SEQUIM — A new Wind Rose Cellars wine commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Railroad Bridge over the Dungeness River, and a release party is set from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. today.
Railroad Bridge Red — a 2012 vintage made from Yakima Valley grapes — is named for the historic bridge in Railroad Bridge Park at 2151 W. Hendrickson Road.
The release party will be in the Wind Rose tasting room at 143 W. Washington St. in Sequim.
Complimentary samples of the wine will be available to those 21 and older.
Bottles of the wine will be available for purchase at a cost of $19.99 each.
15 percent donated
Fifteen percent of the proceeds from each bottle, or about $3, will be donated to the Dungeness River Audubon Center, a nonprofit organization headquartered at Railroad Bridge Park.
“Drop in for a complimentary taste of the new wine and enjoy some appetizers as we raise a glass to one of Sequim’s icon landmarks,” said David Volmut, co-owner of Wind Rose Cellars.
There are about 1,000 bottles in this vintage available, although about 200 will be used for sampling purposes, he noted.
As such, Volmut estimates about $2,000 will be raised for the Audubon center.
“It is a neat cause,” he said.
Volmut began fermenting the table wine out of hand-selected grapes about three years ago.
“It was barrel-aged for two years, and it has been in the bottle a year now,” he said.
This vintage is considered a table wine because it has less than 14 percent of alcohol by volume, Volmut said.
The wine also is available at various retailers in the area.
For more information, phone 360-681-0690.
A bridge to the past
The Railroad Bridge, owned by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
From 1915 to 1980, the Milwaukee Road operated the rail line from Port Townsend to Port Angeles and then west to connect with several logging railroads.
The Milwaukee Road sold the line to the Seattle and North Coast Railroad in 1980, which in turn abandoned the line in the mid-1980s.
The last train crossed the bridge in March 1985.
In 1992, volunteers helped replace the railroad ties with a planked deck, allowing pedestrian and bicycle access.
The bridge is now the centerpiece of the Olympic Discovery Trail, a hiking-cycling-equestrian path that runs through parts of Jefferson and Clallam counties.
The bridge draws over 100,000 visitors each year, according to the tribe.
The bridge is currently closed to through traffic because the rain-swollen Dungeness River on Feb. 6 tore away pilings and a truss section of the trestle on the west side of the crossing.
The bridge itself is undamaged, but traffic over it has been closed because the trestle is unsafe.
The tribe is in the process of choosing a plan to replace the trestle at this time.
Current plans call for a complete overhaul.
Replacing the trestle is estimated to cost $1.8 million.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-681-2390, ext. 5052, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
