Welcome, Washington’s Finnriver Farm

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

One of the newest producers to join us is Finnriver Farm, an organic cidery and fruit winery in the Seattle area that makes a fantastic lineup of  sparkling hard ciders and fruit dessert wines fortified with their homemade apple brandy.

My brother lives in the Seattle area and he brought an armful of their wines back to Michigan with him on the plane last winter, and it was a joy to have a few glasses of their spirited apple wine to wash down our Christmas dinner with.

Since then, I’ve gotten to know Crystie, the wife of the husband-and-wife team behind the organic winery/cidery and farm, over the phone, and she is as sweet as pie. And like all the family-owned winery folks I’ve met so far through Cherrywine.com, she’s extremely hard working and industrious while going about the day-to-day demands of her labor of love.

Get to know Crystie — and Finnriver Farm —  a little better yourself by reading her “Farmwife Diaries” blog.

Finnriver lists nine products in our database, all shipping to a limited but growing number of states: Alaska, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Minnesota, Oregon, and their home state of Washington. They plan to add more states soon.

If you’re visiting the Seattle area, the Finnriver Farm tasting room makes a great day trip — and it’s the perfect excuse to take a memorable ferry ride across the Puget Sound (either the Bainbridge Island Ferry or the Kingston Ferry will get you there) to the breathtakingly beautiful Olympic Peninsula, just west of Seattle’s bustling downtown.

Directions from Seattle to Finnriver Farm are here. The cidery is in Chimacum, Washington, and tasting room hours from May-September are Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday & Monday from 12:00-5:00 pm. Tastings are $5 per person and the fee is gladly waived with a bottle purchase. Shared tastings are allowed.

Says Crystie and husband Keith Kisler: “Our Certified Organic family farm and Cidery is located alongside a restored salmon stream on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. The process of creating our products begins in the spring blossoms of organic fields and orchards. Bees work their magic, fruit ripens in the sun and come autumn, when the rain-washed air of the mountains turns crisp, we gather our families and farm crew to harvest and press the fruit. We then ferment it slowly through the chill of winter months and use traditional methods to refine and bottle our select batches.

“Finnriver grows a variety of berries and heirloom apple trees, in order to provide organic fruits for our wines and ciders. We also glean wild apples from old-time local homesteads and source fruit from organic family farms in eastern Washington and around the region. We’re committed to sustainable land stewardship through organic production, conservation easements, renewable energy, salmon safe certification, habitat restoration, and community partnerships, celebration and outreach.

“We are very pleased to share the flavors of Finnriver with you and invite you to come visit the farm, taste our ciders and wines, walk the orchard, and connect with us.”

—Todd

 

Categories: Drinker's Blog