Merry Christmas!

Peace, love, joy and great wine on this day and always! 

Joyeux Noel. Mele Kalikimaka. Feliz Navidad. Merry Christmas!  

-The Woody Crew              



12 Days of Christmas - Woody style

On the first day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... a Special Selection Red Wine. 

On the second day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the third day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the fourth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... four Woody fleeces, three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the fifth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... five Chardonnays, four Woody fleeces, three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... six etched glasses, five Chardonnays, four Woody fleeces, three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... seven Woody coasters, six etched glasses, five Chardonnays, four Woody fleeces, three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the eight day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... eight CV Merlots, seven Woody coasters, six etched glasses, five Chardonnays, four Woody fleeces, three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... nine "Artist Series" Cabs, eight CV Merlots, seven Woody coasters, six etched glasses, five Chardonnays, four Woody fleeces, three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the tenth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... ten Estate Reds, nine "Artist Series" Cabs, eight CV Merlots, seven Woody coasters, six etched glasses, five Chardonnays, four Woody fleeces, three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... eleven "Old Vines" Cabs, ten Estate Reds, nine "Artist Series" Cabs, eight CV Merlots, seven Woody coasters, six etched glasses, five Chardonnays, four Woody fleeces, three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true friend gave to me ... twelve Artist prints, eleven "Old Vines" Cabs, ten Estate Reds, nine "Artist Series" Cabs, eight CV Merlots, seven Woody coasters, six etched glasses, five Chardonnays, four Woody fleeces, three "Artist Series" mags, two Holiday mags and a Special Selection Red Wine.




 Happy Holidays from the Woody Crew!

Shari/Guest Services

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

It's beginning to look a lot like a Winter Wonderland outside and just in time for the holidays too!

Holiday Barrel Tasting is just around the corner. This year we will be releasing our 2008 "Artist Series" Cabernet and the 2009 Washington State Chardonnay. Through the month of December we will be offering the '08 "Artist Series" Cabernet at a special release pricing of $44/bottle down from $49/bottle with the additional 10% case discount still applying. Be sure to stock up now and take advantage of this great price! 

Also on special is the 2008 Nelms Road Merlot and the 2007 "Artist Series" Cabernet 1.5L. We are offering the Nelms Merlot for $15/bottle, down from $20 and the '07 "Artist Series" Cabernet 1.5L for $98/bottle, down from $109.

And our last thank you to all of our loyal customers is free ground shipping for purchases made over the phone or internet, of a case or more (2-day shipping and shipping to Alaska and Hawaii will receive a $40 credit towards the shipping charges). This special does not apply in the tasting room. If you have questions please contact Marlene Steiner, marlene@woodwardcanyon.com.

And don't forget that Lisa Snow Lady, the 2008 "Artist Series" artist, is planning on being on hand to sign prints and bottles Saturday the 4th and Sunday the 5th, weather permitting. Also, Paul Gregutt will be at the winery on Saturday the 4th from 12:30 - 2:30 signing copies of his new book, Washington Wines and Wineries: Second Edition. This would make a great present for those wine lovers in your life so stop in and pick up a copy.

If you're planning on making a last minute trip over to the valley for Holiday Barrel there are still some rooms available at the local hotels. Check www.wallawalla.org for a complete listing of all area hotels.

We hope to see everyone this weekend! Drive safe!

Cheers!

-Shari
 

2010 Harvest

What an incredibly challenging vintage 2010 has turned out to be. From the beginning, nothing about this vintage has been easy. The year started off promising enough with some abnormally warm temperatures in January, February and March that had the valley thinking early harvest. Many vineyards showed early signs of bud break and harvest was on its way. However early spring turned into a summer no-show, where we had a few days of weather over 95 but the majority of the season was spent in the 80s. Not only were temperatures lower but we were also compounded with more rainfall than normal which lead to the possibilities of mildew and rot in the vineyards. Then to cap off the vintage with fruit ripening so slowly harvest was at least three weeks later than in previous years. We brought in the Woody sauvignon blanc, the first fruit of the harvest, on September 16^th, three weeks later than it was brought in for 2009. Everything else started to trickle in after the sauv blanc. With picking going into the last week of October it then became a rush against the freezing temperatures at night.

Here's a quick harvest note from Rick -

Typically, I remember something unique or special about almost every vintage, but yikes, I almost do not know where to begin this year.  I made my first home wine in 1976 and my first commercial wine in 1981 and in those 30 plus years I never seen a vintage like this.  Let’s see, we’ve had unseasonably cool weather, more rain than I can remember and an uneven set and yes, we are several weeks late but……………..this is agriculture people; it’s farming!  I grew up with this.  A vintage such as this doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with wine quality and yet, it has everything to do with wine quality.                                                                                                        

 Do I still have your attention?  Good, let me explain.  This year there are going to be incredible grapes grown and wines made; and there will be grapes not fit for harvest and there will be wines dumped down the drain and here’s why.  The best vineyard owners (farmers) will produce extraordinary fruit this year which will subsequently be made into extraordinary wine by the best winemakers.  The best growers did all the right things as the year progressed.  The heavy crop, surely not to ripen, was thinned back to one cluster per shoot no shoulder, laterals were removed and canopy opened allowing needed air movement to prevent rot or mold or mildew.  The best winemakers are doing the same thing in the cellar.  The correct size and shape of tank to ferment in and enough of them, the appropriate method of cap management, when to drop the tank, how much older wood to use this year and the wisdom to realize that less is more!

Did someone say cooler vintage? Great, that means more expressively bright fruit, unbelievably dark, inky color and lower alcohols.  Damn, I thought that’s what we have been trying to do for the last decade.  So let’s do it!  

 -Rick Small                              

Everyone I talk to keeps mentioned how this is going to be a difficult vintage. Not only has the farming aspect of things has been difficult but wineries are facing much lower yields than normal. So far many wineries throughout the Walla Walla Valley are commenting that production will be down about 30%. We are no different (we picked roughly 1 to 1.5 tons per acre in our Estate Vineyard) but so far it looks like the vintage has the potential to be a great one. Sugars are lower than they have been in the recent past but the acidity is still high, which in turn will lead to well balanced wines that should have the ability to age longer. Everyone keeps talking about this moving trend to high alcohol wines and how we should move away from them; well like Rick said, this just might be the perfect vintage for that. 

With the craziness of harvest behind us, we are now focusing on getting ready for Autumn Release Weekend. This year we will be pouring in the Reserve House where we'll be featuring a couple new releases, a couple additional older vintage pours and some current releases. Starting the lineup of wines will be the new releases the 2008 Charbonneau Red, the 2009 Estate Barbera and the 2009 Dry Riesling, a special pour of the 2009 Estate Reserve Chardonnay, the 2006 Columbia Valley Merlot the 2005 Estate Red Reserve, the Non-Vintage Red, and a special magnum pour of the 2006 "Artist Series" Cabernet.

Also coming up in November is 20something - the new vintage at The Fremont Studios in Seattle on November 20th from 6:00 to 10:00 pm. Join Thomas Woodley and enjoy a pour of the 2009 Estate Sauvignon Blanc. Visit http://www.thenewvintage.org for tickets and more information.

Join us for a busy Holiday Barrel Tasting Weekend , December 3rd - 5th at the winery. We will be releasing the 2008 "Artist Series" Cabernet. Lisa Snow Lady, the artist for this label, will be on hand to sign prints and bottles over the weekend. Also around will be Chef Paul as he prepares small bites to pair with the wines - marinated lamb, roasted veggies, tapenades and a few other spreads are always winery staff favorites. For copies of the recipes visit our website www.woodwardcanyon.com. Rick will be baking bread once again to serve with some of Chef Paul's spreads. Also on hand, Paul Gregutt, author of Washington Wines and Wineries: 2nd Edition, will be around to sign copies on Saturday, December 4th from 12:30 to 2:30 pm.  
  
See you at the winery!
Cheers!


-Shari

Marketing Travels Abroad

Last month Rick and I spent a couple of weeks in England and Germany attending events and marketing Woody wines.

We began with a trade tasting set up by our agent, Wine Treasury, at Gordon Ramsay's Maze in London. In addition to new releases, we presented a vertical of "Old Vines" Cabernet. This was followed by a lovely trade lunch in the Maze View room where the kitchen executed some great food and wine matches.

We spent the next three days at the London International Wine & Spirits Fair which is a huge trade event, pouring wine along side other Northwest wineries from 9:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. each day. How those women in the booth across the aisle wore stiletto heels for three days, I will never figure out! We did this same event several years ago and there was definitely more interest in Washington wines this time. However, the majority of people who stop to taste require a 101 on Washington wine starting with which Washington we are talking about and moving on to clarifying that all of the state does not have the same climate as Seattle. It is quite fun though to meet trade and other winemakers from all over the world and to help to educate people on what we are doing here in Washington.

A special treat was running into former Woody intern Timothée Boltz from Alsace who spent a crush with us in 2004. He now works as an export manager for an Alsatian winery and is getting married this summer.








One side benefit of the tasting at Maze was meeting the folks from other fine restaurants, two of which we later visited.

We first went to Goodman, a steak house in Mayfair. The General Manager, David who had recently visited Walla Walla with the Washington Wine Commission's Wine Experience, and the sommelier, Crispin, took good care of us. They have an interesting concept where they feature U.S., Scottish and Irish beef - all perfectly prepared with great side dishes as well. We waddled back to the Tube.

The next evening we dined across the street at Hibiscus at the urging of sommelier Julian. It was absolutely one of the best meals we have ever had. Sleek, calm interior that was a nice change from the hectic city streets. We chose the Spring Tasting Menu – layered flavors and textures, beautifully presented. The chef has a way of combining a myriad of flavors, yet keeping each one distinct. The fresh pea soup inspired me to come home and plant some peas in our raised beds and the tiny jellied cubes of balsamic in the strawberry dessert has got me on a new mission. A very memorable meal.

Finally we ate at the Al Sultan, a Lebanese restaurant, in the Shepherd's Market area of Mayfair which is a last night tradition for those Northwest wineries associated with Hilltop Wines in the UK. After filling up on the extensive Meze, I looked up and saw the loaded plates of the main course headed our way and recalled that last time I had told myself to remember that the Meze was just the first course…….It is a good thing that getting to and from the Tube platform involves a lot of stairs.

London is a great city and I wish we had time to partake in what it has to offer, but the next day we flew to Frankfurt, Germany, then took a train further north to Celle where brothers Bruce and Alan at Kultur Insel-Celle are beginning to bring our wines in. Celle is a charming town with the buildings in the old town center dating back to the 16th century with some 480 restored half-timber houses, a palace/museum and abundant parks and walking paths.

By day we went to the market and toured the sights. In the evenings, Bruce, Allan and Tanja arranged a tasting at wine bar in a nearby town (Buxtehude) and at their wine bar/music club in Celle where Alan plays. Tanja speaks English better and faster than any foreign speaker and most native English speakers that I know, and for me to say that is something if you know how fast Rick and I speak.

Germans are quite fascinated by the American West and steak houses with western themes are fairly common. Our Nelms Road wine is now on the list of the Apache Grill in Celle. The inside of their menu has a map of the U.S., showing the location of the various tribes and lo and behold there were the Walla Wallas!

This trip was kind of a whirlwind, but fun and an important way to make connections and to spread the word about Washington wine and Woody in particular.

Cheers!

Darcey

Travel Changes

Wine bloggers and non-bloggers alike the first section of the New Highway 12 opened this past Monday. It's a bit confusing and if you're not careful you'll miss some of our great neighbors here in the West End. Here's a great little map of the new road.

For those bloggers that are interested in finding something to do in your down time, head out to visit us for a tasting. Show us your conference badge for waived tasting fees. 

Hope to see everyone this weekend!

Shari

UPDATE ---

Here's the most current copy of the West End Winery map.  It includes directions on how to get to Skylite as well. 

Calendar of events

I’m sorry that updates have become less and less frequent. I am trying to be better at posting but things at the winery and in the tasting room have become increasingly busier in the last month or two. There are so many things going on in the month of June, that we are involved in, that I wanted to get the word out. Hope to see everyone at one or more of the events ...

·         June 3^rd – We will be joining in on the national Washington Wine (#WAWine) tweetup down at Olive Marketplace Café in Walla Walla from 5:00 to 8:00 pm. Join us and numerous other Walla Walla wineries as we all meet in one central location and collectively taste and tweet about Washington wines.

·         June 3^rd – Join Thomas Woodley, our national sales coordinator, at The Inn at Langley in Langley Washington for an amazing night of food and wine. Chef Mike Costello has put together an amazing 5-course menu and paired it with some fresh whites and vintage reds. Cost of the dinner is $170 per person which includes food, wine, tax and gratuity. Attendees of the dinner will be offered a discounted room rate to stay at the inn as well.Call the Inn for reservations (360) 221-3033.

·         June 4^th – For those that stay the night, join Thomas Woodley and Chef Costello as they dig into their award winning cellar to host a vertical tasting of vintage Woodward Canyon wines accompanied with some small bites prepared by Chef Costello. The tasting will be free to those who attended the dinner the evening before and cost $35 for anyone else.

·         June 6^th – Join Marlene and myself as we descend upon The Davenport Hotel in downtown Spokane for Taste Washington Spokane on Sunday from 5:00 to 8:30 pm. We’ll join around 100 other wineries and 25 restaurants at the event and will be pouring our 2008 Washington State Chardonnay, the 2007 “Artist Series” Cabernet and the 2008 Nelms Road Cabernet. Tickets are still available so get yours at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/107945.

·         June 13^th – Join either Thomas Woodley or Darcey Fugman-Small, our owner/general manager, at the Seattle Wine Awards hosted at the historic Rainier Club. We will be pouring our award winning wines – the 2006 Estate Red (double gold), the 2007 “Artist Series” Cabernet (gold) and the 2008 Nelms Road Cabernet (silver). Tickets for the event are still available so get your ticket here.

·         June 18^th – Visit the Walla Walla Valley and join in on the festivities of Vintage Walla Walla. Friday evening, June 18^th, join Thomas, Rick and Darcey for the bbq under the stars out at Northstar Winery from 6:00 to 9:00 pm. Tickets are available for the bbq only or as part of the Vintage WW package.

·         June 19^th – The next day, ten wineries, us included, are hosting special tasting events throughout the valley. For more information on the individual events and for reservations, please contact the Walla Walla Wine Alliance office at (509) 526-3117. Later on Saturday join participating wineries for the Vintage pour gala and silent auction that evening from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. It’s a great opportunity to taste vintage wines with the winemakers who make them. It’s also the chance to bid on amazing packages put together by wineries of the Walla Walla Valley.

·         June 25^th – 27^th – The 2010 Wine Bloggers Conference has decided on a change of scenery and is moving from Napa/Sonoma Valley, California to the Walla Walla Valley. I was able to attend the conference last year and had a blast. It is a great opportunity to meet with fellow wine bloggers and talk about wine and the importance of blogging and social media. California set the bar fairly high last year but I know that Walla Walla is up to the task. The conference is sold out however they are keeping a wait list in case there are any last minute cancellations.

And a heads up look at what is coming up in the month of July ...

·         July 1^st – Join us as we’re pouring a selection of our wines at Olive Marketplace Café at their weekly wine tasting event. For a $5 tasting fee you can taste through our line up of wines. Splurge on dinner while you are there and grab one of their fabulous flat-bread pizzas. Trust me, you won’t regret it.
 ·     July 31^st – Looking ahead, T-Maccarone's and us have paired up to do a farm-to-table dinner out in our Estate Vineyard. Final details are still to come so check back for more information or send me an email at shari@woodwardcanyon.com and I'll keep you updated.

Hope to get a real post up here soon with the happenings at the winery and a recap on Rick and Darcey’s trip over to England and Germany last month. Thanks for keeping an eye on us and hope to see you in the tasting room soon.

Cheers,

Shari

Windy Walla Walla!

The 2010 Vintage is officially under way - we finally started pruning the Estate Vineyard the first part of this month. Rick decided to delay pruning just a bit due to the unusual weather we've had the past couple of months. It's been getting up the low 60's during the day but then dropping back down to right around or below freezing at night. Warm days and freezing nights are always a concern in spring and this year it seemed to have started a bit earlier. Once you begin pruning and the buds get warm, they start opening and become susceptible to damage which can mean no grapes. By delaying pruning, we have hopefully bought us some time in case we do get that early spring freeze.

Because we've held off on pruning longer than most in the valley our bud break has been a bit delayed. We saw the first bud break on our sauvignon blanc (pictured to the left) and our cabernet franc earlier this week. Last year we were at least two to three weeks behind schedule and this year we are almost two weeks ahead. It just goes to show you how different each vintage can be. A couple more weeks of warm weather and we could be further along that that. This should be an interesting vintage!

We have also been busy here at the winery. Our cellar crew has spent the past couple of weeks racking all of the 2009 wines. I'm hearing good things about the '09 vintage from Rafa and Kevin so far. Looks like we'll bottle the '09 whites in May along with some of the '08 reds. I can't wait for the wines to be released yet. The only bad thing about wine is waiting around for it to be released.

Don't forget that Spring Release Weekend is coming up this weekend in the Walla Walla Valley. We will be releasing our 2007 "Old Vines" Cabernet. Our 26th release of this wine is made up of 100% cabernet sourced from the Champoux and Sagemoor Vineyards. We will be doing a special pour of the "Old Vines" Cabernet in our "Reserve House" while all other wines will be poured in Production. We will have our usual $5 tasting fee, refundable with wine purchase, for our flight of wines with an additional $5 tasting fee for the "Old Vines," refundable with "Old Vines" purchase only.

"This “Old Vines” Cabernet Sauvignon is rich and complex yet shows elegance, restraint and sophistication. It expresses the purity of fully mature cabernet sauvignon that one only can get from 35 year old vines. The color is dark red to purple and has complex aromas of earth, cherry, leather and smoke. Flavors of ripe black cherries and cassis married with spicy new oak and vanilla coat the mouth. The texture is soft and silky yet there are mature integrated tannins in the rich, long finish. I love the proportion this red wine displays and with proper storage, it should age for ten years easily."                -Rick Small, winemaker.

We are excited to kick off 2010's busy season with the annual Spring Release.We hope to see everyone at the winery!

Cheers!


Shari

Baking Bread with Rick Small

If you’ve ever been to Woodward Canyon over Holiday Barrel Weekend or have had the chance to meet Rick in person, you would know how passionate he is about his bread. He has become somewhat of an artisan, spending years perfecting his recipe to get the perfect flavor and consistency for each loaf. Walking into the production building during Holiday Barrel Weekend is always a treat. Opening the door, one is met with the powerful smell of freshly baked bread along with the dips and spreads that Chef Paul has cooked up for us. During these busy weekends you can almost always find Rick with his hat on backward, wearing his white wine apron, timer around his neck, flour on his hands and standing in front of the stove. Rick takes great pride in his bread and always enjoys baking loaves for our events or even just one or two for the Woody crew to munch on or to use for pizza dough when we do our pizza lunches. And now that it's beginning to warm up a bit in the valley I'm ready for Rick's pizza lunch! 

Ingredients:

2 ¼ cups hot water (no chlorinated water)

1 tablespoon wine yeast or 1 packet yeast

6 cups high protein flour – Wheat Montana’s Natural White (www.wheatmontana.com)

1 teaspoon sea salt

Olive oil

Baking items:

5 or 6 quart mixer

Wood peel. Do not buy an aluminum peel because the dough sticks to it.

Corn meal

Dough knife for cutting dough into smaller pieces

Rectangular baking stone

Bread knife for scoring the top of the loaves and cutting bread

Large mixing bowl

1^st Day:

Take 2 ¼ cups hot water and mix in wine yeast or 1 packet yeast and wait until frothy. Add 4 cups of flour and start mixer. Add 1 tsp sea salt and the remaining 2 cups of flour to the mixer. Mix until the gluten develops – the dough should be dry but moist. Lightly coat mixing bowl with olive oil and transfer bread to bowl; I never ferment the dough in stainless steel bowls.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave it to ferment in a warm place overnight. 
 

2^nd Day:

3 hours before you want to bake the bread, cut and shape the dough into 4 long loaves. Use plenty of flour underneath and on the loaves. Cover with plastic wrap and let the loaves grow for 2 hours or longer.

At the end of the 2^nd hour, put your baking stone into the oven and preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. It will take an hour for the stone to come up to temperature. I recommend using a heavy stone and also recommend an electric oven over a gas oven if you have a choice.

At the end of the 3^rd hours, transfer two of the loaves with the wooden peel (flour/corn meal can help here) onto the stone and score the top of the loaves with the bread knife. Bake for about 20 minutes but check from time to time since every oven bakes differently. Repeat with the remaining two loaves. Watch, smell, touch….and enjoy!

                                                                -Rick 

2005 Special Selection

They've done it again! If you're a fan of Woodward Canyon you may have heard or have had a chance to sample one of the three Special Selection wines we have released in the past. This is a wine where Rick only produced it when we've had a spectacular vintage that warranted a bottling. The quality of fruit that we receive must be above and beyond that of even our "Old Vines" Cabernet. We've had years in the past where Rick will think we'll have Special Selection quality from the beginning only to find that it does not make the cut. So far only the 1988, 1993 and 1999 vintages has passed the test and have gone on to be bottled. Well get ready, because Rick and Kevin have just released our fourth "Special" and it has been worth the wait!

2005 was an exceptional vintage and this red wine is truly what "special" means. This wine is why we do this!    - Rick Small

The 2005 Special Selection definitely does not disappoint. 75% cabernet sauvignon from old vines out of Champoux Vineyard, 13% petit verdot and 12% merlot from our Estate Vineyard. These grapes were harvested by hand in mid-October and were additionally hand sorted prior to crushing. It was twice-aged in new French chateau barrels and finally bottled unfined and unfiltered in April of 2008.

"Following the development of a red wine such as this through the cellar for nearly five years is amazing. This beautifully structured wine is dark purple garnet in color. Aromas of ripe forest ridge black berry marry with notes of earth, leather, vanilla, and spice. The finish is long and remarkable showing incredible texture with beautifully integrated tannins. Nearly two years of bottle aging has allowed all the extraordinary elements in this wine to integrate, becoming more complex and generous. This is a ten to twelve year wine if cellared properly although it may certainly be consumed sooner. Enjoy with Greek food that includes oven roasted lamb."   - Rick 

We have a very limited amount of the Special Selection, having only produced 98 cases - with no magnums bottled. Please order online at www.woodwardcanyon.com soon so you don't miss out!

________________________

Here's what Dr Jay Miller's (with Robert Parker's Wine Advocate) had to say about the 2005 "Special Selection".
Review:  94 points "The 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon Special Selection (a cuvee made only in the finest years) is a blend of 75% Cabernet Sauvignon from the Champoux Vineyard and 13% Petit Verdot and 12% Merlot from the Estate vineyard. Opaque purple/black in color, it delivers a brooding bouquet of pain grille, pencil lead, crushed stone, incense, black currant, and blackberry, Layered and thick on the palate, it has tons of fruit and structure but remains tightly wound. Stylistically, it is reminiscent of a high level Pauillac from a top vintage. Give it 10-12 years of cellaring and drink it from 2020 to 2040. Woodward Canyon remains under the leadership of pioneering vigneron Rick Smalls. He has relinquished some of the winemaking duties but remains deeply involved in the estate’s viticulture. The top cuvees are built to last (a 1984 Cabernet from a challenging vintage tasted on the day of my visit was in fine form) and reward extended cellaring."
Reviewer: Dr. Jay Miller
Reviewer Publication: Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

Staff Education

One of my favorite parts of being involved with the wine industry are the amazing “educational” opportunities that come up. We are big on education here at Woodward Canyon because we believe to be able to educate the consumer we need to know what we are talking about. We try to come up with fun ways to educate ourselves so we can keep up to date, not only what is going on here at the winery but also what is changing in the wine industry in general. Recently we did a comprehensive tasting of all our current releases with Kevin Mott - our winemaker, Darcey – our general manager and owner, and the entire tasting room staff. I have always enjoyed tasting wines with Kevin. He is smart and funny and gives you the chemistry side of wine tasting and blending in a way that that even the most novice wine drinkers can understand where he’s coming from.

Our lineup consisted of both current releases in the tasting room and a couple of special reserve wines that we don’t usually open up. It was nice to be able to revisit all the wines at once, talk them over with Kevin and refresh our palates on how the wines were doing. It was also fun to taste some things that we haven’t opened and tasted since they first released.

Though they were all good, my personal favorites of the afternoon were the 2007 Charbonneau Red, the 2007 “Artist Series” Cabernet and the 2006 Estate Red. The Estate Red, soon to be renamed the Estate Reserve, has always been one of my favorite wines. I find the wine to be supple and rich with the perfect balance between black fruit and firm tannins. Rick always says that he perceives an “expression” or a “sense of place” that is fairly unique to our Estate Vineyard and I’d have to agree with him. That is just one reason that the Estate Red and the Charbonneau Red are two of my favorites - both are Bordeaux-style blends from very different vineyards. The Charbonneau Red is sourced entirely from the Charbonneau Vineyard which is planted at the western edge of the Walla Walla County, overlooking the Snake River. The vineyard consists of very sandy soil overlaying shallow basalt rock. It tends to be a cooler site than our Estate Vineyard and has to deal with the weather as well. The Charbonneau Red is a wine that we only produce when the fruit we receive warrants it. It is rich and elegant with nuances of tobacco and leather perfectly in balance with black cherry fruit and soft tannins. The finish is smooth, generous and long.

If you haven't taken advantage of our Winter Special yet, don't forget that the last day is tomorrow. Pick up your 2007 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet at this fantastic price before it's too late. We are already in talks about possibly doing another special next month so remember to check back to see what we've come up with.

Until next time, hope this post finds you enjoying the sun somewhere and a good glass of wine!

Cheers!

Shari

2007 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet

If you haven’t already heard we decided that we would run, as I have nicknamed it, a “beat the fog” or “beat the winter blues” special during the month of February. Rick typically likes to offer a special online and in the tasting room in February. So after sitting down and brainstorming on what we could do for this special Sue and Rick brought up the idea about doing an offering on the 2007 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet. Since this is a great wine that is mostly sourced from our Estate Vineyard and one that is not typically featured at the winery, we thought this was a great way to introduce the wine to those not familiar with it. So we are happy to offer you the 2007 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet at the discounted price of $27 a bottle, no additional discounts.

The Walla Walla Valley Cabernet is a wonderful wine that really expresses a sense of place. Composed of 81% Cabernet Sauvignon (Estate Vineyard), 11% Syrah (Dubrul Vineyard) and 8% Cabernet Franc (again Estate Vineyard) this is a great wine to showcase what our Estate Vineyard is all about. Here’s what Rick had to say about it -

“This wine has a beautiful nose of subtle tobacco, complex spiced oak and clove that integrates beautifully with ripe black cherry/cassis fruit. The wine tastes almost sweet. A rich mouth feel begins with black cherry leading towards a chocolate/mocha finish that is exotic, enticing and long. While this wine may be enjoyed now, it will benefit from additional cellaring and should continue to develop for six years or more with proper storage.”

We plan on running this cab special through the end of February so get yours while you can!

If you’ve been into the tasting room on one or more occasions over the years I’m sure that at some point you have encountered Kellie Berg. She has been a fixture behind the tasting bar for the past eight or nine years and has helped countless of visitors make their trip to the Walla Walla Valley and Woodward Canyon a memorable one. Kellie has recently turned in her notice and has informed us that she will be moving on to new challenges the middle of this month. I know that all though this is a great move for her, I am sad we are losing her and will personally miss her in the future. Help me in wishing her congratulations and all the best in her future endeavors!

As I'm sure you've all heard Punxsutawney Phil has once again seen his shadow, so it's six more weeks of winter. The warm weather a couple of weeks ago really got me hoping for an early spring. The longer winter would be ok if this fog would just lift. I don't remember the last time I saw the sunshine. But fog or sun regardless, I hope to see everyone in the tasting room sometime in the near future!

Cheers!

Shari