A day on Bainbridge Island. A Wine Tour of sorts with some beer and whiskey mixed in 

Bainbridge Island Japanese Internment Memorial

We started our day as we start every Bainbridge Island trip. Waking up semi early and spontaneously deciding to hop a ferry. We took the down town Seattle boat across, which only takes about 30 minutes. The ride is nice and the views are great of both Seattle and Bainbridge even on a slightly gloomy day. Once aboard you can roam and dine as you please! They have everything from cafeteria fixings to the awe inspiring selection of vending machines, but I like to get breakfast at a small but very busy spot right off the ferry called the Steamliner Diner. The portions are good, and the breakfast is hearty. I have never been there for dinner but apparently it transforms into an Italian restaurant. Which is both intriguing and perplexing to me.
After we have had our fill of eggs benedict we headed for the wineries. This was my first time going to any of the wineries on Bainbridge and I was quite looking forward to it. We found a map of all of them and charted a route.

The first place we stopped on our made-up tour was Fletchers Bay Winery. It is a small but sophisticated tasting room with a delightful selection of wines. We decided to do the white wine tasting but after some good laughs with the bartender she permitted us to swap around for a red or two and even gave a little extra tasting. The whole staff was very pleasant and helpful. Though there was a wasp flying around that the bartender could not contain and was causing her a great deal of hilarious panic. She did get the situation under control and we continued to enjoy our wines. We ordered a down right amazing charcuterie platter while we tasted and if you don’t know I love my cured meats! Just check out the chronicles of curing for proof. This plate was full of prosciutto, salami and of course coppa. Plus the cracker to meat ratio was perfect and that is very important to me because who wants to be left with a pile of delicious cold cuts and nothing to put them on. After all of that we settled on our favorite wines; the hidden cove white which was sweet and crisp but not overly sugary, more fruity. We also picked up some of their Sangiovese red. It was reminiscent of the wines we had in Tuscany. It was not too bold more like a chianti and went perfectly with our meat plate. If you don’t know most Sangiovese wines such as Rosso go great with pork products and tomato sauce. We finished out our wine order with a bottle of their cranberry wine which is both tart, tangy with just a hint of sweet perfect for the holidays though I’m thinking of making a sangria with some of it.

 

Between here and the wineries we stopped into Bainbridge Brewery and the Bainbridge Distillery all in the same complex. The brewery has some fine beers that can compete with some of Seattle’s breweries and the distillery has a great assortment of organic spirts. We ended up with a bottle of whiskey and gin. The also have a very smooth vodka. I hate gin but this gin was miles from the overly junipery gins I have tried in the past. It had a much more interesting flavor with notes of pine in there which was a lovely NW spin. They also had a very expensive bottle of Whiskey called Yama. Which has been aged in barrels made from Japanese wood and a costly process to produce and ship them here. This combined with the fact that the barrels “leak like a sieve” which apparently caused them to lose a good deal of whiskey from the very expensive barrels are part of the reason that it’s so expensive such a pricey bottle of whiskey. Though the whiskey has high ratings and awards we did not partake in a bottle. At around 500$ a bottle it was a little rich for our blood.

 

The next winery we hit was by far our favorite. Perennial Vintners. This place was so great! Fight past the appearance as you drive up to it because you might think: “is this the place??” but yes, yes it is you just have to look past the exterior because truthfully it is just the basement of a house. But really guys the hole in the wall places are the best spots even if they are literal holes.. Besides the wine being outstanding and an aggressively friendly cat (crawled over my entire back) the owner was very informative and awesome. He spent a great deal of time telling us the history of the neighboring farms in relation to him obtaining the land and the Japanese internment camps, which was so interesting to hear about and honestly, we thought it was so cool that he was so connected to Bainbridge. He also told us all about his grapes that he grows right outside his door. Turns out he is one of only a few wineries in Western Washington that grows grapes and produces wine in the same spot. Most get their grapes sent in from Eastern Washington. We tasted a good deal of the wines he had on hand and ended up bringing home quite a few bottles. Syrah: this was a great easy drinking red wine. I loved this one because like I said before the bold reds are usually over whelming for me and I prefer the subtle flavor. Lemberger: this was my first time trying this style of red wine. It is not aged in oak so that you can fully taste the grapes. I really enjoyed the bright, fruity flavor of this wine and again it was quite fresh so I can easily see myself sipping the afternoon away with this bottle. Melon de Bourgogne: This was an incredibly delicious whit wine. We were tasting this and reminiscing about the seafood we had in Italy because this wine would go so good with a plate of pasta and seafood. Sweet but dry it was exactly what we were after when we set out to find a unique wine. It is also the only Melon De Bourgogne made in Washington. Siegerrebe: I had never tried this style of white wine before this outing, but it was so delicious as is the trend with Perennial Vintners wines. A dry easy drinking white wine that comes from the Gewurztraminer grape.. whatever that is its heavenly. We also tried the best raspberry wines ive ever had. It was full and fruity without the cooked fruit taste of some raspberry wines, sadly he was all out but we will for sure be trekking back for it next year and I’m sure to restock all the other amazing wines we had.

 

Bainbridge Vineyards was our next stop. It has a quaint exterior and an inviting tasting room. Which is probably why it was so busy. We tried a variety of wines and ended up with a couple bottles even though this was not our favorite stop after the delightful experience we had at Perennial. Pinot Noir: this was a decent red, very drinkable with a bit more bold body than the previous red we had, but still dry. I felt it would still go quite nicely with a light pork dish or perhaps a heavier seafood pasta or salmon dish. Muller Thurgau: Another surprising name with German origins that I had never tried before. Thiis white was enjoyable, sweet but crisp, the tannins in it cut the sweetness just enough for me to be able to enjoy it on a warm spring afternoon, perhaps with a nice cheese and charcuterie platter to help cut the rich fatty flavors in the cold cuts. Madeleine Angevine This is the closest wine we had all day to wines we drank in Vernazza Italy while enjoying the amazing seafood. It was a light, crispy, fruity and aromatic white wine that I can imagine going swimmingly with lightly friend anchovies, fresh nw oysters or even a light pesto pasta. Finally we tried their raspberry wine and were sadly a little disappointed after tasting the previous one at Perennial. It was still good but tasted too much of cooked raspberries which for me is not ideal, I prefer fruit wines to taste more of their pressed juices.

 

Our final stop on our makeshift wine tour was Eleven Winery. We got there fairly late in the evening, but it was still pretty busy for the hour we were there. The trendy and warm interior was very inviting and cozy. They were just finishing an acoustic performance when we arrived, and it really added to the ambiance, so we were excited to dive in. The only hiccup was because it was still so busy close to closing the staff seemed irritable and not that helpful or friendly. This did deter us a bit but though the wines didn’t taste the most regional we did end up liking a couple of their reds. The Ratio: Rosso Which is a blended red. This red was quite nice for much bolder than the previous reds we enjoyed at the other locations. The flavors came together nicely and I can’t wait to have this with a nice beef steak. The Petit Verdot we brought home was not as robust as we thought it might be, which for us was ok. I enjoyed it and I know that it will pair nicely with a lovely cheese platter. Which is where I’m headed now to a good cheese platter and another gorgeous glass of wine! I hope you find as much joy touring Bainbridge and as always get out there and Crusch It!

 

 

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Some extra photo Credit:

Perennial Vintners vineyard:
https://www.google.com/search?q=perennial+vintners+bainbridge+island,+wa&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijsdCfq7_XAhUE8mMKHWqfCb0Q_AUIDCgD&biw=1920&bih=904#imgrc=icZagCU9kzZkTM

Perennial house:

Perennialvintners.com

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x54903c52321542ad%3A0x76719e26b0143994!2m22!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m16!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!2m2!1m1!1e6!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Flh%2Fsredir%3Funame%3D104486629580468642390%26id%3D6408611658544649314%26target%3DPHOTO!5sGoogle%20Search&imagekey=!1e3!2s-wDw-zP6zh3g%2FWO_2WWL7FGI%2FAAAAAAAABJ8%2Fkur0WUnjJsQdivEPxpHM1obcwKO5sjgIwCLIB

Bainbridge Distillery Outside:

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?hl=en&pb=!1s0x54903c225ee825ef%3A0x65f14af85432a415!2m22!2m2!1i80!2i80!3m1!2i20!16m16!1b1!2m2!1m1!1e1!2m2!1m1!1e3!2m2!1m1!1e5!2m2!1m1!1e4!2m2!1m1!1e6!3m1!7e115!4shttps%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Flh%2Fsredir%3Funame%3D101418482338794599152%26id%3D5783702826912495938%26target%3DPHOTO!5sGoogle%20Search&imagekey=!1e3!2s-i_fCW1TP2AY%2FUEPXE-SKuUI%2FAAAAAAAACh4%2FLZDnaTOTjEgFtOUZbVYlNnjngL8Fsh2ZgCJkC

Bainbridge Vineyards Outside:

https://www.google.com/search?q=bainbridge+vineyards+outside&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiygdb1ib3YAhVIxmMKHTJDCOsQ_AUIDCgD&biw=1920&bih=904#imgrc=mp32QqbXABrLEM: