Submitted by Westport Winery
They say a high tide floats all boats and that’s true again in the 2013 King 5 Evening Magazine Best of the Northwest contest. For the third time since it was founded in 2008, Westport Winery was voted Best Wine Tour in the Northwest. “We are humbled and enthusiastic to have this honor,” Blain Roberts said. Roberts and his wife Kim, along with their adult children Carrie, their general manager, and Dana, their winemaker, see this award as an opportunity to highlight their passion for their extraordinary community.
This award comes with television coverage for the winery and the region. Kim Roberts said, “It was exciting to see Westport voted one of the top tiny towns to visit and to see our friends at Vacations By-the-Sea, Westport Beach Escapes, and Westport Charters, earn awards too. Everything we can do to share the best kept secret on the West Coast fulfills our goals. Westport is the real deal. It’s a working fishing town with the most incredible beaches, great surf breaks, parks and wildlife viewing, and people who support each other’s endeavors. We could live anywhere in the world and this community was our family’s choice.”
This week Westport Winery was also voted as having the Best Wine in the Daily World’s Best of the Harbor contest. “Ours is definitely a team effort,” Blain Roberts said. “It’s not just our family who created the experience. It’s our talented crew of chefs, wine specialists, and landscapers, who make this such an amazing destination. We are truly fortunate to have friends and neighbors who volunteer to help us along the way. But most importantly our wine club members tell our story and bring their friends. That’s the ultimate compliment.”
One of the winery’s goals is to have each guest say “WOW!” at least three times in every visit. “We want them to know that every day we make a deliberate effort to not just offer a better experience than everyone else, but to offer a better experience than we did yesterday,” Kim Roberts said. “It’s a work in progress and a process we love. You can think of any trip as the journey or the destination. For us this process includes both.” Perhaps that’s why when you see the winery’s new ad on television you hear the phrase by Washington Tasting Room Magazine’s editor John Vitale who wrote, “Filled with harmonious connections to the sea, Westport Winery is a coast traveler’s dream.”
The couple attributes their success to a lesson they learned when they owned Lahaina Divers on Maui. “We had a consultant who told us to find out what our customer wants and then give it to them,” Blain Roberts said. “In hindsight it seemed simple but it’s a concept many business owners miss. That’s why we have a winery that includes a restaurant, bakery, gift shop, nursery and display gardens. Our guests asked for it and we listened. They have thanked us profusely with their support.”
Westport Winery was named Washington Winery to Watch in 2011 by Wine Press Northwest and has been voted Best Northwest Destination Winery and Wine Tour twice by King 5 Evening Magazine. The Roberts family was selected as one of the top three small family businesses in Washington in 2012 by Seattle Business Magazine.
Westport Winery, Restaurant, Bakery and Nursery are open daily at 11a.m. The winery serves lunch daily from 11 am. to 4 pm. and dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings from 4 p.m. to 8.p.m. The winery with its unique grape maze, extraordinary outdoor sculptures, and display gardens is located on the corner of Highway 105 and South Arbor Road halfway between Westport and Aberdeen. For more information call Westport Winery at 360-648-2224.
