Winery & Tasting
Room Phone: 360-877-9894 or 800-580-9894 Email: wine@hoodsport.com Website:
www.hoodsport.com |
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Proprietors:
Winemaker:
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Vineyard
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Tasting Room
Open: 10 to 6 daily
Gift Shop Special Events & Tastings
Master
Card
American Express
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Hoodsport Winery... then and now Preserving and making history |
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Once upon a time... before Washington was a state, a man in a flat-bottomed skiff rowed throughout the quiet, protected waterways of Puget Sound in search of a perfect place -- a place for a home and a vineyard. Lambert B. Evans had only recently come to this land... only after his release from a Florida prison for Confederate soldiers at the end of the Civil War. Stretch Island, an "early ripening" spot in the southern reaches of Puget Sound, became Evans' new home in 1872 and the location of his vineyard. Evans' grape-growing success attracted others to the island, and a period of experimentation ensued. The light-bodied "Island Belle" hybrid grape was one of the successes of this experimentation. The grape became the most commonly grown in the Puget Sound region. In fact, in 1918 the Island Belle Grape Growers' Union was formed to help market the grapes. Prohibition got in the way, but shortly after its repeal, three wineries opened on Stretch Island between 1933 and 1936. By 1978, a total of 17 wineries operated in Washington State; one of them was the Patterson family's Hoodsport Winery, the only winery that continues to use the historic Island Belle grapes from Puget Sound's Stretch Island. Hoodsport Winery got its start with fruit wines, taking advantage of the area's famed produce. The family's first vintage of grape-varietal wine was its 1981 Island Belle wine produced from a bumper crop harvested from the historic Stretch Island vineyard that year.
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This wine started a strong move into other varietals and blended wines which served the pioneering winery well as it went on to produce award-winning grape wines in the coming years. Port-style and still fruit wines remain a staple of Hoodsport's product portfolio, as does the continued, although limited, use of Island Belle grapes. The winery's location on beautiful Hood Canal (a protected waterway of Puget Sound) frequently rewards the visitor with sightings of Orca whales. Over the years, the Patterson family has watched, as the number of whales that feed and frolic in front of their winery has shrunk. In 2005, the family decided to take an active role in contributing to the awareness of the Orca population's plight. Hoodsport Winery teamed up with the Orca Network, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting awareness of the Puget Sound Orca population and to educating the community about what can be done to help ensure their survival. Hoodsport's Orca Series Wines were introduced and have become an important part of the winery's portfolio; a portion of sales is contributed to the Orca Network. The whale on the front label is an adaptation of “Orca,” the creation of artist Clarence Mills, a member of the Haida Nation of British Columbia. The Orca Network and Hoodsport Winery host a series of promotions and educational seminars highlighting the plight of the whales. Visit Hoodsport Winery for a distinctive experience -- an experience of taste, beauty and local history. Who knows? You might even see a pod of playful whales. |
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Featured Hoodsport
Wines (Most current vintages of wines are shipped) Discounts: 15% off case orders Ordering:
hoodsportstore.com
STILL WINES
ORCA SERIES WINES
Where to find Hoodsport
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