Castle & Crown Cellars’ long and winding road toward opening a tasting room in downtown Port Townsend was complicated by the interruption of COVID, but co-founders Stephen Lesefko and Kelsey von der Burg are pleased to settle into what they see as a welcoming community.

Prior to Castle & Crown’s inception in 2018, the couple’s studies of winemaking took them from Australia’s historical wineries and New Zealand’s Waiheke Island to the Rheingau wine region in Germany, and back to the Pacific Northwest. By the time they bottled their first wine in 2020, the pandemic was shutting everything down.

While their lives were on hold, the couple considered locations that could afford them a high quality of life and a comfortable environment in which to raise their children. By 2023, they’d moved to Port Townsend and found the former storefront of “Mad Hatter & Co.” at 926 Water St. was available.

“We always wanted to start our own wine label and tasting room, but those plans just got delayed,” von der Burg said. “We had a really good hand-off with Mad Hatter’s Janice Tucker, and it’s been an adventure and a learning experience getting everything ready.”

With professional experience extending across multiple countries and continents, Lesefko and von der Burg have long since evolved beyond being mere novices. But ironically, the education they gained overseas was what prompted them to come back home, sourcing Castle & Crown’s grapes from family-owned and operated vineyards in Washington and Oregon.

“We came to realize we love cool-climate viticulture,” Lesefko said.

“And we liked that the Port Townsend area already has a supportive community of wineries, breweries and cideries, so we wanted to be a part of that,” von der Burg added.

With so many distinguished professional peers in the area the logical question is, what sets Castle & Crown apart?

Lesefko cited their “minimal intervention” in their own winemaking process, which utilizes native yeast and extended skin contact, meaning that the grape juice is allowed to stay in contact with the grape skins for longer periods of time.

“We also produce our wine in smaller batches,” Lesefko said.

“We allow our grapes to tell their own story,” von der Burg said. “And working with smaller batches means that we can pitch an entire batch, if it’s not up to our standards. We only bottle what we love.”

As for why they prefer cooler climates, Lesefko contemplated his fondness for Riesling and pinot noir, and concluded that their higher acidity pairs better with food.

“We’re very food-motivated,” von der Burg laughed. “Stephen is a chef as well, so he’s always cooking dishes that he spent hours making with his mom.”

“I also have a Chinese background, and I realized that cool-climate wines complement Asian food especially well, with different varieties working better for, say, Thai curry versus sushi,” Lesefko said.

Having come from a more formal job at Microsoft, von der Burg is happy to trade such work for the “play” of doing something she loves with her husband, and she expressed optimism about their “great location.” They  expect to meet its scheduled soft opening date of Friday, June 21, after which they plan to be open from noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays.