Happy New Year from the Olympic Peninsula

We’d like to extend heartfelt thanks to everyone who visited our Washington State Wineries and Cideries in 2011. Thanks for journeying to the beautiful Olympic Peninsula. Thanks for taking the time to visit us, taste our wine and cider, and chat with us about what we do and why we do it. We all love what we do, but the work wouldn’t be nearly so fun if we couldn’t share our wine and cider with you.

We hope to see you again in 2012.

Happy New Year from Olympic Peninsula Wineries!

Happy New Year!

New Year’s Resolution: Be a Locavore

As you review the past year and consider the year to come, we at Olympic Peninsula Wineries would like to encourage you to be a locavore.

This is what being a locavore in Washington State looks like.

We don’t mean to suggest that you should eat and drink only locally produced foods and drinks 100% of the time (though what an accomplishment that would be).   The joys of biting into colorful, juicy Satsumas during grey Pacific Northwest winters are too great to overlook. We do hope you’ll consider the benefits of eating locally: to your health, to the environment, and to your local economy.

This blog is no place for a diatribe, so we’ll keep it short and sweet. Eating locally:

  • keeps your money in your community
  • reduces your carbon footprint
  • tastes and feels good

Those of us who live in the Pacific Northwest are lucky: we can eat a varied diet of foods grown and raised here twelve months a year. We can grow kiwis and tomatoes and greens and berries in our backyards. We can find a wide variety of artisan, farmstead cheeses, free-range chickens, and grass-fed beef at farmers markets. We can eat wild salmon and Hood Canal oysters. We can drink Washington State wine and cider and beer.

In short, eating local in Washington State means eating pretty darn well.

Be kind to yourself in 2012. Be a locavore.

Victorian Heritage Days in Port Townsend, WA

Anyone who has ever visited Port Townsend, WA, knows it to be a beautiful, historic, seaport town. Jaw-dropping views of Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, the Olympics and Cascades greet you at every turn. Closer to home, the coast of Whidbey Island evokes the White Cliffs of Dover.

Mount Baker, as seen from Fort Worden.

One hardly needs an excuse to visit Port Townsend, but there are plenty for those who feel they do. The upcoming Victorian Heritage Days, March 18 – 20, 2011, is sure to appeal to both history and architecture buffs. Special events include tours of Historic Uptown and Downtown Port Townsend (walking and bus tours available), Historic Clothing Fashion Show, and presentations on weatherizing old buildings and maintaining traditional wooden boats.

While in Port Townsend for Victorian Heritage Days, visit the local Washington State Wineries and sample their wines. FairWinds Winery and Sorenson Cellars are located in Port Townsend proper, while Eaglemount Wine and Cider, and Finnriver Farm and Cidery are located in nearby Chimacum. If you can’t make it out to the wineries, enjoy a glass of local wine at one of the many excellent restaurants in town; or stop by The Wine Seller on Water Street or Aldrich’s Market Uptown and pick up a bottle of local Washington Wine or Cider to bring home.