Nine North Olympic Peninsula wineries aim to bring out the romantic in everyone with deft pairings of red wine and chocolate during the next two weekends.
The annual Red Wine & Chocolate Tour will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, and from Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, through Presidents Day on Feb. 16.
A $25 ticket will buy a commemorative wineglass, complimentary wine-tasting and samples of chocolate at www.olympicpeninsulawineries.org.
After Feb. 13, 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 newest winery on the tour is Lullaby Winery, 274 Otto St., Suite S, Port Townsend.
Owner/winemaker Virginie Bourgue — a native of Provence, France — will feature four handpicked wines, the 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 will be invited to participate in an artistic collaboration titled “The Ceiling of Wishes” or “The Sky Is the Limit,” in which visitors will write their wishes for the year on origami cranes, which will hang from Lullaby’s ceiling throughout the year.
Based on a Japanese tradition, the cranes will be burned during the last week in December to make way for new wishes.
For more information on the winery, see www.lullabywinery.com or call 509-386-1324.
Other wineries
Other participating wineries and their special attractions are:
■ 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.
■ 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.
■ 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,” with strawberries and other items to dip.
■ 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.
■ 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.
■ 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.
■ 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.
■ 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. this Saturday, Feb. 13 and Feb. 14.
For more information, see www.olympicpeninsulawineries.org.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
