Fletcher Bay Winery

If you can believe it, I almost forgot all about this little winery and our trip across the ferry!! Thank goodness for Facebook and all the carefully documented photos that I post, or we may have missed out on this place completely!! Haha!! So, we had some visitors come in town, Sean [yes.. I know the spelling seems off.. LOL] and Karen Eck. I’ve known them for years; Sean actually went to school with my brother, and we all rode the bus together. At this date and time, they are driving truck and had a load to deliver in our area. We decided to make a day of it, and being the wonderful tour guide that I am... I found an island winery!!

We all piled into Steele, I mean it’s not like we were going to bring their “big truck” [18 wheeler] across the ferry and explore an island!! HA!! Plus, Steele was so ready and up for the task. Now let me tell you, Sean is a pretty tall guy, so we utilized every inch of space Steele had to offer!! We may have been a little cramped, but I feel like it only adds to the story, and obviously the memories created on this day!! It was your typical cloudy, overcast Washington day. I once had a local tell me that if you wait for a sunny day to do something around here [sightseeing, hiking, etc.] that you may never get do it!! LOL Off we went!!

As I’ve said before, I am the most touristy tourist when we’re in a new area, and I always do my homework!! I was really excited when I saw that there were numerous islands to explore. This particular island, Bainbridge Island [as with many of the other islands, I came to find] also boasted an island winery!! I saw that they offered a Rose' of Sharon and I simply had to try it!! [pictured below] It doesn’t take much arm twisting to talk me into trying a new winery, or a new wine for that matter!! For those of you who may not know it… my middle name is Rose!! They did not offer Rose’ of Sharon on the tasting menu, so I felt duty bound to buy a bottle and take it home.  

Fletcher Bay Winery got its start back in 2008, when Jim Wilford and his brother-in-law [no name] started a competition to see who could make the better wine. Coming from a large Irish family, Jim is incredibly competitive. It did not take long for this winemaking competition to turn into a passion for him to make more full-bodied, unfiltered red wines, and a few flavorful white wines. Jim soon outgrew his home space for winemaking so in 2018 he moved, with the help of his lovely wife and co-owner to the beautiful location that we are visiting today!! Turns out I’m not quite as special as I thought… Sharon, just so happens to be the name of Jim’s wife!! Haha

Let's talk a little about Sharon... she grew up in Federal Way, WA and met Jim in 1989, at Doc Maynard’s Bar in Pioneer Square up in Seattle. They recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary!! [Awwww] She would ride with Jim on their grape runs and even help drive the big rental trucks. The excitement of driving bigger vehicles transferred into her current “day job” of dispatching school buses for the Bainbridge Island School District. She can be seen filling in as a bus driver when needed, or jumping on a forklift at the winery to help out there, as well!! She is also part of the fabulous pouring team at the winery on weekends!!  

Jim and Sharon use Crawford Vineyards in Yakima Valley, WA as the source for most of their grapes. Crawford Vineyards is a third-generation family farm on 160 acres and is known for producing some of the richest most flavorful grapes. Jim then uses French, Hungarian and Virginia oak barrels to produce wines with quality and character. Fletcher Bay Winery is a family-friendly boutique winery. There is a beautiful back patio [pictured above] with lovely little fire pits to accommodate the PNW weather!! Then they have this loft on the second story, [I took the picture below, from the loft] for the kids to play with a variety of age-ranging toys and movies. You know… keep the kiddos happy so the adults can enjoy their wine!! Novel idea!! HA!!

I'm not sure if I mentioned my feelings about the Rose' style wine before or not, but I have not [until just this month... in April of 2025] ever found one I actually enjoyed drinking!! Sadly, the the Rose' of Sharon from Fletcher's was beautiful in color, and I sure did love the bottle, [even saved it for long time after I drank it] but I just didn't love it. I have always felt like wine should be either red or white, Rose' wines, without fail taste watered down to me.

Next week Wine with Wixy will be traveling a little more North to visit and take a guided tour of the illustrious Chateau Ste. Michelle!!

Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!