Friends of the vine: A community picks grapes at Whidbey winery

Minutes from the Clinton ferry terminal in Langley is Spoiled Dog Winery, a green oasis where dogs nap in the grass, calming music plays from the speakers and visitors sip wine.

On Oct. 4, a close-knit community of friends, family, wine club members and first-time volunteers gathered for a harvest.

The winery draws volunteers year after year for the harvest day. Locals, friends and even visitors from the mainland arrive to pick grapes, share stories and give owners Lindsay and Jake Krug a helping hand.

This year, around 20 volunteers came to clip the grape bunches off of the vines and collect them in buckets before Jake would hitch them on his tractor and take them to the destemming and crushing area. As they worked, friends and strangers chatted through grapevines, swapping stories about their grape knowledge, catching up and sharing how grateful they felt to be giving back to the Krugs — nearly all arriving, unprompted, at the same conclusion: the couple felt like family.

Some volunteers have been coming for more than a decade, describing the event as less about wine and more about connection.

“This is like a family gathering for us because every year the same people do it. You know, it’s a very community-driven winery,” Mark Blaser said. “And we look forward to these times when we get together, and so they say they need help, the community comes a-runnin’.”

Richard Stanford and his wife have been volunteering at the harvest for six years. Stanford said he loves supporting small family-run businesses, especially ones with really good wine.

“It’s more than just a customer relationship, if that makes any sense,” Richard said. “They’re such good people.”

After three hours of work, the volunteers dined on lunch and wine provided by the Krugs. Then the grapes were put through the de-stemmer and crushed. In the coming days the grapes will be fermented, pressed and then transferred into the barrels.

Lindsay said she loves watching love stories bloom at the winery. She has seen couples go on dates there, get engaged and then come back with their kids.

“It’s the cutest thing ever,” she said.

Jake and Lindsay Krug’s gratitude for their community runs deep. The owners depend on their community not only during harvest but throughout the year, for bottling and even planting flowers outside the tasting room.

Founded in 2003 by Jack and Karen Krug, Spoiled Dog Winery began as a small family dream that was taken over by their son Jake and his wife, Lindsay ten years ago. The couple has raised their dogs and two kids at the winery, with many visitors recognizing teenagers as once being the waddling 2- and 5-year-old who roamed the grounds.

Jake manages the vineyard and winemaking, while Lindsay runs the tasting room and wine club, greeting each guest as if welcoming them into her home. The new generation of owners has added a twist to the farm, incorporating different blends and even making cider.

Known for their award-winning Pinot Noir and hospitality, the Krugs have created a place visitors gush about.

“Spoiled Dog Winery is magnificent, and the owners are even better!” a Google review says.

“Thanks for making our pugs feel so welcome (and spoiled!!)” another reviewed.

The winery’s playful name was inspired by the family’s own spoiled dogs. Visitors often bring their own four-legged friends, which lounge in the grass as their owners sip wine or have a picnic.

“We offer water to the dogs before the people,” Lindsay joked.

Donna Rice, an employee who assists Jake in maintaining the vineyard, said the operation has expanded over the last 20 years while new equipment and ideas have been introduced.

“The wine’s good. Really good. And I’m not just saying that,” she said.

The winery’s success also has to do with Whidbey’s climate, Jake explained. Being in a weather belt means it is drier and hotter than surrounding areas, allowing Pinot Noir grapes to grow better, he said. Getting the perfectly sweet wine is a science, Jake said, and the winery uses its different altitudes to an advantage; the grapes at their lower vineyard ripen quicker from more heat, versus the ones on the hill. He says they use a perfect balance of both through testing brix levels to create their award-winning wines.

Many people don’t realize that owning a winery is a seven-day-a-week job year-round.

Not only do the Krugs produce the wine from their own vineyard, but they also source their grapes from Eastern Washington and Oregon. Jake drives about 5,000 miles in the fall to transport the grapes; he said he catches pre-dawn ferry rides to fetch grapes from Eastern Washington, which he immediately brings back to begin the fermentation process.

Yet the long hours of crushing, pressing and bottling are all worth it when visitors gather on the lawn with glasses of Pinot in hand, Lindsay said. For Lindsay, those moments capture what Spoiled Dog Winery is all about.

“People come here to relax and enjoy themselves and enjoy the people they are with,” she said.