Local Liquid Arts
What better way to spend an afternoon than sipping a cold beverage and soaking in the island views? The gourmet archipelago has become a tasting paradise, with wine, beer, and spirits crafted right here. Visit the vibrant collection of wineries, breweries, and distilleries that offer a wide range of delicious, locally made pours. Explore the spots listed below and add them to your island itinerary.
Doe Bay Wine Company is proud to offer a curated selection of Wine, Beer, and Cider from around the world at their bottle shop in Eastsound. Founder Cole Sisson has brought together a diverse group of team members to create an organization which combines elements of hospitality with education and experimental fun. Their bottle shops and tasting rooms offer the opportunity to explore and learn in intimate environments while the private cellar consulting arm brings the discoveries to the comfort of your own home.
Established in 2011, as the first and only winery on Orcas Island, Orcas Island Winery is a boutique family vineyard & winery committed to crafting ultra-premium Washington wines, including both red & white varietals. Nestled at the base of the breathtaking Turtleback Mountain, sits their modern farmhouse and inviting yet beautifully appointed tasting room and lifestyle shop. With 16 acres of property, plentiful outdoor seating, scenic grounds and a great lawn for wine picnics this is the ideal island wine experience and setting for celebrations, small or large.
Madrona Distillery is an international award-winning distillery specializing in gin. The gins are known for a focus on balance and subtle botanical integrations. Enjoy their flagship Dry Gin, or see if you can detect the Orcas Island-grown rose or lavender in their Garden Club Gin. The newest product, Navy Strength American Gin delivers a smooth maritime character contributed by the hand-foraged sea kelp collected on the shoreline of Eastsound.
San Juan Island Distillery is the second-oldest ciderworks in Washington. They harvest the many varieties of cider apples in Rich's small (acre and a half) orchard, press the apples into fresh juice, pitch a champagne yeast into the juice and slowly ferment it into prize-winning traditional English style hard ciders.
Madrone Bar + Kitchen is located in downtown Friday Harbor. Try a selection of their island-produced wines and ciders and grab a bite to eat while enjoying in their outdoor wine garden (open seasonally). They are family and pet friendly. Gluten free and vegan options available.
Enjoy a taste of the island at San Juan Vineyard. Visit their tasting room—a lovingly restored 1895 schoolhouse—to take in the stunning views of their 30-acre estate vineyard where their award-winning white varietals, Siegerrebe and Madeleine Angevine, are grown. Additional wine offerings include their Afterglow Rosé as well as their two red wine blends, Cattle Point Red and Barren Rock Red, each inspired by local island landmarks.
Bringing back craft since 2017, San Juan Island Brewing Company is an award-winning brewpub. They brew highly sessionable, true to style beers, specializing in Old World Ales and Lagers that are all unified in being flavor balanced and pairing well with food. They serve traditional American Pub Fare with options for everyone to enjoy, including Wood Stone pizzas, burgers, and salads.
Steps from the ferry... Friday Harbor Skybar is a rooftop WINE bar, open 7 days a week and featuring diverse wine selections from Washington and around the world; by the glass, flight, or bottle, with magnificent views of the water, ferries, seaplanes, marina, and eagle fly-bys. Enjoy light bites or snacks to pair with your tastings.
Orcas Island
Doe Bay Wine Company offers a thoughtfully curated selection of wine, beer, and cider from around the world at its bottle shop in Eastsound. Founder Cole Sisson has assembled a diverse team to create an organization that blends hospitality, education, and a spirit of experimentation. Their bottle shop and tasting room provide inviting, intimate spaces to explore new flavors and deepen your knowledge. Cole’s label, “The Orcas Project,” is a collaboration with acclaimed Pacific Northwest winemakers and vineyards, featuring artwork by Orcas Island artists. These wines are limited in production and available at the bottle shops in Eastsound and Seattle, as well as online or at select restaurants around the Puget Sound.
Established in 2011, as the first and only winery on Orcas Island, this boutique family vineyard and winery is committed to crafting premium Washington state wines. Born from a family dream, a deep rooted love for the island, and the desire to craft exceptional wines, this beautiful winery serves as a place of fellowship, art, music, and creative passion. As of early 2019, it is owned and operated by Wesley and Tera Landman, who invite you to enjoy the sprawling grounds, breathtaking views, cozy tasting room, and local wines. Nestled at the base of the inspiring Turtleback Mountain, the modern farmhouse winery tasting room, wine bar & shop offers both red and white varietals by an award-winning Washington state winemaker.
Madrona Distillery is an international award-winning distillery specializing in gin. The gins are known for a focus on balance and subtle botanical integrations. Enjoy their flagship Dry Gin, or see if you can detect the Orcas Island-grown rose or lavender in their Garden Club Gin. The newest product, Navy Strength American Gin delivers a smooth maritime character contributed by the hand-foraged sea kelp collected on the shoreline of Eastsound. Their tasting room will open in the spring of 2026 in Eastsound!
Friday Harbor/San Juan Island
Westcott Bay Cider and San Juan Island Distillery
A trip to the San Juan Distillery tasting room is a gustatory adventure into the world of island botanicals. In addition to traditional aromatics such as juniper berries, lemon, star anise, cardamom and orris root, distiller Suzy Pingree and co-owner and ‘berry picker’ Hawk Pingree scour the islands for aromatic plants and luscious fruits, including madrone bark and blossoms, blackberries, Nootka rose petals, thimbleberries, salal berries, snowberries, nettle, lavender, nasturtium blossoms, and various beach plants and seaweeds to create spirits that truly reflect the island landscape. Their select gins are made with a distillation of Washington apples; the basic gins are made from grain alcohol. While all the spirits are exciting and creative, the truly special bottles are the Calvados-like, oak-aged apple brandy and the Pommeau, a cider-based aperitif made with fresh apple juice, a splash of Apple Eau de Vie, then aged in oak barrels.
Although the distillery may be the new kid on the block, Westcott Bay Cider is better than ever, with three ciders very close in style to French or English dry ciders, including the Traditional Very Dry, Traditional Dry, and Traditional Medium Sweet. The fruit comes from mid-1900s replantings of an original 1890s orchards, with the first cider produced in 1999.
Madrone Cellars & Cider is proud to offer a selection of island-crafted wines and sparkling ciders. Terroir, which is a sense of place reflected through taste, textures, and aromas, is the inspiration for Madrone's wines and ciders. Owners Amy & Shaun Salamida focus on natural winemaking styles, which include spontaneous fermentations, zero filtration, minimal intervention, and much more. Their products contain zero residual sugar. Residual sugar is biologically unstable and requires chemicals or sterilization to produce a sweet wine that will not re-ferment. Natural wine ferments all the way dry and achieves balance through rest and age. Visit their Wine Bar & Kitchen in downtown Friday Harbor.
San Juan Vineyards is one of the most picturesque vineyards in the state, overlooking a historic schoolhouse-turned winery, and a beautiful chapel near the vineyard. The 20+-acre site, new owners Michael and Lauri Corliss, who own Corliss Estates in Walla Walla, grow classic island grapes—Siegerrebe and Madeline Angevine—and also create reds from Eastern Washington fruit. Over the years, SJV has developed a much simpler style, trying to show the fruit—whether from the estate or from respected vineyards in Yakima or Walla Walla Valley—with low use of oak, and little manipulation. The Corlisses are renovating the 100-year-old schoolhouse that acts as their tasting room, and it will be interesting to see what their experience brings to the San Juan Islands wine scene.
San Juan Island Brewing Company
Just a few blocks from the Friday Harbor ferry landing, the new San Juan Brewing Co. is the largest brewery in the islands. Take a group for lunch, and you all can tuck into a pizza or burgers around patio tables in the sun, or in the cool rustic-modern restaurant, with a view of the brewing tanks. The beers are named after places in San Juan Island history, such as Quarry No. 9 Pale Ale, a "gently sweet" golden ale named after a local swimming hole in one of the island's historic limestone quarries. The lineup changes seasonally, from light lagers to robust porters and stouts, so there's always something new to try.
Steps from the ferry... Friday Harbor Skybar is a rooftop WINE bar featuring diverse wine selections from Washington and around the world; by the glass, flite, or bottle, with magnificent views of the water, ferries, seaplanes, marina, and eagle fly-bys. Picture perfect! Enjoy light bites or snacks to pair with your tastings.
Lopez Island
Lopez Island Vineyard & Winery
For years, Brent Charnley, owner/winemaker for Lopez Island Vineyards, was a lone island winegrower, farming organically and making varietal wines from obscure grapes no one knew how to pronounce. Fast forward 20-something years. Charnley may still be a loner and a pioneer, but his wines have found many fans over the years—and many awards. Two big hits are his estate grown wines: Madeleine Angevine—a white Loire Valley grape, and Siegerrebe (or “victory vine” in German)—an aromatic cross of Gewurztraminer and Madeleine Angevine. The Mad Angie, as he calls it, ferments into a dry, crisp white similar to Pinot Blanc, and a lovely food wine. The 2013 Siegerrebe, a floral-spiced, just off-dry stunner of a wine, won a coveted 2nd place in the Sip Northwest Wine Awards. Both are in much demand at restaurants who boast island-centric menus, served with fresh Buck Bay oysters on the half-shell, or fresh Dungeness crab or locally caught salmon. Lopez Vineyards Pinot Noir—if you can find it—is one of the best Washington Pinots available—rich with lovely red fruit, yet austere with minerality and good acidity—we hope Charnley produces more from his small vineyard in the future.
