Business Community

Spruce Hill Winery offers a taste of community

It is a bustling morning near Harbor Greens Market, with coffee and conversation spilling out from The Davenport as people come and go.

That steady rhythm of community is exactly what drew local winemakers Jo and Mark Bader to the location directly across from Harbor Greens. They opened a Spruce Hill Winery tasting room at 5229 Olympic Dr. on Friday, Jan. 23.

“It’s a community spot,” Jo Bader said. “People are walking by all the time.”

The Baders never meant the tasting room to be a destination tucked away. “We want it to be a place where the community comes together,” Mark Bader said. “We want to be part of the community.”

Mark and Jo Bader discuss their new tasting room in Gig Harbor. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

From SODO to South Sound

The Baders moved to Gig Harbor in 2022 after years in West Seattle. While living in Gig Harbor is relatively new, the peninsula is not. Jo Bader grew up in Bremerton, Mark Bader in Kent, and they have family ties to Gig Harbor.

Spruce Hill Winery’s headquarters are in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood, where its industrial tasting room and production facility opened in 2023. The Gig Harbor location offers a softer contrast, featuring Pacific Northwest–inspired interiors with calm blue walls, natural wood and earth-tone accents. Large windows fill the space with natural light, and the winery’s signature Sasquatch emerges from the branches of a tree-lined mural.

“It’s an unpretentious winery,” Jo Bader said.

Reflecting that community focus, the tasting room will showcase work by local artists, rotating monthly and paired with an artist reception. The Peninsula Art League helped coordinate connections with artists for the space. This month’s featured artist is abstract painter Janice Tayler.

Spruce Hill’s Gig Harbor tasting room features calm blue walls, natural wood and earth-tone accents. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

The wines

Customers can choose from several tasting options, whether picking up a bottle to go, settling in for a glass, or sampling a flight. Bottles range from $20 to $38, with glasses starting at $12 and flights priced at $20 per person. Guests can build their own flight or select from curated options.

The wine list spans a range of styles, including the coastal, food-friendly 2024 Albariño ($24) and Rhône-inspired reds such as Grenache ($34) and Mourvèdre ($32). The winery’s flagship Bordeaux-style blend, Rainforest Red, is priced at $36.

Small bites such as charcuterie boards are available, along with a rotating selection of local brews and nonalcoholic beverages. While all ages are welcome, the space is a dedicated tasting room and is geared primarily toward adult wine tasting.

Spring Hill Winery’s 2023 merlot and 2024 Albarino at the new tasting room in Gig Harbor. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

G’day, wine

The Baders began their careers in tech, and business travel abroad introduced them to the world of winemaking. A trip to a wine region outside Melbourne, Australia, sparked their initial interest.

“It was sort of a romantic notion of wine,” Mark Bader said.

In 2004, following an early retirement, Mark Bader’s first wine emerged from a familiar birthplace for many creative ideas: his garage. Also a musician, he describes himself as “that person who likes producing something artistically.”

But winemaking, he said, requires more than inspiration. “I really love crafting. It involves art, science, and process.”

That love of creation and process carries into the tasting room, where the Baders plan to offer educational opportunities for customers. Classes on food and wine pairings, how to taste wine, and other topics are in the works. “There’s always something to learn,” Jo Bader said.

The Spruce Hill Winery tasting room is located near Harbor Greens Market on Olympic Drive. Photo by Julie Warrick Ammann

Washington grapes

While the initial spark to become a winemaker came from abroad, Spruce Hill Winery is firmly rooted in Washington-grown grapes sourced from Eastern Washington. The Baders work with multiple vineyard partners rather than farming their own grapes, remaining closely involved in key decisions throughout the growing process.

“Red Mountain has one of the hottest appellations, so it produces a very different cabernet than, say, Chelan,” Mark Bader said about the region widely known for their world class Cabernet Sauvignons, Syrahs, and Merlots. “We stay within the Yakima Valley corridor,” Jo Bader added.

Spruce Hill Winery uses small fermentation bins and hand punch-down methods, a more labor-intensive approach than the pumps typically used by larger wineries. “The first seven days of a wine’s life are the most important,” Mark Bader said. The winery uses a combination of French and American oak barrels.

“We make small-batch wines,” Mark Bader said. That scale allows for experimentation, with subtle adjustments that ultimately shape the finished product. As a result of their hands-on approach, the Baders describe their wines as expressive and fruit-forward.

That philosophy extends beyond the glass. Sasquatch appears on Spruce Hill’s bottle labels and throughout the tasting room, including playful details tucked into unexpected places.

Thoughtful but not fussy, the winery reflects its Pacific Northwest roots and the community it now calls home.

Spruce Hill Winery tasting room

Website: www.sprucehillwinery.com

Address: 5229 Olympic Drive, Unit B, in Gig Harbor, across from Harbor Greens.

Hours:  3 to 7 p.m. Fridays, noon to 7 p.m. Saturdays, noon to 4 p.m. Sundays

A ribbon-cutting with the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce is scheduled for Feb. 6.

Mark Bader pours a glass of merlot at Spruce Hill Winery’s new Gig Harbor tasting room.