San Juan Cellars -- MikeL's Guide to WA Wineries

MikeL's Guide to WA Wineries San Juan Cellars Island Wine Co., 2 Cannery Landing, P.O. Box 1895, Friday Harbor, WA 98250 Phone: 360-378-3229, 1-800-248-wine, Fax: 360-378-6229

Tours: No
Tasting room: 10am-5pm daily (reduced winter hours Jan-Feb, call ahead)
BW-WA-92
Owners: David Baughn and Katheryn Lawson-Kerr

Click here for map/directions.
Page last updated: 18-Aug-2002, Page generated: 11-Sep-2005

Newsletters: Fall 1998, Fall 1997.

Production: (1996) 2k cases/year
Vineyards: none, grapes contracted from Columbia Valley

History:
In 1985, Mark Kendziorek, who had dabbled in making red wines at home, contracted with an Eastern WA winemaker to make a custom label for him -- San Juan Cellars (SJC). 1986 he contracted with a different winemaker, Rob Griffin to make the SJC wines. He decided to have his tasting room be where he wanted to live, and opened the "Island Wine Company" wine store/tasting room in the old cannery building adjacent to the Friday Harbor ferry dock in 1987. The shop featured many different Pacific Northwest wines, in addition to the SJC brand.

In 1993, husband and wife team Katheryn Lawson-Kerr (a clinical psychologist) and David Baughn (an attorney) bought the business from Mark. The wine shop is still in it's original location, now with Beulah the wine dog greeting visitors. The San Juan Cellars wines have been made by Rob Griffin every year -- note that these wines are a seperate lot, made specifically for Island Wine Company -- they are not a second label for Rob's Barnard Griffin Winery.

Recognizing that San Juan Island can be a bit difficult to get to, they do a great deal of their business through mail-order with no additional fees -- just the actual shipping cost.

[Editor's note: My apologies to San Juan Cellars and customers -- I had them incorrectly listed as "defunct" in MikeL's WA Winery Guide for the period of mid-1996 to Dec-1997. They were never out of business, this was entirely my error.]

The Wines: Current releases (Fall 1997)
Whites:

Reds:

Other:

1996 Harbor Blush [off-dry]
1995 Muscat Canelli [dessert]

Winemakers:
Rob Griffin
??? 1985
Rob Griffin 1986-present

Of special note:
David and Katheryn hope they are seen as the finest quality wine shop, featuring excellent service. They specialize in all the wines of the Pacific Northwest, especially the harder-to-get wines.

Each year during the holiday season, all wines are an additional 5% off for case purchases, beyond the usual 15% for case, 20% on two-or-more cases mixed cases Ok).

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