The Forest Storytelling Festival

Charlotte Blake Alston will tell stories at the Forest Storytelling Festival.

The 17th Annual Forest Storytelling Festival takes place in Port Angeles, Washington, on October 14, 15, and 16, 2011.

Five professional storytellers will be featured this year: Charlotte Blake Alston, Michael Reno Harrell, Patrick Ball, Paul “Che oke’ ten” Wagner, and Ingrid Nixon. Each brings their unique perspective and experience to their tales. They will also each lead a Saturday afternoon workshop, guaranteed to enlighten and entertain.

Tell your own stories while in Port Angeles, on stage during the festival or during a break, over a glass of Washington Wine made on the Olympic Peninsula. Four of our member Olympic Peninsula Wineries are located in Port Angeles: Harbinger Winery, Camaraderie Cellars, Black Diamond Winery, and Olympic Cellars. Try their wines at individual wineries, and bring a bottle or two back home, to enjoy with friends while sharing stories about your weekend at the Forest Storytelling Festival.

All festival events take place at the Peninsula College Little Theater. For a complete schedule, please see the Forest Storytelling Festival.

Photo credit: Annie Cameron.

There’s a Crustacean for Everyone

New England has lobster. Baltimore has blue crab smothered in Old Bay. The Olympic Peninsula has Dungeness Crab.

Lobster is lovely and blue crab delicious, but there’s nothing like Dungeness Crab. Celebrate this delectable crustacean during the 2011 Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival in Port Angeles, WA, October 8 and 9.

Eat crab and drink Washington Wines made on the Olympic Peninsula at the Dungeness Crab Festival, October 8-9, 2011.

Olympic Peninsula Wineries will be there, pouring selected Washington Wines at the Wine and Beer Garden at Crab Central. Drop by anytime between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. to sample our wines. Feel free to ask the pourers which wines they think go best with Dungeness Crab. You may be surprised by how many options there are.

Dungeness crab can be prepared as many ways as there are chefs to cook it. It is amazing on its own, and it makes a wonderful ingredient. As in past years, cooking demonstrations are a highlight of the Crab Festival. This year, see:

The Galloping Gourmet (aka Graham Kerr) demonstrate how to make his famous crab cakes.

Chef Les Chan from Victoria, B.C. prepare Imperial Crab Spring Rolls.

Chef Jon Unruh of Wildfire Grill in Port Angeles prepare Dungeness Mac & Cheese – the ultimate comfort food.

Chef Kaleb Walace of Michael’s Seafood and Steak Restaurant in Port Angeles prepare Fresh Pasta with Chanterelle Mushrooms and Dungeness Crab with Olympic Cellars Chardonnay Butter.

The Dungeness Crab Festival is also a Seafood Festival, and several regional chefs will demonstrate how to make some of their favorite seafood dishes. See:

Chef Arran Stark from Cultivated Palette Catering and Brassica Restaurant in Port Townsend show people just what can be done with Salmon.

Chef Gabriel Schuenemann of the Alder Wood Bistro in Sequim prepare Scallop Ceviche with pickled Chanterelle Mushrooms.

Chef Ron Anderson of Etta’s Seafood in Seattle prepare Cider steamed Blueshell Mussels and smoked hamhock.

Even more chefs will demonstrate how to prepare even more dishes. For a complete list of the Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival Chef Demonstrations, please see Crab Fest.

You’ll come away from the 2011 Dungeness Crab and Seafood Festival well fed and armed with new recipes and Washington Wines to enhance them. Now that’s a weekend well spent.

Please see Dungeness Crab Festival for additional information.

The New Dungeness Lighthouse

Walk to the New Dungeness Lighthouse, on the tip of Dungeness Spit in Sequim.

Perched on the end of the Dungeness Spit in Sequim, the New Dungeness Lighthouse is far from new. Yet today it is as remote and beautiful as it was more than 150 years ago. It’s worth a look the next time you’re visiting the Olympic Peninsula. Since the weather is supposed to be great during the next couple of weeks (at last!), plan a trip soon.

Dungeness Spit is the world’s longest natural sand spit, extending five miles into the Strait of Juan de Fuca (and growing every year). There is no quick way to get to the lighthouse at the end of the Spit – visitors must walk five miles to the end of the Spit and five miles back. Those who do are rewarded with stunning scenery, wonderful wildlife, fresh air, and peace.

A walk out to the New Dungeness Lighthouse is a fantastic way to celebrate a special occasion. It’s an incredible experience, even on the most blustery days. Once at the lighthouse, visitors are rewarded with amazing views from the top of the Lighthouse tower. On clear days, the Olympics, the North Cascades, and Mount Baker will knock your socks right off your feet.

Several picnic tables are located out by the lighthouse, and driftwood chairs are abundant on the beach. Picnics should include a bottle of Washington State Wine from the Olympic Peninsula – to celebrate your surroundings.

Celebrate the return trip with a stop at one of the nearby Olympic Peninsula, Washington State Wineries. Olympic Cellars, Harbinger Winery, Camaraderie Cellars, and Black Diamond Winery are all located in Port Angeles. All offer wine tasting.

It is possible to travel by boat to the New Dungeness Lighthouse. Advance notice must be given to the National Wildlife Refuge at 360.457.8451.

If you’re interested in becoming a volunteer lighthouse Keeper, please visit New Dungeness Lighthouse.

Fine Dining and Fine Wine on the Olympic Peninsula

Travelers to the Olympic Peninsula have long gone there to find stunning scenery, rain forests, and unparalleled outdoor activities. Back in the day few travelers expected to find great food or wine. That has changed.

A young apple presser examines a batch of apples that will soon be turned into cider at Finnriver Farm & Cidery

These days, people exploring the Olympic Peninsula come across restaurants that have been written up in the New York Times (Fins, in Port Townsend). They find hand-crafted pizza made in wood-fired stoves at Sequim’s Alderwood Bistro. They find elegant garden dining at the Cafe Garden in Port Angeles. They also find award winning Washington State Wine and cider.

When next you head to the Olympic Peninsula, be it to hike, admire views from Hurricane Ridge, or spend time in a historic seacoast town, be sure to bring your appetite. Allow time to stop by one of the Washington State wineries in Port Angeles and Port Townsend, where you may taste hand crafted Washington wine. Visit a picturesque cidery in the Chimacum Valley, and taste cider made from Washington apples. You’ll be happy you did.

Sol Duck Hot Springs and Washington Wine

Wouldn’t a soak in natural hot springs feel good right about now?

Sol Duc Hot Springs are located in the Olympic National Park, about an hour beyond Port Angeles, WA. It is a rustic paradise. Leave your cell phone at home and journey to a place where the main activities are soaking in mineral hot springs, hiking in the Olympic Mountains, and breathing in the fresh air.

Cabins are tucked among towering evergreens and along the Sol Duc River. There are non-kitchen cabins and cabins with kitchens; some sleep up to five people, some accommodate as many as ten. Come for a romantic getaway with one special person, or gather a group of friends for a weekend of fun.

If you are traveling from the Seattle area, you’ll pass through Port Angeles on your way to the Sol Duc Hot Springs. Take a few moments to stop at the Washington State Wineries there for wine tasting. You won’t want to travel into the heart of the Olympic National Park without a few bottles of delicious Washington State Wine.

The first winery you’ll pass is Olympic Cellars, which is just east of Port Angeles in a lovely old barn. Black Diamond Winery is three miles outside of the heart of Port Angeles, beautifully situated on 20-acres overlooking the Tumwater Creek. Camaraderie Cellars is a lush, intimate space just two miles west of Port Angeles. Harbinger Winery is in a wonderful converted ex-logging truck shop, right on 101 west of Port Angeles.

Stop by all four Port Angeles Washington Wineries; you’ll need a good deal of wine, for soaking in hot springs creates great thirst. On your way back home, you can stop by and pick up a few more bottles of your favorites.

Bring Washington State Wine to Sol Duc Hot Springs.

To make a lodging reservation, visit Sol Duc Hot Springs.

Wine and Cheese on the Olympic Peninsula This Weekend

It’s finally here, the weekend all wine and cheese aficionados have been anticipating for weeks. The Northwest Wine and Cheese Tour of Olympic Peninsula WA Wineries is tomorrow and Sunday, April 16 and 17, 2011.

Blue Cheese from Willapa Hills

Hire a sitter for the kids or call your closest friends – a variety of wine will be poured at the eight participating Washington State Wineries in Port Townsend, Chimacum, and Port Angeles. Each will be paired with a local cheese, and together the wine and cheese will bring out the best in each other. (more…)

Indulge in Wine and Chocolate Because You Can.

Much of the country is paralyzed under umpteen feet of snow. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we should celebrate our ability to travel freely by, well, traveling.

The upcoming Red Wine and Chocolate Festival at our Washington State Wineries is a great incentive to travel to the Olympic Peninsula the weekends of February 12 and 13, and 19, 20, and 21. Picture a towering fountain of flowing chocolate and barrels of delicious Washington State Wine. Why stay at home when you can experience that?

Wine and chocolate may not be inherently romantic, but they can be a lovely addition to a romantic moment. In honor of Valentine’s Day, enjoy a romantic getaway on the Olympic Peninsula – in Port Angeles, Sequim, or Port Townsend. Visit our Olympic Peninsula Wineries to sample a variety of Washington State Wines and a delicious array of chocolate creations.
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Sweet and Savory, Chocolate and Wine

Chocolate. Red Wine. Joy.

Is there anything better than following a bite of chocolate with a sip of good red wine? We think not.

Celebrate two of the best things in life with good friends, family, or that special someone. Join seven of our Washington State Wineries on the North Olympic Peninsula for two weekends of Red Wine and Chocolate: February 12 – 13, and February 19 – 21, 2011 (11 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily).
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The Gift of Port Angeles Washington Wines

The magical fruit.

Give the gift of Port Angeles Washington wines this holiday. Offer them as gifts to friends and family, bring them to dinners, and serve them at your table.

Try Black Diamond Winery‘s Shiro Plum, featuring plums from their own private orchard. Talk about local. This dry fruit wine is produced from start to finish in Port Angeles, on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula.

Try the 2002 Grâce from Camaraderie Cellars. It combines grapes from Fred Artz’ vineyard on Red Mountain, Paul Champoux at Mercer Ranch, and Len Parris at Chandler Reach; the Malbec comes from Crawford Vineyard in Prosser. All these bits of Washington State have been blended to create a wine that has won several international awards, including a Double Gold at the San Francisco International Competition. Drink it now or in years to come.

This month’s featured wines at Harbinger Winery are the 2007 Syrah and the 2007 Malbec. The Syrah is big and bold, with hints of leather and licorice and wonderfully deep, fruity aromas. The Malbec has a lovely backbone of tannins and acidity, balanced by ripe berries.

The wines at Olympic Cellars have been made from Eastern Washington’s Sagemore Farms’ and Champoux Vineyards’ grapes for 25 years. There are now three different labels produced at Olympic Cellars: Working Girl, award-winning but affordable; La Dolce Vida, five varietals of premium wine produced in small batches; and Dungeness, a heritage and artist series.

Offer these Washington State wine s as gifts this year. They’ll be much appreciated.

Tour the Olympic Peninsula Wine Harvest

Bring your own glass to the 2010 Harvest Wine Tour of Washington State Wineries on the Olympic Peninsula.

The amazing taste of fall.

Our Harvest Wine Tour takes place November 13 and 14 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at all seven member wineries. This is a great excuse to head to the Blue Hole in Sequim, which will probably be in high demand come mid November. Olympic Cellars on the road to Port Angeles, and Camaraderie Cellars and Black Diamond Winery in Port Angeles will serve an assortment of autumnal appetizers alongside their wines.

The Olympic Rain Shadow stretches to scenic Port Townsend, where Sorenson Cellars and FairWinds Winery will serve their finest Washington State Wines and FinnRiver Farm and Cidery will amaze you with their delicious hard cider. Tasty treats will accompany the wines.

For extra fun, each winery will host a scavenger hunt for wine-related items during the weekend.

This is a self-guided tour: start in Port Angeles and work your way to Chimacum, start in Port Townsend and work your way back, or criss-cross the peninsula. Your itinerary is up to you. Our wineries supply outstanding Washington State wines and ciders, food, and fun.

Tickets for this self guided tour are available in advance or at the door on a first come basis for $25.00 and entitle you to complimentary wine tastings and appetizers at each winery during the weekend. A tasting fee of $5.00 per person per winery will apply to non ticketed visitors.

For additional information and tickets, please visit our Harvest Wine Tour page.

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.

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

Dungeness Crab Festival

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