By Laura Rosser
PORT ANGELES — It has taken a village to raise this child, even if the “child” in question is resting in “the nursery” in a number of oak barrels and not peacefully sleeping in a crib.
Harbinger Winery, the seventh and newest winery on the North Olympic Peninsula, is bottling its first wines this weekend — a 2004 Syrah and a 2004 blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Syrah called Dynamo Red, the winery’s signature label.
Owned by Sara Gagnon, former winemaker for Olympic Cellars in Port Angeles, and longtime friend Tammi Hinkle, the winery will be open for the Red Wine and Chocolate festival organized by the North Sound Wineries.
The festival will be Feb. 11-12 and 18-20.
Although the winery is not on the official listing of North Sound Wineries’ participants — Harbinger’s entrance into that organization is currently under way — it will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. each of the festival days.
Visitors will get to sample the two wines being bottled this weekend and a blackberry port which is not being bottled yet.
Harbinger Winery is purchasing its grapes, like so many other Peninsula wineries, from vineyards in the Columbia River Valley.
Official grand opening set
An official grand opening for the winery, 2358 Highway 101, west of Port Angeles, will be held around Memorial Day, Gagnon said.
Eventually, Harbinger will offer eight different wines.
Three other wines, including a chardonnay currently in barrels behind blankets in what Gagnon calls the winery’s “nursery,” will be bottled in early spring.
Friends for 14 years, Hinkle and Gagnon have been partners in Hinkle’s business — Adventures Through Kayaking — for many years.
Gagnon said owning a winery of her own has been a dream for some time.
The pair decided this summer not to put those dreams off anymore after having a close brush with their own mortality.
On Aug. 3, 2004, a small plane carrying Hinkle and Gagnon and piloted by a friend, crashed in the Olympic Mountains.
Both injured, Hinkle and Gagnon spent the night on the mountain before rescue crews reached them and the deceased pilot the next day.
Despite their injuries, they hiked down the mountain.
It was a life-changing experience, Gagnon said, which made she and Hinkle realize how important it is to pursue their dreams.
Gagnon is 34 and Hinkle is 33.
Also, Gagnon’s injuries made it impossible for her to return to the work she had done at Olympic Cellars.
Both have to be careful, she said, in their physical activities.
That’s why the village has been so important in raising this new baby.
