United States of Wine: Alaska
BONUS! We are wrapping up our journey through the many wine countries on the West Coast with a surprise visit to the least likely of wine-making states: Alaska! If you missed our previous 'visits' to California, Oregon, and Washington, we highly encourage you to take a look.
Known For: Berry wines and (extremely) short summers
Best Time to Visit: April through July
Alaska: the land known as "the Last Frontier", and the last place you'd think to look for wine tasting venues. With most of the state covered in deep snow for about 8 months out of the year, the sun never reaching that hot, high-noon position, and odd daylight hours that vary from 3 hours of sunlight to 21 hours of sunlight a day, you'd think it'd be the last place on Earth to go wine tasting. Much to our surprise, though, we found a few hidden gems located from Anchorage to Homer. Namely three, and frankly, that's an impressive number for a state that considers 30°F at noon a "warm day".
Surrounded by the most majestic mountains that make the Sierras and the Cascades look like molehills, Anchorage is nestled between the Turnagain Arm and Knik Arm, two of the largest (and flattest) ocean inlets in the world. So large and so flat, in fact, that it's not uncommon for the rushing tide to create 6-10-ft waves, clocking in at 10-15 miles per hour. Here, between the snow-capped mountains and violent tides, you will find the:
Alaska Denali Winery
Technically, there's no vineyard to be found here. Instead, Alaska Denali Winery imports the juice made from the finest grapes grown all over the world and ferments it into wine in their facility. In this way, they're bringing the vineyards to the people living in an otherwise farmland-destitute state. This means that you can customize and create your own wine there! That's right - after a quick tasting, you can choose the type of wine you liked best and work with on-site staff to craft your very own batch of micro-brewed wine, completely suited to your palette. Six weeks later, once the fermentation process is finished, you can return to the facility to create your wine bottle label and put the cork in your creation yourself. How neat is that?! Way to go, Anchorage! About 2 1/2 hours south of Anchorage lies Soldotna, a small town surrounded by a flatter, pine tree-lined landscape and too many rivers and lakes to count. This means fishing, hunting, kayaking, snowmobiling, and all other kinds of outdoor sports abound year-round here, which also means it's the very place that Anchorage residents make their weekend getaways to. Soldotna is home to:
Alaska Berries
While they do make jams and jellies, Alaska Berries ferments their fruit and berries into wine. The coup-de-gras for this farm and winery, however, is that all their berries are 100% Alaska-grown, which is quite the undertaking given the long, harsh winters. Because they grow their own fruit on the farm, you can guarantee that the fruit is picked at peak ripeness and flavor, ensuring the quality of their wine. If you pay them a visit, though, don't worry about the closed gate - as stated on their website, "Our farm is fenced and gated to keep the moose out - not you!"
Our final wine stop in Alaska is the halibut fishing capital of the world: a small town called Homer, also known as the 'end of the road'. It's aptly named, as the Alaskan Highway dead-ends into the ocean here. What you see as you stand at the end of the Homer Spit is unlike anything else in the world - massive, crevassed mountains that drop straight into the ice cold, deep blue waters of the Gulf of Alaska, Bald Eagles fishing the bay in droves. You'll also find:
Bear Creek Winery & Lodging
What started as a kitchen counter hobby turned into a full-fledged wine-making business and vacation resort, thanks to the love and support that small Alaskan communities are known for. In the 1990's, Bill Fry began experimenting with fermenting any kind of fruit he could get his hands on into wine, and after friends, family members, and even Homer tourists began raving about it, he knew it was time to expand his operations. Using fruit grow by his neighbors at first, he now uses high-quality imported fruit of all kinds as well. Now, with numerous award-winning fruit wines under his belt, Bear Creek Winery is a definite sip stop in Alaska - especially if the thought of halibut fishing while sipping on berry wine is a pleasant one!
We hope you've enjoyed our tour through the wine countries of the West Coast, including this bonus trip through Alaska! Now get out there and start tasting. Cheers!
