Westport Winery Wins Best of Class At West Coast Competition
2026 Update — New Ownership: Westport Winery Garden Resort is under new ownership as of December 10, 2025. After 17 years, founders Blain, Kim, and Carrie Roberts retired and sold the property to a four-person investment group led by David Mulvaney (President & CEO), Ankur Mattoo (COO), Joe Prencipe (Chief Legal Counsel), and David Glenn (CFO). The resort — including Westport Winery, Ocean’s Daughter Distillery, the Sea Glass Grill, the International Mermaid Museum, the Commander’s Palace, the Captain’s Cottage, and the Speakeasy Event Center — continues to operate. The non-profit International Mermaid Museum was not part of the acquisition and continues independently.
The article below was originally published when the Roberts family owned and operated the winery, and reflects their story and the wines and awards of that era. Current hours: Mon–Thu & Sun 11am–6pm; Fri–Sat 11am–7pm. Visit westportwinery.com for current information.
CrushBrew Editorial · Wine Travel · Washington State · Originally published c. 2017 — updated 2026
Westport Winery Garden Resort has never done things the conventional way. Situated halfway between Aberdeen and Westport on Washington’s coast, the Roberts family built something far beyond a tasting room — a 15-acre garden resort with a restaurant, bakery, distillery, mermaid museum, and over 60 sculptures by local artists, all centered around award-winning Washington wines. This is the story of how they got there.
Award-Winning Wines with a Cause
Westport Winery earned Best of Class for their 2014 Mermaid’s Merlot at the West Coast Wine Competition held in Windsor, California — a significant result made more meaningful by the fact that the previous vintage of Mermaid had been ranked the number one Bordeaux wine under $30 in the Northwest by Wine Press Northwest in 2016. Consistency from vintage to vintage is not easy to achieve, and it had become a defining characteristic of the Westport approach.
Director of Winemaking and co-owner Dana Roberts credited the family’s commitment to grape sourcing: “Our family has worked diligently for the past few years to solidify our grape sourcing with the top growers in the state. The result of this collaboration and partnership is our ability to provide our guests with top award-winning selections from any of our thirty-four wines and two hard ciders.”
All Merlot grapes in the 2014 vintage were harvested within the Yakima Valley AVA — 69% from Red Willow Vineyard, 30% from Two Blondes Vineyard, and 1% Syrah from Discovery Vineyard in the Horse Heaven Hills AVA. The wine was described in tasting notes as “an enchanting floral bouquet with refreshing red fruit,” recommended alongside char-broiled Kalbi beef ribs — and, in a signature Westport touch, paired with the song Landslide by Stevie Nicks.
Wine with Purpose
Every Westport label was tied to a local cause. A portion of proceeds from Mermaid’s Merlot went to the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life of Grays Harbor — a charity the Roberts family cared deeply about. Dana’s sister and business partner Carrie, the winery’s general manager and cidermaker, is a leukemia survivor. Their mother and co-owner Kim Roberts, a former Washington wine commissioner, was undergoing cancer treatment at the time of this writing.
The Shorebird Chardonnay — sourced from Connor-Lee Vineyard near Othello in the Columbia Valley AVA, and described as “sophisticated, starbursts, clean and crisp” — earned a gold medal at the same competition. A portion of its proceeds went to the Grays Harbor Audubon Society. The restaurant paired it with fresh pan-fried oysters from Brady’s, their local neighbors, and matched it musically with How I Feel by Flo Rida. Co-owner Blain Roberts summed up the philosophy simply: “We think wine should be fun. Something to be enjoyed with your favorite foods, your favorite friends, and your favorite music. Beyond that, we don’t dictate a lot of rules.”
Art, Garden, and Community
Each Westport wine label was also commemorated with a garden sculpture by a local artist. Lisa Humbyrd Murphy welded the Mermaid sculpture in the winery’s four-tiered Meditation Garden. Mike Peterson created the Shorebird sculpture positioned next to the winery’s 7.5kW solar array. The Mermaid label itself was a photograph by Blain Roberts; the Shorebird label a watercolor by his surfing partner Darryl Easter. Over time the resort grew to feature more than 60 such sculptures across its 15 acres of themed display gardens.
A Record of Recognition
Under the Roberts family’s ownership, Westport Winery accumulated one of the most impressive award records of any winery its size in the Pacific Northwest. Highlights include:
Washington Winery of the Year — 2022, Great Northwest Wine Magazine
Top 20 Most Admired Wineries in North America — 2016, Winery & Vineyard Management Magazine
Top 5 Winery Restaurants in the Nation — USA Today (Sea Glass Grill)
Washington Winery to Watch — 2011, Wine Press Northwest
Best Winery — King 5 Evening Magazine (six times)
Washington Family Business of the Year — 2023, Washington Association of Business
Grays Harbor Environmental Stewardship Award — 2015
Over 700 medals in international wine competitions across 17 years
After 17 years of building Westport Winery from a single idea into a full resort destination drawing more than 100,000 visitors annually, Blain, Kim, and Carrie Roberts retired in December 2025 — handing the keys to a new ownership group committed to continuing the legacy they built. The wines, the gardens, the mermaid museum, and the Sea Glass Grill remain. The story, as the new owners put it, is just beginning its next chapter.
Visit westportwinery.com for current hours, events, and wine club information. The resort is located at 1 S Arbor Road, Aberdeen, WA — halfway between Aberdeen and Westport on Highway 105. Phone: 360-648-2224.
