It took a while for Matt Albee to appreciate good wines. He wasn’t exposed to good wines for a long time — so he grew an interest in cooking instead. After visiting Napa Valley one time, he got hooked on wine tasting. Then, “it just kind of hit me one day — maybe I should try wine making,” he said.

It was harvest time, and when he asked a winemaker if he could help him as well as learn, the wine maker agreed. Albee became an apprentice.

These days, Albee knows quite a bit about good wines. Together with his wife, Sarah, he opened Eleven Winery on Bainbridge Island, and this month they will celebrate their second vintage.

The couple moved to the Northwest from the San Francisco area in 2001 to be closer to family, and needed a place where they could have a winery while being within commute distance from Seattle.

“Bainbridge Island seemed like a great small town,” said Albee, a former bicycle racer.

They found the right place, a fixer-upper with a garage to be converted into a winery. But the couple had to postpone their plans of starting their business when baby Cole was born.

“We decided it wasn’t a good idea to have a new baby and a new business at the same time,” he said.

In the meantime, Matt was getting ready, doing research, looking into licensing and fixing up their home. By harvest time in 2003, they were ready to open Eleven Winery, but not without one more challenge: Matt had just started a new job as a real estate appraiser.

“I’ve raced against Lance Armstrong, and it was nothing compared to having a new job and a new winery,” he said.

The winery got its name from Matt’s bicycling days as well. On a road bike, the smallest cog in the rear cluster has 11 teeth, producing the highest gear ratio. The winery’s Website (www.elevenwinery.com) explains it this way: “…When you’re at the point in the race when it’s all or nothing, when there’s no choice but to put every ounce of strength and determination you’ve got into the pedals no matter how much you’re already suffering, when you have to give it absolutely everything you’ve got, you use The Eleven.”

Eleven Winery had four varieties in its first year. Each variety of grapes required a trip to Eastern Washington with a truck. All the processing, and the fermenting is then done at Eleven. Albee uses a good number of volunteers during the high-peak production times in the fall. Then, there is the wait — the wines must age for a year before they are bottled.

“I didn’t want to do exactly the same thing as everyone else,” Albee said. That means no chardonnay or merlot.

The wines are sold at specialty shops around Puget Sound as well as some restaurants and at the Poulsbo Farmer’s Market. Matt does all the marketing, distribution and production, while Sarah handles the administrative and customer service aspects and collaborates on many other things.

With background in science and physics, the winemaking process comes easy to Matt. Marketing and sales, however, are another matter. It was a learning curve and it’s still the most difficult part, but the couple has an advantage. “It’s a lot easier to be a sales person when you love the product and make the product,” he said. “Your passion for it really shows and people tune into that.”

Albee says that the majority of Americans have limited knowledge of wines, so having wine tastings helps customers learn more. But because they can only sell wine by appointment at the winery due to local regulations, the biggest challenge is getting the word out. “It’s great if people can come to the winery and taste them,” he said.

The couple complement each other well. Matt says he’s the eternal optimist while Sarah is always ready for the worst case scenario.

“It’s a whole new way of learning to work together,” Sarah said. “We have different ways of thinking.” She plans for “disaster scenarios” and he “plans for all going well.” And they’ve had their share of disasters, such as the truck breaking down on the way back from getting grapes—the only trip when Sarah happened to come along — or their equipment arriving damaged.

Starting the winery was much harder than having their first child, Sarah said. But they seem to be building momentum, and sales have exceeded projections. As they get ready for another adventure, having a second baby, they continue giving their business “all they’ve got.”

Celebration!!!

Eleven Winery celebrates second vintage with party

Eleven Winery, the husband-and-wife team of Matt and Sarah Albee, will celebrate the release of their second vintage of wines produced on Bainbridge Island with a party and tasting on Sunday, Aug. 21, from 1 to 6 p.m.

“People thought we were crazy to convert our garage into a winery,” said Matt. “They were probably right, but hey, we’re making some great wine and we want to share it with people!”

Everyone is invited; call 206-780-0905 to reserve a spot (it’s free to attend), as space is very limited. Wines poured will include the 2004 Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris (second vintage), 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah (first vintage), and the only White Port in the state, as far as they know.