Eleven Winery

We loved it here! Lisa was fun, fabulous and knowledgeable. I loved the Pinot Griggio — yum!
Thank you Lisa! Hugs ~ from the cute hat girls :)

I enjoyed the wines at Eleven Winery, but I had a few qualms about my experience. The seating is a bit crowded, especially on the rainy day I went – everyone was struggling to figure out where to put their coats and we were all squeezed in around the table. There was a little girl running around, making it more cramped… not sure why someone would bring a toddler to a wine tasting place. The place was crowded, so the staff was a bit preoccupied. However, the wines are great and it’s a perfect way to the pass the time on a rainy day.

Eleven Winery is a small, family run winery that started in 2003. Matt Albee is the owner and winemaker. They have a tasting room in downtown winslow, and a winery you can visit on the weekend for tastings and tours. They source their grapes from eastern WA to make their wines. The tasting room downtown is quaint, and family oriented. They have a play area in the back for kids, and a table with a Bart Simpson chess board. The staff member was extremely friend.
The tasting menu had various selections to choose from. For $ 8 you could sample 5 wines of your chose from the menu. For an additional cost you could sample a dessert wine, or the estate/​premium wines from the menu. My friend took the $ 8, and I took the more expensive estate/​premium option so we could sample a bit of everything. We both actually liked the non estate/​premium wines from the menu. The stand out for me here was the Sweet Syrah port style wine served in a chocolate cup. The other menu options that were OK were the 2013 Roussane, the 2013 La Donella, 2012 Syrah, and Ratio Rosso.
I love that the winery owner gives all after-​tax profits to charity, and they are the first carbon neutral winery in WA state. They also use packaging that is 100% recyclable/​renewable.

As we walked in and sat, we waited a few minutes to be greeted or acknowledged by the staff. After a few minutes, we were told we needed to come up to the bar to get our menus and order. Uh, okay. Our server had a slightly snarky attitude, and when we hesitantly mentioned that we were from California, she had the audacity to shout out to the entire bar that ‘Californians typically come in and announce their presence’. It was borderline uncomfortable and rude, but whatever. We had a couple of wines that were about average, with our pours being pretty inconsistent. I had to remind our server that she forgot to pour one of mine wines at one point as well. Oh well. I would have rated 2 stars, but I gave an extra for the cheap price of the flights.

Eleven Winery is the best wine tasting experience I’ve had so far! Their local wine selection has a multitude of flavours, both red and white, so there is something for every palette.
I came in with two others today, and we were warmly greeted and seated at the bar right away. The basic wine tasting was only $ 8, which allowed for a selection of five different wines. I thought that was a great value, for the quality. A laminated menu was provided at each seat, with a thorough description of each of the wines.
I tried two reds, two whites, and a dessert red as well. Each one was distinct, stimulating, and flavourful, from dry to more full-​bodied and juicy flavours.
The staff was friendly, helpful and cheerful, which made the atmosphere all the warmer. Fellow wine tasters opened up, talking and joking with each other as well. Creating a bright atmosphere like that is totally dependent on knowledgable and friendly staff, I think, so great job on the customer service!
Be sure to include a dessert wine in your tasting. The red is served in a small, delectable chocolate cup. The white is served with a chocolate covered wine-​seasoned raisin.
Whether you’re enjoying a quiet outing to Bainbridge Island on your own or showing around friends, I would highly recommend Eleven Winery.

NO CHOCOLATE CUP! My fiancé and I just went here with a friend. The wine was really good, but the guy pouring (I think his name was Jeff) was very rude. When we asked about the chocolate cup, he inconsiderately said they don’t have it. He seemed more into his football game that he had up on his computer rather than helping everyone at the bar. He tried to make us all feel stupid about «Washington state DUI laws» (we were gonna walk to the ferry) and had a holier than thou attitude about himself. As long as he is at the tasting room, I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone. There are plenty of other tasting room In the area that you would be more comfortable visiting.

We came in but the woman barely acknowledged that the four of us were there. Awkward because this is a small space. Maybe they needed more people that day because she was the only one working as I could see when I walked in and stood at the bar for maybe a good five minutes.
Too bad this was our second spot on the wine tasting hopping trip but was let down by this place. Looked like they had some good wine though.

Service is friendly and the winery itself is cute for a small island vibe, but the wine itself is just okay (maybe I’ve been spoiled by Washington wines). If you go, stick to the reds.

Our group discovered this tasting room by accident. The storefront is small but cozy with a fairly relaxed modern feel.
The wine steward was really friendly and somehow kept track of a full room of tasters (about 17 people) all tasting different wines at different times.
Unfortunately the wine was just boring. Maybe it was just the available reds that day, but they all seemed to have more heat than flavor. The Ratio: Rosso came the closest, but even this one lacked body.
Maybe they just need time.

Great atmosphere and wine. Enjoyed their 5 flights for $ 8! They don’t serve any food there but you can ask for gold fish crackers.

This was our 2^nd stop at our Bainbridge adventure. This was most definitely better than the Little winery down the street.
This place had air conditioning, it looked so much cleaner, there was a little chess board to play with. Not many seats though. Just a corner table and a wrap around bar area. They do have a clean bathroom which was nice.
They didn’t have any food or snacks like the other place but I really enjoyed myself here more. The choices of wine were much better and the menu had descriptions of the different wines for us New to the wine game.
The lady there that was serving us was such a doll! Very attentive even if she was the only one there. Def recommend to stop by for a glass of wine or 7 $ wine flights for 5 tastes. What a steal!

Brought a couple of friends over to BI and had to stop at Eleven for a little wine tasting. The little tasting room did not disappoint. We found the staff to be very friendly and the wine to be very tasty. As it was a hot summer day, we stuck mostly to whites and rosé, I actually ended up buying a bottle of the rosé and my friend bought a bottle of the La Donella, a white. We enjoyed most of the wines we tasted (I think there was one white blend I didn’t care much for) and found the conversation and atmosphere to be pleasant. This was a great stop on the island and I definitely would like to come back and bring other friends back.

I would love to give the wine a review, but I had to walk out after the twenty-​something employee had to «school me». Not sure if she was stressed out over her 8 customers or just that I didn’t fit her idea of what her customer should look like. Note to customers be thin and dressed to impress or they will let ya know about it.

We visited yesterday, 4÷4÷15. It was a really nice place with good conversation, a fun atmosphere and excellent reserve wines. We only tried the reserve reds which were very good. We generally do not join wine clubs as we end up with too much wine sitting around, but we did decide to join here. I highly recommend this winery.

Matt Albee is a winemaker extraordinaire as well as a previous bicyclist racer. Ask where the Eleven name and icon came from. Currenty there are two places to taste his creations. The tasting room within walking distance of the Washington State Ferry on Bainbridge Island has a fun Simpson chess board to play. The winery on Day Road has live music on Saturday afternoons for a relaxing weekend event. Friendly knowledgeable staff at both sites.
Best of all are the wines! From white standards such as Pinot Grigio and Viognier to a dry rose La Primavera to more complex reds Syrah, Sweet Petite and the prize-​winning La Ronde. Don’t forget to try the two port styles. My favorite is the Angelica of Pinot Grigio but the Sweet Sarah in a chocolate cup is favored by some.
There is also a «reserve» tasting that includes Mourvedre, Malbec, and the pourer’s choice of the day.
Join the club and come to the annual party at the winery! I am a club member and am glad I joined.

$ 8 for 5 tastings. Really good. There was 1 guy behind the bar serving about 30 – 40 people at a time on Valentine’s day and he was awesome! Really liked some of the sweeter things they had (Sweet Petite, Sweet Sarah.) Ended up purchasing this blue cheese chocolate that they had — really unique and paired well with the sweet port.

Bainbridge Island has the best 7-​Eleven! A generous tasting of five wines for $ 7 at Eleven Winery. These are really good wines too, which explains why it can often be packed inside here. We stopped by on our second go-​around and were lucky enough to sit down at The Simpon’s chess table and fit in a quick game during our tasting. If a sweet wine is on your list of wines to try then you won’t want to miss out on their sweet sarah port which is poured into a small edible chocolate cup.
Had we not been traveling with just carry-​ons I would have certainly bought a few bottles to take home with us.

Small place for wine tasting… waited for some seats, then the people who came in snatched our seats. Employees didn’t do a good job regulating that, they saw and just apologized and thought we wanted to stand the whole time… okay… whatever, after that it was pretty decent.
We eventually found a seat but there was a bee buzzing around the window, we told them and they didn’t do anything. Had to move again and finally got the Simpsons chess table. Another group got the bee table and then there were 2 and they complained as well and the staff finally took a cup and safely removed the bees… hmmm…
I guess we Californians are spoiled with good wine (Napa, Sonoma, etc) because the basic tasting wines were disgusting. Rose tasted bad, so did the Syrah… It was like the cheapest of the cheapest. Should have gone for the special reserve tasting… We had to drink some with our nose plugged and seriously considered pouring some out… The only thing we found good was the dessert wine that came in the little chocolate cup, maybe because we couldn’t taste the wine?
Good past time in Bainbridge though

This place was crazy crowded and can feel a little impersonal until you get comfortable in there.
I really love the Rose (called La Primavera) here best. It’s less pink and more blush and pretty unique tasting. Their sweet Syrah comes in a chocolate cup which is cool and they serve some salami to go with their yummy red blends.
I would be happy to come back here.

On a wet day, we cheerfully entered this establishment in the heart of downtown to try their wine tasting (5 wine samples $ 7). Their selection included whites, reds and a dessert wine which we saved for our last taste. We picked 3 reds (La Ronde, Syrah, Malbec) and one wine but I was personally leaning more towards the Syrah as a winner. I wasn’t planning on trying any dessert wines until the staff mentioned the Sweet Sarah was poured into a dark chocolate cup. Talk about the perfect combination!
The server managed the store with local customers and tourists coming for the tasting and others buying wine by the glass. They had a U-​shaped bar and smaller café style tables with a Simpson chess in case you feel like challenging your friends. We sipped our wine casually and watched the parking enforcement write tickets regardless of the weather.
If you happen to see the owner, ask him about the «Eleven» as it relates to a bicycle gear. For a pleasant wine experience, stop by and stay for the dessert wine!