Exploring Bainbridge Vineyards: A Woman Owned Winery + Vineyard

It was the 10th sunny photo of a glass of Rosé on Instagram that did it.

I found myself on an unusually warm PacNW Sunday afternoon driving across the Agate Point bridge heading for Bainbridge Vineyards. As I crested the hill on Day Road, I could see the “Pizza Pop-Up” sign above the winery sign, and I started dancing in my seat. I had been to the tasting garden at Bainbridge Vineyards only once before, last summer, on a cool, overcast afternoon with my Mom. As she patiently sat knitting across from me, I sampled my way through the fun and interesting tasting menu. I enjoyed all of the wines, and definitely fell head over heels for the Madeleine Angevine, an aromatic Loire Valley white I had not previously tasted. It was awesome. But this time, I had pizza and pink on my mind….

Driving past fields bursting with summer color, the dirt road to the winery ended just in front of the tasting room. I could see the pizza pop-up – One Two Kai Kitchen & Catering- under the white tent to the right of the main tasting area. I ordered the “Ferry Boat” pizza- a delicious combination with apples, mozzarella, caramelized orange marmalade, gorgonzola, rosemary, lemon zest, with a kabocha squash sauce. (I know, crazy right?! It.Was.So.Good.) While the pizza baked, I headed for the tasting area.

While the Spring Tasting Flight – Madeleine Angevine, Müller-Thurgau, Ferryboat White Blend and Pinot Noir - looked dazzling, it was the new 2021 Emerge Rosé that I had my eye on. A “blend of Old World varietals” (per the tasting menu), it had exactly the flavor and acid profile I was looking for on that hot afternoon – strawberry, raspberry, and cranberry with mouth-watering acidity.

I chose a comfortable seat under an umbrella, and sat enjoying my glass of Rosé while my pizza cooked. Birds were chirping, there was a light breeze, and bursts of laughter came from a group next to me. It was the perfect environment to sip my Rosé and relax. The patio is cheerful, spacious and pretty, with small clusters of tables, chairs and colorful umbrellas spread out around the winery building. You can even choose to take your tastings into the meadow above if you wish! Flowering plants wave in the breeze, and flowers and greenery spill from pots around the tasting area. There are jugs of water on offer, and interesting signage around talking about the history of the property. Beautiful, functional and educational. My kind of place.

“We are both farmer and winemaker at Bainbridge Vineyards.” - Betsey Wittick

The history of Bainbridge Vineyards dates back to 1977, and the Suyematsu Bentryn farmland to 1928. The farmland originally belonged to the Japanese-American farmer Akio Suyematsu, and is today the longest continuous use of agriculture in Kitsap County. It was purchased by Gerard and Jo Ann Bentryn in 1977 for Bainbridge Vineyards. After falling in love with the cooler climate wines of the Loire Valley in France, the Mosel in Germany, and wine regions in Austria, the Bentryns decided to plant varietals that were suited to similar bioregions- unusual varietals to find outside of Europe such as Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Madeleine Angevine, Siegerrebe, Müller-Thurgau, Zweigelt, Regent, Garanoir, and Dunkefelder. Gerard Bentryn was instrumental in establishing the Puget Sound AVA in 1995.

When the Bentryns retired, Betsey Wittick, a longtime friend and employee who had been making wine on Bainbridge Island since 1988, reopened the vineyard and winery in 2013 under cooperative ownership. In 2014, the vineyards were granted organic certification, and Bainbridge Vineyards is now the first B-Corp certified winery in Washington state. The property on Day Road continues to be a working farm property, home to 5 farms that share the land, and the estate vineyards lie within 8 of these 40 acres today. This biodiversity is important to the quality of the wines, and the property is a certified wildlife sanctuary. The vineyard and winery are now woman-led.

It is my absolute pleasure to be able to share the story of Bainbridge Vineyards with you, as it is a women led business and also happens to be in my neck of the woods. If you visit the Pacific Northwest, do make visiting Bainbridge Vineyards a special priority on your itinerary. It’s definitely worth the time- and try to catch the pizza pop-up if you can! Cheers!

How to Taste Wine: Part 1

Have you ever had a glass of wine with friends and thought, “Gee, that tastes good. It tastes…. Red” and then been unsure of what else to say? Yeah, me too. When I first started tasting wine, back in my post-college days in the Santa Cruz Mountains, all I could think of was that either I liked the way something tasted, or I didn’t, and that was it. All of the pontificating and describing seemed so pretentious, and while I sometimes found the tasting notes provided at wineries helpful, it was hard to figure out what to say about the wines myself. I knew I hated the snobbery and high-nosed “I’m better than you” air that I occasionally witnessed from other guests while tasting.

Fast forward to me working in a coffee shop, where we were required to taste and describe coffee to be able to sell it to customers. At first, I had the same reaction: “Gee, it tastes like…. Black Coffee.” And then one morning, I smelled the black coffee in the tasting cup and the smell of dark chocolate covered blueberries came bursting into my nose. “Holy Smokes! That smells great!” Out of nowhere, it was like my nose woke up. I could smell lemon zest in African coffees, walnuts in Latin American coffees, and even chocolate - and believe you me, I love me some chocolate! My taste buds seemed to have bought in around the same time, as I discovered that the neat things I was smelling suddenly translated onto my palate.

When I started working in wine retail, our weekly required staff tastings were at once intimidating and yet somewhat familiar. While the base products are quite different, the types of aromas and flavors I could pick out in coffee were present in wines, too. I could pick out specific berries and citrus, as well as the smell of wet dirt and rocks, which as an avid home gardener were familiar. When I did my weekly grocery shopping, I began to take the time to linger in the produce section, inhaling the aromas of different fruits and vegetables and tried to pick out the smells of fruits and vegetables before I saw them. I took my time at the flower stand, thinking about the different smells of the flowers and plants on display. All of this served me quite nicely in my wine tasting, and as a bonus, the products I purchased were perfectly ripe fruits and veg!

So, let’s get to it! First of all, find a bottle of wine at your local retailer, grocery store, or winery that you can afford, and which you find interesting - even if you buy it just for the label! Next, the glassware you choose actually really does matter quite a bit. I’m not advocating spending $50 on a wine glass to get “the perfect” tasting experience. But a glass that has a stem, and a generously sized bowl is recommended. Why? You’ll be able to smell the aromas of the wine better in a glass with a bigger bowl. There are some great $10 glasses on the market that will do just fine. Schott Zweisel’s Tritan Forte “Chianti/Zin/Water” glasses are my personal favorites. Short glasses with tiny, narrow bowls will not provide you with the room to really smell and taste what’s happening in there, and while super adorable, neither will most vintage French wine glasses or short cafe wine tumblers. And why a glass with a stem? The heat from your hands will warm up the contents of the glass as you taste, and that’s not always a good thing.

Now that you have your bottle of wine, and your glass, it’s on to figuring out what happens next!