(Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)

(Keith Thorpe/Peninsula Daily News)

WEEKEND: Peninsula wineries marry chocolate, red wine for second weekend

Guests can savor sips of rich red wine and nibbles of delectable chocolate while reveling in the North Olympic Peninsula scenery during the final weekend of the annual Red Wine & Chocolate Tour.

Nine Peninsula wineries will provide romantic pairings of red wine and chocolate from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Valentine’s Day on Saturday as well as on Sunday and Monday, Presidents Day.

A $25 ticket will buy a commemorative wineglass, complimentary wine-tasting and samples of chocolate at www.olympicpeninsulawineries.org.

After today, tickets will be sold for $30 at participating wineries.

A $5 wine-tasting fee will be charged at each winery for non-ticketed visitors, all of whom must be 21 or older.

The tour began last weekend and will only get better, organizers say.

The tour is self-guided. Visitors can taste wine and chocolate at all nine or pick a few to enjoy.

Participating wineries

Wineries and their special attractions are:

■ Lullaby Winery, 274 Otto St., Suite S, Port Townsend; 509-386-1324; www.lullabywinery.com.

This winery, the newest on the annual tour, will feature Rouge de Virginie First Edition, a blend of merlot and cabernet sauvignon; Lullaby Viognier; Mi Amor, a sweet viognier; and a barrel sample of a new fortified red wine.

Wines will be paired with sweets by two chocolatiers: La Maison Jouvaud of Provence and Petits Noirs of Walla Walla.

Visitors can write their wishes for the year on origami cranes, which will hang from Lullaby’s ceiling throughout the year.

■ FairWinds Winery, 1984 W. Hastings Ave., Port Townsend; 360-385-6899; www.fairwindswinery.com.

The winery will serve its FairWinds Port O’Call wine with “the tallest chocolate fountain known to man.”

Strawberries and other items will be avialable to dip into the stream of chocolate.

■ Finnriver Farm & Cidery, 142 Barn Swallow Road, Chimacum; 360-732-4337; www.finnriver.com.

Finnriver, a 33-acre organic family farm and artisan cidery in Chimacum, will offer a Valentine’s Day-themed cocktail, including “Love and Bubbles,” a champagne cider cocktail with ripe red Raspberry Brandy Wine and Passionate Currant Cocktail with Finnriver’s Black Currant Cider.

Cacao Brandy dessert wine will be offered, along with “Spice It Up” tea with cacao and cinnamon from Pippa’s Real Tea.

The Chimacum winery will serve tarts by Crust made with Finnriver’s Raspberry Wine, Theo Chocolate and Fresh Breeze Cream, hot out of the wood-fire oven.

■ Marrowstone Vineyards, 423 Meade Road off state Highway 16 in Nordland, 360-385-5239; www.marrowstonevineyards.com.

Owners/winemakers Ken and Judith Collins will serve Marrowstone’s 2013 Black Cat Pinot Noir, Riesling, Gray Cat Pinot Gris and Yellow Truck Apple Wine with dark chocolates, white chocolates and caramels from chocolatier Lynn Hamlin-LeMaster of the Port Townsend Chocolate Co.

A percentage of the proceeds will support the Humane Society of Jefferson County and Washington State University.

■ Eaglemount Wine & Cider, 2350 Eaglemount Road, Discovery Bay; 360-732-4084; www.eaglemountwinery.com.

At Eaglemount, tour members can try Quince mead, a dandelion wine and cabernet franc, and craft ciders.

Visitors will be served chocolates, hors d’oeuvres and sweet specials.

■ Wind Rose Cellars, 143 W. Washington St., Sequim; 360-358-5469; www.windrosecellars.com.

Visitors to the downtown Sequim tasting room will sample new releases, the 2013 Dolcetto and the 2012 Bravo Rosso, with chocolate from Yvonne’s Chocolates of Sequim.

Regional chocolates from Hawaii, Colombia and other locations also will be available.

Wind Rose’s VIP bar will be open for guests to taste additional wines paired with Yvonne’s truffles.

The tasting room will remain open after hours, with live music from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

■ Olympic Cellars, 255410 U.S. Highway 101, Port Angeles; 360-452-0160; www.olympiccellars.com.

Olympic Cellars’ tasting room will be decorated to evoke the late 19th-century Moulin Rouge, with velvet-covered sofas “under the red lights of Paris.”

A new-release 2012 Zinfandel, gold medal-winning 2009 Merlot and 2009 Syrah, and 2013 Sailing Moon, a port-style blend, will be served with De Novo Chocolates.

■ Harbinger Winery, 2358 W. U.S. Highway 101 W., Port Angeles; 360-452-4262; www.harbingerwinery.com.

Harbinger’s Dynamo Red, a Malbec, Blackberry Bliss and other wines will be served with a selection of fudge by Christina and Charles Norman of WeDo Fudge of Sequim.

■ Camaraderie Cellars, 334 Benson Road, Port Angeles; 360-417-3564; www.camaraderiecellars.com.

Camaraderie will feature the 2009 merlot, Quadra, a red wine blend with a bit of port added, paired with Molly Babies chocolate cookies, pulled pork with cocoa-spiced rub cooked in the winery’s wood fire oven and cocoa shavings from Costa Rica.

For more information, see www.olympicpeninsulawineries.org.

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