Field trip to the Estate Vineyard with Rick Small

 

Last week I got a chance to leave my office and head up to our Estate Vineyard with Rick to check out the vineyard and get his thoughts on the upcoming 2011 vintage. Because the 2010 vintage was such a late one with a fairly substantial freeze the middle of November, we lost a lot of the vines for the later ripening varietals.

Here's some pictures. 

Sauvignon Blanc buds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rick looking over the sauvignon blanc block

Rick getting a closer look at the sauvignon blanc buds

sauvignon blanc buds

cabernet sauvignon cut back due to winter damage

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

Fall Release Weekend!

It’s a cold overcast day that lets me know that fall has officially arrived. I’m sitting at my desk in a fleece vest trying to stay warm and still trying to recuperate from Fall Release Weekend last weekend. Fall Release is a big weekend in the Walla Walla Valley that started as Cayuse Release and Abeja Release Weekend and has grown in numbers over the past few years. I remember working Fall Release Weekend last year in the tasting room with only two other people and it was crazy. This year we wanted to try to eliminate the over-crowded feel and open it up a bit. We decided to do all of our tasting in the “Reserve House” instead of the regular Tasting Room. We poured through a mixture of both current release wines and some reserve wines, including our new release the 2007 Charbonneau Red. Chefs Charles Calder and Jay Entrikin prepared a wonderful Asian-themed spread that complimented the wines that we were pouring. Rick and Darcey were on hand to pour wine, serve food and mingle with guest. It was a really fun weekend and a good chance to catch up with many of our longtime customers and to meet some new ones as well!

And now that Fall Release Weekend has come and gone is time to start planning for Holiday Barrel Weekend. Holiday Barrel is always the first full weekend in December, which does not give us much time to turn around and get ready for it. This year we will be doing barrel samples of the 2008 “Artist Series” and have the 2007 “Artist Series” Cabernet, the 2007 Columbia Valley Merlot and the 2008 Estate Barbera as our featured releases. This is perfect since we are close to being sold out of both the 2006 Columbia Valley Merlot and the 2007 Estate Barbera. We still have some of the 2006 “Artist Series" Cabernet available which means we will have nice sample packs available.

Holiday Barrel will, once again, be held in the production building with sales in the Tasting Room. Chef Paul Williams will be on hand to prepare all the food and Cheryl Cosner-Williams of Upper Dry Creek Ranch will also be around to sell lamb sampler packs. Chef Paul’s lamb creations are always customer favorites. Our newest “Artist Series” label artist, Irene Yesley, will be available to sign bottles and posters.

The 2007 “Artist Series” Cabernet is a new release and will be offered at an introductory price of $44 a bottle. The 10% case discount will still apply to this wine. Also, we are offering both the 2007 Nelms Road Merlot and the 2007 Nelms Road Cabernet for $20 a bottle, with a 10% case discount. All three are excellent wines and will make a fine addition to any holiday meal.

And don’t forget to join Thomas at 20something - the new vintage at the Fremont Studios in Seattle on November 21st from 6 to 10 pm. He’ll be pouring our 2008 Estate Sauvignon Blanc that evening. Come early and grab a taste before it’s all gone!

If we didn’t see you during Fall Release Weekend I hope to see everyone sometime during Holiday Barrel Weekend!

The Dirt on Dolcetto!

It’s finally summertime in the Valley and to celebrate this we’re getting ready to release three wines that are great for summer sipping: our 2008 Estate Sauvignon Blanc ($26), the 2008 Estate Dolcetto ($21) and the 2008 Washington State Chardonnay ($44).

For those of you not familiar with dolcetto, it is an Italian varietal traditionally grown in Northwestern Italy, in the Piedmont region. The area is also known for barbera and nebbiolo. Rick, after a trip to the Piedmont in the ‘90s, fell in love with both barbera and dolcetto and decided to plant some in our Estate Vineyard on his return home. The first vintage for these two wines was 2000, and the only vintage we have missed since then was 2004 due to the freeze that swept the Valley.

Dolcetto, which means “little sweet one” in Italian, is simply that. A red wine that is full of fruit and naturally low in tannins, which makes it perfect for summertime drinking. It is pretty much the every day table red in Italy where they are known to chill it just slightly, although it can also be enjoyed at room temperature. I love the Woodward Canyon Estate Dolcetto, with aromas of blackberries and currants which mingle with just a slight hint of sweetness from the puncheons we use. This wine is also perfect for summer fare and anything grilled – including pizza, burgers, chicken and vegetables! Yum. I can’t wait to get a bottle home.

The release of the 2008 Estate Dolcetto couldn’t have come at a better time. We have a large group of our Oregon distributor coming in today for a tour of the Woodward Canyon Estate Vineyard, tasting of the wines and a wood-fire pizza lunch. It is the perfect compliment to the pizzas Rick bakes outside. And I love pizza lunches because I get to be creative when throwing the pizzas together. Of course, I can’t complain about getting to enjoy the pizzas after they are done either.

My favorite pizza is filled with lots of fresh veggies and some meat and cheese. Here's a recipe for the pizza dough and don't forget to use plenty of cornmeal before the pizza goes on the stone or you'll have a huge mess! I usually start with red sauce and then throw on the meat and cheese. I tend to stick to just spicy Italian sausage and chunks of fresh mozzarella. It doesn't need much more than that. Then it's all the veggies I can fit on it. My favorites are roasted red peppers, caramelized Walla Walla Sweet onions, fresh mushrooms and fresh basil. Once everything is piled up on the dough I usually throw some goat cheese on for flavor and then top it off with a few shavings of fresh parmesan cheese. It's perfect! Gosh, it’s good to work out here!

And a special treat for all our readers/subscribers of this blog. Leave a comment with a way to contact you for a special one time use of a 10% discount on any wine that normally receives a case discount (“Old Vines”, etched bottles and older vintages not included in discount.) No minimum purchase applies.

Also, check out the website for information on how to sign up for one of the private tastings we'll be hosting this month in our new "Reserve House."

Now it's time to get ready for the holiday weekend! I hope everyone has a fun a safe Fouth of July! The tasting room will be closed on Saturday July 4th, but we will be open our regular hours on Friday the 3rd and Sunday the 5th. Come see me one of those days if you're in town!

Thanks for reading! Hope to see you all in the tasting room sometime soon!!


Cheers!


Shari / Marlene