Bainbridge Island Wineries: Unique Wines in the Puget Sound

Bainbridge Island wineries often fly under the radar, but they have some seriously interesting wines. You see, the Puget Sound AVA is the only designated wine region in Washington that grows grapes to the west of the Cascade Mountains. It results in cooler-climate grape varietals that you don’t see in many wineries across the state.

Bainbridge Island is only 35 minutes by ferry from Seattle, making it an easy trip for trying some of the unique wines in the Puget Sound. If you haven’t tried the wineries on Bainbridge Island yet, consider this your excuse for taking that ferry ride for a wine tasting day trip from Seattle!

Bainbridge Island Wineries

There are 7 wineries on Bainbridge Island, making this one of my favorite islands near Seattle to visit! If you don’t have time to explore them on your own, check out the Bainbridge Island winery tour option in this guide to Seattle area wine tours.

Bainbridge Vineyards

website | directions | best for: organic estate grown wines

Bainbridge Vineyards produces about 1,200 cases a year of wine made exclusively with the grapes from their organically-certified vineyard. It’s situated on the oldest continually-farmed land on Bainbridge Island, which was originally owned by Japanese American Akio Suyematsu.

The land was purchased in 1977 by Gerard and Jo Ann Bentryn who sought a temperate climate that would grow the grapes they love from the Loire Valley in France and Mosel in Germany. They were instrumental in establishing Bainbridge Island’s wine scene, and were also pivotal to the area being deemed an AVA in 1995. The winery is now owned by Betsey Wittick, long-time friend and employee who bought it in 2013 after the Bentryns retired.

You’ll find all types of wines, like pinot noir, pinot gris, and other recognizable varietals. But make sure to try their less common grapes, like the crisp, dry white varietal original to the Loire Valley called Madeleine Angevine, siegerrebe (pronounced “sea-ger-ray-buh”), and Müller-Thurgau, a lesser-known varietal original to Germany. In fact, Bainbridge Vineyards was the first Bainbridge Island winery to ever plant siegerrebe in the US. So you know you’re dealing with the OGs who know what they’re doing with this dry, florally grapes.

Fletcher Bay Winery

website | directions | best for: full-bodied wines

Winemaker Jim Wilford started making wine at home as a way to surpass his brother-in-law’s winemaking skills. What resulted in a knack for developing full-bodied, unfiltered red wines and bold whites.

Unlike Bainbridge Vineyards, Fletcher Bay sources grapes from Yakima and Walla Walla vineyards. However, this allows Jim to source some of the best grapes each year and turn them into heavier wines than you can find made from grapes on the island.

They have two tasting rooms, one in downtown Bainbridge and one a bit north. I prefer the northern one, as it has the most adorable back patio!

Eleven Winery

website | directions | best for: complex wines

Even though this winery use grapes sourced from eastern Washington, Eleven Winery is my favorite of the Bainbridge Island wineries. They’re making about 3,500 cases a year of impeccable wines that I can’t stop thinking about from the last time I tasted them.

For example, I’d argue their rosé is one of the best Washington wines I’ve had in awhile. It’s got this caramel-y like quality that lingers on your palate longer than the everyday dry, bright rosés.

I also love this winery on Bainbridge Island because it has a laidback vibe and friendly staff. The winery has a biking vibe because owner, Matt Albee, used to be a professional bike racer before turning to winemaking. The winery is actually named after the eleventh gear of a road bike, which is responsible for producing the maximum gear ratio racers use when they have to give it all or nothing to try and win the end of a race.

Like Fletcher, Eleven Winery also has a downtown tasting room if you can’t make it to the winery.

Amelia Wynn Winery

website | directions | best for: a blend of old-meets-new-world wines

Amelia Wynn Winery’s main tasting room is on Bainbridge Island’s downtown main street. It’s a good option for wine tasting when you need a bite to eat, as it also is a bistro serving a full lunch and dinner menu. If you don’t care about food, though, they also have a northern Bainbridge tasting room.

The winery is owned by husband and wife team, Wendy Armstrong and Paul Bianchi. Paul is the winemaker and creates a blend of old and new world-style wines commonly found in Bordeaux, Rhone, Italian, and Spanish varietals. He sources grapes from eastern Washington and uses minimal intervention to create small lots of wine that highlight the grape’s character and pairs well with food.

Eagle Harbor Winery

website | directions | best for: balanced wines

This winery was founded in 2005 by Cynthis and Hugh Remash. But it’s now owned by Emily Parsons who bought the wine from them in 2014. However, this wasn’t her first rodeo. She began working alongside Hugh as an assistant winemaker and still uses him as a wine consultant to this day.

The focus here is elegant, balanced, and approachable wines. The northern tasting room is tucked in a warehouse area with a small outdoor seating area that gives it a laid back vibe perfect for enjoying a wine tasting flight. You can also enjoy their wines from their downtown tasting room.

Perennial Vintners

website | directions | best for: rare white varietals

Perennial Vintners is another of the Bainbridge Island wineries growing their own grapes. In fact, winemaker Mike Lempriere pioneered growing the grape Melon de Bourgogne in the Puget Sound AVA…also known as Muscadet in France.

Mike got his start in 1997 learning how to make wine as a hobby. But decided to move to Bainbridge and purchase a vineyard in 2003. He felt the majority of winemaking happens in the fields. And so vowed to himself he’d learn how to make wine from seed to glass.

That vineyard Mike started on Bainbridge is right next to Bainbridge Vineyards. The Bentryn family because pivotal to helping Perennial Vintners get established thanks to leasing grapes until Mike’s harvest was ready. Now Mike is making some of the most interesting wine on the island in super small batches.

Rolling Bay Winery

website | directions | best for: award-winning wines

Alphonse de Klerk started making wine as a hobby while he was a commercial photographer in LA. He attracted friends who wanted to learn winemaking. And what ensued is years of winemaking parties and get togethers in the Rolling Bay area of Bainbridge Island, home of friends Dr. Piero and Angela Sandri.

In the 90s Klerk met Alfred Newhouse, a fellow Dutchman whose family owned vineyards in eastern Washington’s Snipes Mountain, one of the state’s newest AVAs but oldest vineyards. In 2007 Klerk, Piero and Sandri decided to start a winery using grapes from Newhouse’s vineyards. They’re in their third generation of working together and now produce about 2,100 cases a year of award-winning wines.

Recommended wine tasting itinerary

If I only had one day to visit the Bainbridge Island wineries, this would be my recommended itinerary.

Start at Bainbridge Vineyards
Head to Perennial Vintners (appointment required)
Next go to Eleven Winery
Then go to Fletcher Bay Winery, possibly stopping at Bainbridge Brewing and Bainbridge Island Distillers next door
Finish at Eagle Harbor Winery

Map of Bainbridge Island wineries

Here’s my map of things to do on Bainbridge Island, which includes the wineries. Hopefully this gives you a sense of where the wineries are and what’s nearby to do between wine tastings.