Olympic Peninsula Wine Tour

The Harvest Wine Tour highlights seven Washington State Wineries on the Olympic Peninsula. Our version of a fall harvest festival takes place November 13 and 14, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A self guided tour, the Harvest Wine Tour encourages people to visit all seven participating Washington State Wineries: Harbinger Winery, Camaraderie Cellars and Black Diamond Winery in Port Angeles, Olympic Cellars in Sequim, Sorenson Cellars and FairWinds Winery in Port Townsend, and FinnRiver Farm & Cidery in Chimacum.

Tickets ($25) are available for purchase in advance, or at the door (on a first come basis). They include entrance and tastings at all seven wineries, a special commemorative wine glass, and samples of tasty local cuisine at each winery. Oenophiles who have their passports stamped at all seven participating wineries will be eligible for gift basket drawing.

The Harvest Wine Tour is a great excuse to get out of the city and visit the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. It’s fun to visit small wineries, each of which has its own distinct personality. Meet the wine makers and learn about the wine first hand while tasting it.

The Days of Crab and Wine

Do you like to cook?

Do you like to eat Dungeness Crab?

Do you like Washington wine?

If your answer to the above questions is “yes”, then you’ll love the upcoming Dungeness Crab & Seafood Festival and Wine Tour, October 9 and 10, 2010.

In addition to an on-going crab feed, cooking demonstrations will help spectators make the most of their crab, and wine tastings will help you learn which Washington wines work best with Dungeness Crab. It is guaranteed to be an exciting weekend, all around. See you there.

Dungeness Crab & Shrimp Cakes

Bring home a bottle of Washington Wine from the Olympic Peninsula to enjoy with your crab cakes.

Biking and Wine Tasting on the Olympic Peninsula

Looking for a reason to leave the city and head to the Olympic Peninsula? How about a bike ride on the Olympic Discovery Trail?

The Olympic Discovery Trail currently stretches from the Jamestown S’Kallam Tribal Center in Blyn (about 6 miles south of Sequim) to Ediz Hook in Port Angeles. Much of it follows an old railroad route. It runs between Highway 101 and Sequim Bay and alongside the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Port Angeles. In the future, this trail will stretch from Port Townsend to the coast of Washington by La Push.

Washington State Wineries of the Olympic Peninsula support the completion of Olympic Discovery Trail. It provides a safe alternative to road biking, while connecting many communities on the north Olympic Peninsula. (more…)

Visit Hurricane Ridge

Road leading up to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park

The road to Hurricane Ridge.

Beautiful August weather has returned, which means it’s a great time to drive to the top of Hurricane Ridge, in the Olympic National Park. The views are unparalleled, both from the peak and from several scenic overlooks along the way. Once at Hurricane Ridge, a paved loop leads to expansive views, while unpaved trails lead to the heart of the Olympic Mountains. You may hear a whistling marmot welcoming you to the wilderness.

Once you’ve returned to sea level on the Olympic Peninsula, visit Washington State Wineries in and around Port Angeles. Wines produced on the Olympic Peninsula come from grapes grown here and in eastern Washington State. Wine tastings are offered daily during the summer, and are a wonderful way to find the wines you really love.

Select a bottle or two to bring back home; and when you drink them, remember what it felt like to stand on top of the world.

Even Elk Love Washington State Wine

Last August, a herd of elk wandered through our Washington State Winery on the Olympic Peninsula. We assumed it was because they liked the scent of our wine.

We can’t promise the elk will drop by for some of our Washington State wine this August, but you never know. We can promise you an enjoyable wine tasting experience.

Elk graze near Olympic Cellars, between Sequim and Port Angeles, WA.

Olympic Music Festival

The Olympic Music Festival is underway for the 27th season, Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm through August 22, 2010.

Weekend afternoons, lovely chamber music fills a beautiful turn-of-the-century barn. Founder Alan Iglitzin and a wonderful collection of talented musicians delight audiences with music by composers such as Schubert, Schumann, Fujiwara, and Shostakovich, among others.

We hope you'll take time to partake in the Olympic Music Festival this summer

The setting is as beautiful as the music. The simple barn sits on 55 acres, along with an old farmhouse that is home to festival director Alan Iglitzin and his wife. Attendees are welcome to arrive early, stroll the grounds and enjoy a picnic. Once the concerts begin, some folks make themselves comfortable in church pews and on hay bales in the barn, while others prefer to remain stretched out comfortably on the lawn. Either way, the music washes over them.

This is an ideal setting to enjoy a glass of Washington State Wine. While on the Olympic Peninsula for the Olympic Music Festival, take time to visit one of seven Washington State Wineries, where you are welcome to sample the wine. Select a few favorite bottles and bring one to the Olympic Music Festival to enjoy prior to the show. Music and wine go marvelously together.

For more information about the Olympic Music Festival, please visit http://www.olympicmusicfestival.org/.

Olympic Peninsula Wine and Lavender

The Sequim Lavender Festival is just days away, and the Olympic Peninsula Wine and Lavender Tour is in progress. Showers today should freshen the farms so the lavender will look its best come Friday July 16, when the Lavender Festival begins. By then, skies will be blue and fields of lavender will dazzle the eyes with green, purple and blue.

But if you just can’t wait until this weekend, don’t. It is summer, after all, the best time to take a few days off work and treat yourself to a little rest and relaxation. Seven Washington wineries on the Olympic Peninsula are pouring hand-crafted wines and ciders as I write; why aren’t you enjoying a taste of it?

Immerse yourself in beautiful lavender fields during the 2010 Sequim Lavender Festival.

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Lavender and Wine on the Olympic Peninsula

Visit the 2010 Olympic Peninsula Lavender Festival and tour seven fine Olympic Peninsula Wineries.

The Sequim Lavender Festival is fast approaching. The 2010 festival runs Friday through Sunday, July 16, 17, 18. Visit seven lavender farms on the Olympic Peninsula, and while you’re out enjoying yourself, visit seven Washington state wineries on the Olympic Peninsula as well.

Olympic Peninsula Wineries are offering a Lavender Celebration Tour of Wineries from Saturday July 10 through July 18. All of our wineries will open from 11am to 5pm daily, and we’ll be pouring new and current releases. For more details, visit our Sequim Lavender Festival Wine Tour page. (more…)

Finnriver Crafts Artisan Hard Cider, Wine and Spirits

Our Washington State Wineries Group welcomes Finnriver Farm and Cidery, located twelve miles south of historic Port Townsend in Chimacum’s Center Valley.

Visit the Tasting Room Thursday - Sunday from 1 - 5pm, May through October

Finnriver is dedicated to sustainable agriculture, ecological land stewardship, and enhancing biodiversity. The Kislers, Eric Jorgensen and family, and their partners grow certified organic berries and heirloom apple trees, and also “glean wild apples from old-time local homesteads and source fruit from a fifth generation organic family farm in eastern Washington.” They then craft these fruits into artisan sparkling ciders, dessert wines and spirits. (more…)

Shrimp Fest

Hang on to your sun hats everyone, because it’s almost time for ShrimpFest. This fantastic annual celebration of Hood Canal’s Spot Shrimp (and other local seafood) takes place Memorial Day Weekend. It’s a great excuse to head to the Olympic Peninsula.

ShrimpFest. Be there.

Bring your belt sander and enter decorated belt sander races (just so you can say you did). Bring a bucket and a shovel, so you can hunt for clams and oysters during low tides (license required). It’s a cute little festival, and always fun. (more…)

Wine and Cheese – a Perfect Marriage

Saint-André cheese & Châteaux de Bourgogne cheese & Granville Island olive bread.. and red wine..

Wine and cheese - the best combination there is.

Wine and cheese were meant to go together. They are the perfect union. Well paired wine and cheese bring out the best in each other. The right combination compliments and enhances each flavor. It can be an extraordinary gustatory experience.

Cheese has a multitude of flavors and textures, from sumptuously creamy to sharp and crumbly. It is delicious when melted on noodles, crumbled over salads, and sliced next to fruit. And of course, cheese with bread and crackers is heavenly. But sometimes it is hard to know which cheese to choose for your dinner party or luncheon. (more…)