 San Juan Vineyards is family owned, locally by Yvonne Swanberg, Tim Judkins and daughter, Madison. The property was purchased in 1996; the vineyard was planted; the old schoolhouse was renovated; and the journey began in developing San Juan Vineyards to be a destination winery producing wines that have received much acclaim since production began in 1999. There are 33 acres in all, a third of which is wooded. The vineyard site behind the old school slopes south, is well drained, and is perfectly suited for a grape vineyard. Because of the cool, coastal climate, only certain varieties will ripen here. Five acres have been planted thus far of Madeline Angevine and Siegerrebe grapes. These two varietals, known in our Puget Sound Appellation, do very well in our cooler climate with the Siegerrebe making a semi-dry wine similar to Gewurztraminer. The Madeleine Angevine is dryer, and is similar to a Pinot Gris. The grapes are from the same Northern European latitudes in Northern France and Germany at 47 degrees. The harvests are now bountiful with 200 cases of Siegerrebe and 350 cases of Madeleine Angevine. Our winery complex on Roche Harbor Road processes the estate grown varietals as well as grapes purchased from vineyards in the Yakima and Columbia Valleys. The months of September and October are extremely busy at SJV with the harvest of our own vineyard, crushing the Merlot, Cabernet and Syrah grapes as they arrive, as well as fermenting the Chardonnays, Gewurztraminer, etc. Our Syrah has been a GOLD medal winner for three consecutive years with our 2002 Syrah winning THREE GOLD MEDALS. Various medals have been awarded our Chardonnay, Merlot, Cabernet-Merlot, and Gewurztraminer. Currently, we have four GOLD medal wines available. San Juan Vineyard’s wines are distributed throughout the State of Washington, and can be found in area grocery stores, wine specialty shops and restaurants. Watch for our schoolhouse label, and please ask for our wines at fine restaurants and stores. Our wines are prominently listed on most island wine lists. We have quite an active wine club shipping our wines now to over 30 states nationwide. Please check out our Wine Club information. And, keep us in mind for your corporate gift giving. |