
One of the ‘abandoned’ Olympic Hot Springs
Note: These pools frequently fail water quality standards for public bathing, so use them at your own risk. That said, I’ve bathed in them, enjoyed it and I’m still here, no worse for the wear.
There was once a hot spring resort tucked deep in the Olympic Mountains. It burned to the ground in 1940, but of course the springs remain. The road that led to the resort is now a pleasant 2 + mile hike.
The Olympic Hot Springs consist of 21 seeps on the bank of Boulder Creek, a tributary of the Elwha River in Olympic National Park. Water temperatures vary from lukewarm to 138 degrees. Most of the springs have been modified by bathers in some way – lined with stones to help collect water into deeper pools, or dug out a bit to let you soak more of yourself in the waters.
Hot springs were heralded as healing places at the turn of the 19th century. Many still believe they hold curing properties. But what we know for sure about natural hot springs is that they are relaxing.
A little wine while cooking dinner, after a hard day at work or while socializing with friends is also a lovely way to relax. We hope when you visit the Olympic Peninsula, you will stop by one of our fine wineries and bring some Washington wine home with you.
The Olympic Peninsula is blessed with eight great wineries. You can visit all of them on a fun-filled day that takes you from Port Angeles to Port Townsend and back. Or, depending on where your starting point is, you can use our suggested wine tour route to plan your day.
If you are coming from the East (Seattle, Bainbridge, Pudget Sound) go west on Washington Hwy 101 just a couple of miles past Port Angeles to Harbinger Winery. Located in a chic, sheet metal facility right on Washington Highway 101, you can’t miss it! Next stop is the beautiful grounds of Camaraderie Cellars, just one mile east on Benson Road. Continue back to the east on Hwy 101 through Port Angeles to Olympic Cellars, housed in a beautiful historic barn on the highway about half-way between Sequim and Port Angeles.
Continue on Hwy 101 east to Sequim and visit the Olympic Peninsula’s newest winery, Wind Rose Cellars, located in downtown Sequim. Continue on HWY 101 east to Discovery Bay and the turnoff to Hwy 20 north. Eaglmount Wine & Cider’s woodland tasting room is just 3 miles away.
Berries at the Finnriver Farm and Cidery
Travel north on Hwy 20, turn off to FairWinds Winery’s country setting just a little further north. On your return to Hwy 101, travel south on Route 19 towards Chimacum. The last stop on your Olympic Peninsula Winery journey is Finnriver Ciderand sustainable farm, located off Center Road. Or, take the pressure off everyone and charter a tour.
All Points Charters & Tours is a full-service tour and company located on the northern Olympic Peninsula. Willie Nelson, owner, has more than 15 years experience in providing the best in tour and charter services. He hosts a great full-day wine tour on Saturday. The tour costs only $85 per person, including lunch in Port Townsend and tasting fees. Please make reservations by calling (360) 565-1139 or (360) 460-7131. Sit back and enjoy the scenery between stops and don’t worry about your driving ability!
If you are feeling ambitious, head for the northwestern most point of the Continental United States: Cape Flattery. From Cape Flattery you can look out over the rocky cliffs and can see the Tatoosh lighthouse on Tatoosh Island. It continues to mark the entrance to the Strait of Juan de Fuca. These desolate, rocky shores can be deadly for unawares seamen. It is a view that infuses you with the power of the mighty Pacific Ocean.
The Makah tribe made this corner of the world home for several thousand years.
A Makah settlement circa 1900
The Makah Cultural Center and Museum is a fascinating glimpse into these hardy people’s history. Many of the artifacts are displayed in ways that tell the story of their approximate 4,000-year-old existence.
If you are a seafood lover, than you already know the Olympic Peninsula has unparalleled bounty. One variety in particular, Salmon, is a favorite of mine and also lovely to pair with many Olympic Peninsula white wines, like the Aligote from Fairwinds winery. If you have an interest in the fascinating life cycle of salmon (and you are already up near Neah Bay) visit the Makah National Fish Hatchery.
View Chinook salmon as they make their way over fish ladders to the hatchery’s spawning area. Spawning months are October and November, and the salmon are released in late April. Smaller numbers of coho, chum salmon and steelhead trout also populate the hatchery. From Neah Bay, follow signs south for 7 mi.
On your way back from Cape Flattery, stop at an Olympic Peninsula winery and pick up a bottle of Washington wine to have with dinner. Camaraderie Cellars in Port Angeles makes wines are known for balance and complexity that complement a wide range of foods. Camaraderie winemakers focus on Bordeaux grape varieties both red and white. Sauvignon Blanc co-fermented with Semillion is blended with barrel-fermented viognier to produce a fresh, fruity white wine to complement area seafood.