Eagle Harbor Wine Co. is kicking it up a notch with a new downtown tasting room and live music! The new tasting room opens this Friday, May 26th!
For many years Eagle Harbor Wine Co. (EHWCo.) occupied a small suite in the Winslow Mall in downtown Bainbridge Island as their tasting room. It was a sweet little spot with indoor/outdoor seating, but “little” was the operative word, and when the chance to expand into a larger space arose, owner and winemaker, Emily Parsons jumped at it.
The new location is just down the road at 400 Winslow Way, Suite 115 (at the corner of Ericksen and Winslow). The new space is expansive in comparison to the old location, which only had indoor seating for 12 guests, whereas they can now seat up to 40 guests. “We’re thrilled to have a much more accessible location,” Emily said, noting that there is also parking in the building’s underground garage.
Getting the new tasting room up and running has been a bit of a challenge, as the space is much larger and has an almost “u” shape design. Emily is repurposing the bar and other components from the previous space and will continue to carry all of EHWCo’s finest wines and a small variety of grab’n’go snacks to pair with your wine selection. They plan to keep refining and polishing the space as they go, Emily told me. Some future ideas include creating an intimate “living room style” seating area in the back and perhaps a kitchenette where they can prepare charcuterie and other small bites.
In addition to a fabulous new setting for their downtown tasting room, Emily is collaborating with fine art photographer Andy Bergh, to showcase his amazing nature, urban and travel inspired photographs*.
The winery itself is a short mile and a half up the road and will be hosting live music and wine tours throughout the summer.
Live Music at the Winery – Summer Concert Series – Every Sunday through September from 2-4pm. Relax and enjoy the music with a glass or bottle of wine and don’t forget to try out one of their new charcuterie offerings!
Upcoming Music Line Up:
June 4: Pat Timmons
June 11: The Harmony Wombats
June 18: Mark Soltys
June 25: Jason Meeks
July 2: Shannon Dowling
July 9: Mark Soltys
July 16: Call Me Ben
July 23: Jason Meeks
July 30: Shannon Dowling
August 6: The Gary Walker Trio
August 13: The Pontunes
August 20: Mark Soltys
August 27: Steve Hall
September 3: Songbird
September 10: Pat Timmons
On Saturday, May 27th, they will have Double D’s BBQ and Smokery Food truck parked at the winery location on Three Tree Lane, from 12pm to 4pm. Pitmaster Brent and Dawn ‘Mama D’ will be serving some amazing pulled brisket, pulled pork, smoked sausage, ribs, and more.
Tour the winery! Here you’ll learn all about their process beginning with the lab and bottling room, filled with sparkling stainless-steel equipment used for testing, bottling and labeling. Next on the tour is the grape sorting room and the punch and crush area, where the wine is prepared prior to barreling (if you visit the winery in the fall, you might have the added experience of watching a crush). In the barrel room, you’ll be treated to the intoxicatingly delightful smell of toasted oak, saturated with the rich fragrance of wine—here is where the wine ages, usually from 24 to 36 months. The majority of the barrels used come from French forests, and are specific to the varietal. However, they also use American oak barrels, which lend notes of vanilla to the wines that are aged in them.
About EHWCo. – Eagle Harbor Wine Company was founded in 2005 by Cynthia and Hugh Remash, and although this was their first winery, Hugh had a long history in the industry, having also owned a wine shop on Winslow. Their desire to create artisanal and complex varieties, using old-world wine styles, has made the winery one of the island’s treasured gems.
In 2009, Emily Parsons, who’d already had a long love-affair with wine, began working alongside Hugh. Emily went on to further her education, studying wine and winemaking at UC Davis in California. In 2012, with the support of her husband, Steve Trimble, also a wine enthusiast, Emily began her winemaking career with seven tons of grapes. By 2014, Emily’s zeal and devotion had so impressed Hugh that he made the difficult decision to sell the business to her, while maintaining a role as a consulting winemaker. Today she continues to immerse herself in every element of the winemaking process, producing almost 2,000 cases a year. Every step of the process is done by hand, from sorting the grapes, punching and crushing, bottling, to corking and applying the labels.
Eagle Harbor Wine Co. harvests their grapes from vineyards in the Walla Walla, Tri-Cities and Red Mountain areas, where Washington State’s eastern dry climate, plentiful sunshine and rich soil make it ideal for growing grapes. In addition, it’s located at approximately the same latitude as the great French wine growing regions of Bordeaux and Burgundy, making it the perfect wine growing area. In recent years, Washington State’s wine industry has rapidly grown, making it one of the largest agricultural sectors of the state and attracting millions of visitors a year. What began as a few vineyards in the 1970’s, has grown to over 950 vineyards today.
Planning an event? Whether it’s a birthday party, corporate event, or rehearsal dinner, EHWCo. has you covered. With a modern industrial feel, the winery can accommodate up to 24 guests, with occasional seating, and 12 guests for a seated event. The outdoor tented patio can accommodate up to 50 guests with occasional seating, and up to 32 guests for a seated event. Email them for more information: info@ehwineco.com
The winery is located at 8897 Three Tree Lane, Bainbridge Island, WA.
You can also follow EHWCo. to keep up to date on other events on Facebook and Instagram.
*Long-time islander, Andrew “Andy” Bergh uses image conversion and image processing tools in his digital studio, where he re-invents his photographs to reveal the vision he personally experienced while taking them. One of Andy’s preferred techniques, high dynamic range imaging, allows him to merge multiple images of the same subject matter taken at different exposures, creating detailed images with an almost painting-like quality, giving them a unique and redolent appearance. His photographs are featured in an impressive collection of metal, canvas, and fine art acrylic prints, as well as custom-framed matted prints. His fine are photographs are available for purchase at the EHWCo. tasting room and on his website: https://berghimages.com
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