what ’ s working way to Washington ’ s ocean beaches . “ Now we ’ re able to bring more visitors out here to the coast .”
The winery includes a tasting room along with the Sea Glass Grill , Ocean ’ s Daughter Distillery , the International Mermaid Museum , plus 15 acres of display gardens . Kim and Blain run the operation with daughter Carrie and a staff of 30 . Westport Winery earned the Excellence in Family Owned Business Award at AWB ’ s Evening of Excellence awards ceremony last year .
“ For being in the middle of nowhere and being a little family operation , we have had a pretty exciting journey ,” Roberts told Washington Business .
The journey begins in Westport , detours to Hawaii and Spokane , and ends back in Westport .
Kim Roberts grew up north of Seattle and dreamed of working as a fisherman at one of the several hundred fishing charter companies in Westport . She was initially turned down .
“ They politely told me that girls don ’ t work on boats ; girls work in offices ,” she said . “ I found a guy who would let me work for him for free and split tips with deckhands one summer .”
The next summer , she landed a full-time deckhand job and paid her way through college , becoming one of the first female charter boat captains in Westport ( the winery ’ s Charterboat Chick cabernet sauvignon features a photo of Kim proudly displaying her catch ).
Carrie Roberts pushes a crate of cabernet sauvignon grapes during harvest . The winery buys its fruit from Eastern Washington growers and does all the processing on-site .
Charterboat Chick wine features of a photo of Westport Winery coowner Kim Roberts as a fishing charter boat captain . spring 2024 23