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

There's No Place Like Home!

I love my job. I really do. And I know just how lucky I am in it. I happen to have a job where I get to talk about wine all day. I recently returned from my second trip down to Sonoma Valley/Napa Valley in less than a year. This time around I was sent down with a co-worker so that we could attend the Direct to Consumer Symposium that was being held in Santa Rosa. It was a great symposium that covered the topics of social media and mobile marketing; issues that we, here at Woodward Canyon Winery, are trying to stay ahead of the curve. We have both a Facebook and Twitter account and we are obviously a member of the blogging community. It was a thoroughly enjoyable day that will help us take our social media presence to the next level.

The one draw back about being down in California this past week was the torrential downpour the entire three days! I should have been expecting a bit of rain since it is winter, but I wasn’t and certainly not the amount that we saw. I thought I was getting out of the cold, foggy, wet Pacific Northwest for some warmer weather and sunshine. I’m not sure the last time I was that mixed up about a situation. And if that wasn’t bad enough it was sunny, 60 degrees and gorgeous when the plane landed back in Seattle! Now how’s that for being in the wrong place at the wrong time?

Santa Rosa is a cute city that reminded me of Walla Walla. The area we were in had a couple of streets filled with restaurants, wine bars and shops that reminded me of Walla Walla's Main Street. It was easy to see where Walla Walla could potentially end up down the road. To me, one of the most interesting facts about Santa Rosa is that the population sits around 161,500 residents which is close to 4 times the size of Walla Walla's population! When I first read that I couldn't believe it. It definitely did not feel that big while we were down there.

The one thing I really appreciated about our little valley is the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance and the Walla Walla Valley maps they put out each year. Maybe I was just looking in the wrong places but in all the tasting rooms I visited in both Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley I never once saw a map of either AVA. It made me realize how lucky we are and how hard our Wine Alliance works for us.

For me, one of the nicest things about visiting California was a renewal of my passion for the tasting room and the customer relations part of my job. I had forgotten how much fun I have talking to people and trying to educated them a bit on Woodward Canyon, the Walla Walla Valley and wine in general. The past couple of days back behind the bar have been fun, refreshing and a nice change of pace. And really visiting other areas always reminds me just how much I love living in the Walla Walla Valley

And now I'm off to enjoy some of this nice winter fog! I'm crossing my fingers for some sunshine this weekend. Hope to see everyone soon!

Cheers!

Shari

It's About the Place

We are into dirt here. Not sure why; maybe for me it was the mud pie making as a kid, maybe it was seeing strangers walk up to our secluded yard to admire my mother's flower garden because they heard about it from someone else or maybe it was the time I spent on my grandparents’ farm with the cows, chickens, timothy hay and creek to play in. In all likelihood, the fact that both Rick and my grandparents on both sides were farmers probably has a lot to do with it. Rick himself was raised on and drove combine on the Woodward Canyon farm where our Estate Vineyard now grows. One of my favorite cinematographic moments is in “Gone with the Wind” when Scarlet holds up a handful of her beloved Tara to the heavens and essentially declares "Bring it on, I have my dirt!"

The dirt here is unique. That was one factor in the government's approval of our Walla Walla Valley appellation. Not only is there the wine appellation, but there is also an officially designated growing area for Walla Walla Sweet Onions – Walla Walla Sweets grown elsewhere are not Walla Walla Sweets. There is a taste of place here.

In addition to our dirt, we love the Walla Walla Valley. It too is unique and has a sense of place. Walla Walla is an authentic small town with character and history. It and the wine industry have developed organically over time - not part of some master plan or by trying to imitate Tuscany or Bordeaux.

Those places have developed the same way over time. That is what the "romance of the vineyards" is all about. It is more than the wine; it is about the landscape, the people and their culture. People make pilgrimages to wine country to drink the wine, eat the food and soak in the atmosphere. Bordeaux is not Burgundy and Napa is not Paso. This is what makes wine different from other agricultural products. How many people have ever collared you at a dinner party and told you of their amazing trip to Kansas where they ate this fabulous corn and how different that corn is from the corn they recently sampled in Pasco, Washington? My guess is not many.

So, where the heck am I going with this you ask? We recently have been receiving offers to open a tasting room in the Puget Sound –which is another appellation. In fact, during Spring Release a very nice woman asked me if she could get a brochure about a "wine village" being built there out of her car for me and informed me that a number of other Eastern Washington wineries were interested. I did not say it, but the first thing that came to my mind was my mother repeating the old adage that "you don't have to jump off the bridge just because everyone else is". I just began shaking my head "no".

I told her that we are a Walla Walla winery and while not all of our fruit is grown here, we grow an increasing proportion and we produce all of it here. We are defined by being a Walla Walla winery. We are not here just to use the name; we are a part of the fabric of the Valley and it of us. The Bordelaise do not have tasting rooms in Alsace or Champagne – they are Bordelaise. Stag's Leap wineries do not have tasting rooms in Carneros – they are not of Carneros. We don't want to become a mere storefront, minus the romance and essence of wine country. I politely declined the nice lady's offer.

It all comes down to the fact that this is our "place". We are a Walla Walla winery and we are damn proud of it.

Darcey / Woodward Canyon

End of February Already?!?!?!

Hello from cold and gray Walla Walla Valley. I’m writing this bundled up inside the tasting room in a sweater and my fleece

jacket. I’m soooo ready for spring time! It’s been a long and cold winter and just seems to keep dragging on. And to think on the 2nd Punxsy Phil saw his shadow and so we’re in store for 6 more weeks of winter. But I have some reservations on this prediction. I mean this little groundhog comes out of his burrow to try to predict if we’re going to have a longer winter or an early spring. But with all the people standing around with lights and cameras and everything else it’s no wonder that he ALWAYS sees his shadow! Here’s a fun site I found on the history of Groundhog Day- visit it at www.groundhog.org if you’re interested in this little guy.

So some fun stuff coming up in the next couple of weeks that some of us here at the winery are involved in. First off is the Oregon Wine Symposium down in Eugene, Oregon. This is our first year attending so we're hoping to learn a lot. It has been years since I’ve been to Eugene. If you know of any hot spots to visit or any cool events going on for Fat Tuesday please feel free to share. I would love to get some ideas of where to visit.

Right after we return from that we’re headed out again for Taste Walla Walla in Portland, which takes place on Monday, March 2nd. This is a great event for those of you who haven't been before. Wineries from all over Walla Walla pack up and head down to Portland to pour in one big area. Great for those of you who haven’t made it over to this side of the state yet, and for those of you who would just like to taste a bit closer to home. Tickets are still available and cost is $65 a piece. There are quite a few wines available to taste so please be safe in getting home from the event. This is such a fun event for wineries and consumers alike. For more information, you can visit The Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance website. To order tickets you can either call (503) 226-0973 or visit the Portland Art Museum at Portland Art Museum. We hope to see you all there!

For those of you who haven’t heard, we have released our 2006 “Old Vines” Cabernet. This wine is gorgeous! Rick is really excited about how this wine is showing already. Here’s an excerpt from our tech sheet …

”This 2006 “Old Vines” Cabernet Sauvignon is a rich and complex red wine. It expresses the purity of fully mature cabernet sauvignon fruit that one only can get from 35 year old vines. The Sagemoor Vineyard cabernet truly expresses itself in this vintage. The color is dark red to purple and complex aromas of cherry, leather and smoke develop in the glass. 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, director of production

If you would like to order some please feel free to either call us at the winery at (509) 525-4129 or order online at www.woodwardcanyon.com.

Well I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday! Even though this would normally be my Monday, I’m taking the weekend off to head out to a friend’s wedding. Here’s to a 10 hour drive for an outdoor wedding at the Oregon Coast. Seriously, who gets married outside at the Oregon Coast in February?!?! If, on Saturday afternoon around 3:00 while you are in your warm and toasty house and you get the urge to have a glass of vino, think of me!

Cheers!
Shari Brumbach / Woodward Canyon Winery