At the entrance of Eaglemount Wine and Cider, a hand-painted sign featuring brightly colored bottles of cider, mead, and wine — alongside the business name in typewriter font — sets a nostalgic tone. The 12-acre estate is a blend of farmland, orchards, dense woods, and historic buildings carefully restored to maintain their homestead charm.

At the heart of it are owners Trudy and Jim Davis, who transformed this once-neglected property into a vibrant, family-powered patchwork of cider-making, winemaking, hospitality, and community gathering.

The name Eaglemount harkens back to the birthplace of the business, the Davises’ home farm on Eaglemount Road, where a 130-year-old apple orchard inspired the journey. Pink apple blossoms first drew Jim to the overgrown homestead in 1980. Spotting the blooms from afar, he cut through thick brush to find an old cabin nearly swallowed by greenery. “Anybody else would have just torn it down and started fresh,” said Trudy, but Jim rebuilt the cabin using cedar logs from the property.

When Trudy joined Jim on the farm over a decade later, they tended the antique orchard, pruning trunk-sized suckers and coaxing the trees back to fruiting capacity. A trained chemist with a passion for winemaking, Trudy began pressing apples and crafting ciders. “It was a great bartering tool,” she says.

In 2006, after years of making wine and cider for friends, the Davises turned the hobby into a business, becoming the first winery/cidery on the Olympic Peninsula. The next year, they began selling their beverages at the Port Townsend Farmers Market. “Farmers markets were fantastic for cider,” Trudy explained. “So many people didn’t even know what it was at that time.”

By 2014, the business had outgrown the original farm. “We were lucky enough to find the perfect property,” Trudy said of their current location. Known as Arcadia, the estate on the edge of Port Townsend holds over a century of history. Once a brothel, speakeasy, family farm, and the home base of the Flying Karamazov Brothers juggling troupe, it had the infrastructure and whimsy for Eaglemount’s next chapter.

The Davises filled the empty inn with antique furniture and Oriental rugs, built out a tasting room in a building that had once been the Port Townsend Yacht Club, added a spacious deck, and installed barn doors on the wine cellar below. “One of my sons is a designer architect,” Trudy said. “He was instrumental in designing it.”

Making use of the estate’s structures was essential. “The only way we could actually make the payments was to have the inn operating and the tasting room for our stuff,” said Trudy. “And it’s worked.” Today, guests can book rooms at the Arcadia Inn, where Trudy’s grandson, the innkeeper, warmly greets them. A short walk brings them to the tasting room to enjoy sips of Trudy’s craft beverages.

Eaglemount’s cider, mead, and wine reflect the land, seasons, and relationships Trudy has cultivated. “Most of the fruit we use is local,” she says. “All the rhubarb, pears, apples…” Even when sourcing beyond the peninsula — such as grapes from Eastern Washington — Trudy insisted on organic, sustainably grown ingredients.

Ciders range from the crisp Homestead Dry and earthy Log Cabin (both made from original orchard apples) to sweeter options like raspberry ginger, cranberry quince (a local favorite), and lavender pear quince. Eaglemount’s meads — made with honey and fresh-pressed juices—are rich and complex. “We’ve got a local honey connection,” Trudy said of Sailing S Farm in Sequim, “and people are loving the meads.”

Trudy’s wines reflect both scientific precision and creative flair. Eaglemount Red, a signature blend with smooth tannins and dark fruit notes, has earned multiple gold medals from the Seattle Wine Awards. Eaglemount’s Quince Mead was named one of the Seattle Times’ “50 Best Wines” in 2022.

Eaglemount’s success is rooted in relationships. With bottling support from Port Townsend Vineyards (where Trudy’s son is a winemaker) and local cheeses and kombucha in the tasting room, the experience is steeped in regional flavor. “We try to do local because I think it’s just good business,” Trudy says. “It helps everybody out.”

That spirit extends to the Palindrome event space. With wooden floors, picture windows, and high ceilings, it hosts concerts, dances, and serves as the Cider Saloon during the Olympic Peninsula Apple and Cider Festival. The Flying Karamazov Brothers have even returned for New Old Time Chautauqua events, with their restored hand-painted Palindrome sign hanging behind the stage.

Looking ahead, Trudy has no plans to slow down. “I could retire, you know,” she says, “but there’s the positives that keep me going, especially having family involved… that’s really good.” She continues to orchestrate the many parts of the business while Jim fixes equipment and engineers creative new ways to make things run smoothly. Eventually they hope to pass the reins to the next generation, when they’re ready.

Eaglemount Wine and Cider’s handcrafted beverages are available at the Port Townsend Farmers Market, regional retailers, and select outlets in the greater Seattle area. Visit the tasting room or join their Cider Club for seasonal releases delivered to your door.

Holly Erickson of Jefferson County Farmers Markets presents an inside look at the people, histories, and passions behind the booths of our community’s vibrant marketplaces. A longer version of this story will be published at jcfmarkets.org/vendor-stories.