Westport Winery Review

This Westport Winery review gives some background information about this fascinating destination. The Winery was founded by Blain and Kim Roberts. The couple were urged to start the winery by Don Tapio, a WSU agricultural extension agent. In February 2007, they bought the land and named the farm Vineyards By-the-Sea. The winery officially opened in March 2008.

It is a family run business with their son, Dana as the winemaker and Carrie, their daughter, takes care of the tasting room.

Reader Review!

Read Harold Jarvisson's Westport Winery Review, and leave your own comments

The family has a real commitment to the business, as well as a strong passion for Washington's coastal community and the sea itself. This passion is expressed by creating great wines in a friendly environment.

Together the team creates products and an atmosphere above expectations. They express their passion for the community by selecting a local charity to benefit from the sale of each of their wines.

When the Roberts family bought the land, it was completely covered with alder bushes, Himalayan blackberry and Scotch broom. While clearing away the destructive weeds, two full-sized bulldozers were found hidden underneath.

As the most western vineyard in Washington State, Vineyards By-the-Sea sees rainfall and sunshine similar to that of France’s Loire Valley. The first bottling at the winery was on February 17, 2008 and the tasting room was opened a month later.

After only two years in business the Westport Winery was named one of the best north western destinations and by 2011, it was called the Washington Winery to watch.

The tasting room is open every day from 11 am to 6pm and until 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Lunch is served every day from 11 in the morning until 2pm and until 4pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Dinner is only served on Friday and Saturday from 4 to 8 pm. There is also a bakery which is open daily from 11 to 6 pm, and until 8pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

Westport Winery Review: The Grapes

The winery has a ten acre vineyard which grows a variety of fine grapes, including Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Muscat, Melon and Cabernet Franc. The vines are arranged using the vertical shoot method.

Another fifteen acres is used for other crops such as 5,000 iris plants, 2,000 blueberry bushes, 1,000 raspberry bushes, 1,000 blackberry bushes, 250 huckleberry bushes, 100 Asian pear trees, 100 apple trees, a few hundred strawberry plants, and a variety of other fruit trees including plum, peach and cherry.

The property also has two vegetable gardens, and a fine herb garden. All of these crops are used in the culinary classes, the restaurant and sold at the farm stand.

You can book a guided tour of the premises or get a tour map if you prefer to explore the farm on your own.

Westport Winery Review: Salmon Safe Certified

The Salmon Safe certification is given in recognition of habitat enhancement practices, sustainable farming practices, proper use of cover crops, ensuring the water run off is clean and keeping up a proper buffer zone between the crops and the outside world.

Vineyards By-the-Sea has twenty-six and a half acres fenced in with heavy duty electric wire to prevent elk and deer from wandering into the crops and another forty acres of timber land.

The spring fed pond on the farm has been approved for holding trout. The pond is protected by Kestrel nesting boxes to control rodents and starlings.

Westport Winery Review: The Buildings

One of the first buildings constructed was the tasting room. It was built to sell agricultural products to visitors. The From Farm to Fork restaurant was added to the building in 2010.

The production building is where the wine is created. All of the crushing, pressing, fermenting, blending and testing happens here.

Beside the production building is the warehouse. It was built in 2009 and houses the wine after bottling, bottling supplies, farm tools and equipment. It is here that the wine is bottled every spring using a mobile bottling truck. A few select wines are still bottled by hand.

Washington Wine Country Reproduced under a Creative Commons license with the kind permission of Mark & Andrea Busse on Flickr

Westport Winery Review: Splendid Gardens

The farm features several splendid gardens. The crop display garden holds samples of all the products grown on the farm. Here you can buy grape vines and other plants.

The greenhouse, produce gardens and gathering room are used by the restaurant chefs to collect the fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs they need in the kitchen.

Located between the display garden and the pergola is the farm's unique grape maze. And the parking area is surrounded by the dune garden, which nicely sets the stage for this coastal winery.

The sculpture garden expands around the parking area and the other gardens. The company commissions local artists to create interesting sculptures commemorating the labels on Westport wines.

Westport Winery Review: The Wine Club

The Westport Winery Wine Club offers many benefits:

• Membership is free.
• You can enjoy free wine tastings in the tasting room, which includes sampling five different wines.
• Three times a year you are allowed to treat up to four guests to a free wine tasting.
• You receive a 20 percent discount on your wine purchases and 10 percent off on non-sale items in the gift shop. The discounts don't apply to catering services, dinners or rental facilities.
• Each quarterly order includes the company newsletter.
• Members are notified by email of special events and wine deals.
• All members and their guests are treated to free wine tasting, soup and live music at the company's quarterly wine club parties.

The Westport Winery can ship directly to your home or office in Washington State, Arizona, Colorado, California, Georgia, Florida, Idaho, Hawaii, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Michigan, New York, Nevada, North Dakota, Texas, Oregon and Wyoming.

So, the next time you are in the mood for a great-tasting wine, why not give a wine from the Westport Winery a try.