Wine Advocate Scores Announced

We are happy to share the latest scores and reviews from Jeb Dunnuck of The Wine Advocate: 

2012 Woodward Canyon Columbia Valley Merlot - 90+ points

I think there’s some upside to the 2012 Columbia Valley Merlot. Coming from the Weinbau and Woodward Canyon estate vineyards, it has lots of oak in its black cherry fruit, scorched earth, graphite and coffee bean-like aromas and flavors. These give way to a medium to full-bodied, plump, layered and nicely concentrated wine that will be better in another year or two, and have a decade or more of longevity. Drink: 2015-2035. 

2012 Woodward Canyon Estate Reserve - 95 points (Watch for Release)

A sensational Bordeaux blend, the 2012 Estate Reserve checks in as a blend of 28% Merlot, 27% Cabernet Franc, 27% Cabernet Sauvignon and the balance Petit Verdot that spent 21 months in 100% new French oak. It offers thrilling cassis, caramelized black cherries, licorice and toasted bread notes to go with a full-bodied, ultra-pure, multidimensional feel on the palate. This is Walla Walla at its finest, and while it’s approachable today, it won’t hit maturity for 7-8 years and will evolve for a decade or more past that. Drink: 2023-2033. 

2013 Woodward Canyon Chardonnay- 91 points

The only white presented, Woodward Canyon’s 2013 Columbia Valley Chardonnay offers lots of ripe white peach, citrus blossom, white flowers, toasted bread and hints of brioche in a medium-bodied, elegant, pure and beautifully balanced package. Fermented and aged in 20% new French oak, this is downright classy, and will offer plenty of pleasure over the coming 2-3 years. Drink: 2015-2018. 

2012 Woodward Canyon Erratic -91 points

There are 173 cases of the 2012 Erratic (53% Mourvedre, 33% Syrah and 14% Grenache, aged in 2- to 3-year old barrels) and it has lots of Mourvedre-influenced minerality, earth, pepper and dark fruit characteristics on the nose. These flow to a full-bodied, nicely structured, balanced and age-worthy wine that can be drunk today or cellared for a decade. Drink: 2015-2025. 

2012 Woodward Canyon Old Vines Cabernet Sauvignon - 95 points

The biggest, most rich, mineral-laced and massive wine in the portfolio, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Old Vines gives up lots of currants, charcoal, smoke earth and chocolate to go with a full-bodied, concentrated, structured and backward profile. This has lots of oak, lots of tannin, and lots of potential, but it should only be purchased by patient consumers. Give it 5-7 years and enjoy bottles over the following two decades. This is 91% Cabernet Sauvignon and 9% Petit Verdot, mostly from the crème de la crème Champoux Vineyard, which spent 21 months in 100% new French oak. It’s up with the top wines of the vintage and readers looking for a classic, serious and age-worthy Bordeaux blend from Washington need look no further. Drink: 2022-2042.

2012 Woodward Canyon Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon - 93 points

A beautiful Bordeaux blend, the 2012 Cabernet Sauvignon Artist Series checks in as a blend of 100% Cabernet, from a number of vineyards (mostly Woodward Canyon, Champoux and Spring Creek), that spent 21 months in 50% new French oak. It’s a classy, full-bodied, seamless and sexy 2012 that exhibits lots of black cherry, black raspberry, toasted spices, licorice and dried herbs. The most approachable and forward of the Bordeaux blends, it will still have two decades of longevity. Drink: 2015-2035.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

With Holiday Barrel behind us, we are now focusing all our attention on the upcoming holidays. So as our gift to you, we would like to offer free ground shipping on all wine purchases of six bottles or more. Stock up on all your favorites, like the new release 2009 "Artist Series" Cabernet Sauvignon, the Non-Vintage Red Wine or the 2008 "Old Vines" Cabernet Sauvignon before it sells out. Place your order today to receive your wine before Christmas. 

So grab a glass and let us bring the wine to you! 

Merry Christmas everyone and Happy New Year!

Woodward Canyon's Vineyard Tour

Can you believe it’s August already? And, can you believe that we are going on almost 10 straight days of pushing into triple digits on the thermostat? I remember, what seems like only a month ago, sitting around thinking Mother Nature had forgotten us and dreaming about sunny weather. I’m not complaining though, I’d much rather have 100 degree weather than the rain and snow that seemed to drag much farther into the spring than I would have liked. The one day I wouldn’t have minded the weather being a little cooler was last Tuesday.

On Tuesday, Rick took the tasting room staff on a tour of some of Woodward Canyon’s primary vineyards. At 7:00 AM, with coffee in hand, we headed out for the Charbonneau Vineyard, which is located just East of the Snake River and about 12 miles East of Pasco, Washington. Started in 1981, it is roughly 40-acres of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, riesling, chardonnay, semillon and sauvignon blanc. We source cabernet sauvignon and merlot, from blocks that were planted in 1981, that we blend together to make our Charbonneau Red (sorry, currently sold out) during select years.

Leaving Charbonneau Vineyard, we drove around Pasco heading for Sagemoor Vineyard. Sagemoor was founded in 1968 by Alec Bayless and is one of the oldest producing vineyards in the state. It is just North of Pasco and overlooking the Columbia River. We source a large amount of our “Old Vines” (sold out of our current vintage, older vintages available in magnums) and “Artist Series” fruit from Sagemoor. We made a quick stop to look at the grape clusters and the vines, where on some of our older blocks, Blocks 3 and 9, planted in 1972, the trunks looked more like little trees than vines. I was pleasantly surprised to see the first signs of veraison (where the grapes turn from green to purple) on some of the clusters in Block 3, which is primarily used for “Old Vines” Cabernet.

Next on the tour was the Champoux Vineyard in the Horse Heaven AVA outside of Alderdale, Washington. The original, older blocks of Champoux were planted in 1972, making them some of the older vines in Washington. Rick, a partner in the Champoux Vineyard along with Quilceda Creek, Andrew Will, Badger Mountain/Powers and Vineyard Manager Paul Champoux, started using fruit from the Champoux Vineyard, known then as Mercer Ranch Vineyard, in 1977 for his own personal wine. Today, we pull fruit from Block 1 and 2 and from Circle Block for the “Old Vines” and from Block 3 and Baby ‘Poux for the “Artist Series”. My favorite part of Champoux was the Circle Block, named for the method of irrigation for that one particular block. It is a form of overhead irrigation with a central pivot that rotates over the crop to irrigate.

Then it was an hour and a half drive to White Salmon for lunch before heading up to the Celilo Vineyard. Celilo was probably the most impressive vineyard on the tour because of the view. Looking out East was a spectacular view of the Columbia River Gorge and to the West, on a clear day, you can see all the way to Mount Hood. Unfortunately for us, it was a bit hazy and the view to Mount Hood wasn’t as clear as it normally is. The vines, themselves, were much taller than the other vineyards we had visited, having been trained that way using the Scott Henry trellising system. Scott Henry, from Henry Estate Winery, designed this method to help encourage his vines to ripen more fruit rather than more shoots and leaves. Rick has been using Celilo fruit for close to 20 years, sometimes bottling a single vineyard designated chardonnay but more often blending it with fruit from our Woodward Canyon Estate Vineyard to produce the Washington State Chardonnay. Celilo, which is normally much cooler than our Estate Vineyard and sees more rainfall annually, produces fruit with higher acidity that blends well with our Estate fruit to produce a wine that is beautifully balanced.

Leaving Celilo, we then trekked the three hours back to Woodward Canyon. I have a new found respect for Rick and Kevin who take turns making that drive to check on the vineyards numerous times throughout the year. Stopping at all the vineyards made for a long day, and we didn’t even have to do any grape sampling. But it was fun to get out of the tasting room for the day and to actually see the vineyards that we talk about all the time and use in our wines. I now have a much better understanding of where our wines come from before I ever lay eyes on them. And a quick thanks to Bob Pruett, our weekend tasting room associate, for all the great pictures throughout the tour!

Cheers,

Shari

Summer Days in France

Rick and I recently returned from three weeks in the south of France – part just relaxing and part work (I know, tough job….but hey, it has taken us almost 30 years to get to this point).
We first spent a few days in Avignon on our way to the Riviera. While there, we visited Châteauneuf-du-Pape (pictured here on the right). It is quite rural and not as much on the tourist map as some other wine regions. The actual town is small and in contrast to other wine regions in France, it has tasting rooms in the town apart from the wineries, just as we do in Walla Walla. While we enjoyed the reds, we really were excited by the whites – something that you do not necessarily associate with Châteauneuf. We allocated some space in our luggage to bring a few bottles back. By the way, not to add a sales pitch, but those bubble-wrap Wine Skins really do protect the wine and the things in your suitcase, take up very little room, and are inexpensive.

We then spent two weeks in a hilltop village between Nice and Antibes. Our routine most days was to wander down the hill (pictured left) to get a petit café or Orangina and a Financial Times, shop at the fresh market, the boucherie or poissons monger, fromage monger, boulangerie and maybe the fresh pasta shop or patisserie. We also had to stop at the grocery store to get stocked up on vin rosé and the few things you could not find at the fresh market. Then we would lug it back up the hill (if you climb the hill instead of taking the bus – you can eat more) and enjoy the rosé with lunch. We went through a lot of rosé – particularly since it was less than $5.00 a bottle. We also sampled the other wines of the region.

One thing became clear very soon: with that type of eating and drinking, you have a pretty small carbon footprint. We ate melons from Var, Dorade and gambas from the Mediterranean, vegetables, herbs and cheese all locally grown or made, and drank the local wines. They all married beautifully which is why the cafes and restaurants all serve those same seasonal products; just with their own twist.

Many Northwest chefs here in the States have been at the forefront of that kind of dining and while we have always embraced that notion here at Woody, we are taking it even further. For several years we have been organically growing a garden at the base of the vineyard with tomatoes, potatoes, beets, and carrots for our staff. Any excess is sold to local restaurants. Last year we experimented with drying tomatoes and packing them in olive oil so we could avoid the nasty faux tomatoes found in the stores in the winter. Our oil-packed tomatoes on wood-fired pizza or in pasta sustained us through the winter. This year we added Walla Walla Sweets and several varieties of cucumbers to the mix. The cucumbers are ripe and Rick has already been using his Mom's pickle recipe (see finished product above), as well as one for Asian pickles he found online. Later this summer raised beds and berry trellises will go in between our new Reserve House and the parking lot so that next year we can expand our plantings with the idea being that we serve as much of our own produce and that of other local farmers as possible when we do events here at the winery. The idea of being "locavores" resonates with us.

Now back to France. After leaving our village on the Mediterranean, we stopped in Narbonne and Toulouse to meet the family of last year's crush intern and to meet the intern who will be arriving later this month and his family. Their families were gracious and fed us very well! Both interns come from Purpan University in Toulouse.

Then onto Bordeaux where we stayed with another former intern – this one came to us through Experience International 15 years ago! He is now the international managing director of Chateau Haut Brion's "Clarendelle" – their version of Nelms Road. He and his family were wonderful hosts and arranged a tour of Haut Brion for us one morning – lovely wines with great restraint that will age well. A very traditional winery in one sense, but very modern in their use of technology and in their approach to marketing.

While in Bordeaux, we attended VinExpo, a huge wine exposition with wines from China to Israel to California - in fact there were 2,400 exhibitors from 48 countries. In addition to tasting there in general, we participated in a tasting of the 2006 and 2008 Grand Cru Classé St Emilion. It was very interesting to compare the two vintages. One thing that struck me was the tannins – strong, but well balanced with the fruit. At that tasting, we ran into another past intern who was pouring for his family's Chateau Guadet.

Finally it was time to get on the TGV and head for the Paris Airport and home. We had a great time, ate and drank delicious things, saw some old friends and didn't even gain a pound - thanks to that hill!

Darcey

Study Time?

As a college student I spent a lot of time in the library. I would pack up all my books and notes and meet up with my friends to “study”. Oregon State University was awesome and had private study rooms at the library, where you didn’t have to worry about the rules of keeping quiet. So we would put our name on the list and hope to score one of those. When we did get one of the rooms we would go in, spread our books out over the table and then proceed to talk and gossip for the 3 hours we were allowed. Then, we’d pack everything up and head out into the night. I remember those nights fondly. Nights with my friends and not using the library room as it was intended. Sometimes we’d munch on pitas from Pita Pit if someone was willing to run across campus to pick them up. Sometimes we’d listen to music when one of us would bring in a cd player and speakers. All too often, though, I wouldn’t study one word while in the library rooms. So these memories are what I think of when I hear the word ‘library’. Fortunately for us in the wine world, it also means a collection of really nice older wines! Which brings me to our newest building at Woodward Canyon – our Reserve House.

We first broke ground for the Reserve House back in August of 2007 and the project wasn’t complete until this May – well, we are actually still doing the finishing touches on it but we can use it. One of the reasons it took so long was the full sized cellar we built below ground for our wine library. A good 8 feet below the ground, it is the first cellar Rick has had since he bonded the winery in 1981. Thomas, Rafa, Kiko and Manuel worked for almost two weeks to move all the library wines into it and it looks great. The only scary part is most of the cellar is already filled up. I’m not sure where we are going to put any future releases. Guess we’ll have to start drinking some of the older vintages now. What a rough job that would be!

The finishing of the Reserve House and the cellar came just in time for Vintage Walla Walla weekend. We were able to use the building to host a wine dinner after the Vintage Pour. It is a fun two-day weekend filled with educational classes, library wines, a silent auction and of course more wines! Friday night kicked off the weekend with the Library Pour at the Reid Center at Whitman College, where 20-plus wineries came in and poured wines from their libraries from 2002 and older. Kevin Mott, our winemaker, poured the 1996 “Artist Series” Cabernet at the event.

Attendees had the option of doing a wine dinner and as mentioned, we were one of the participating wineries. Rick and Darcey were out of town for the evening, so Thomas (National Sales), Marlene (Marketing and Web), Jordan and myself (Shari, Guest Services) took care of the dinner and the guests. The dinner went smoothly and the guests seemed to enjoy themselves, especially when we pulled out a magnum of 1999 “Special Selection”!

We had a great group of people for our Vintage Dinner. The evening started with appetizers on the back patio - Vietnamese spring rolls and grilled pita with baba ganoush, paired with the 2007 Estate Sauvignon Blanc (which we are now sold out of here at the winery, check back for details on the 2008 release).

From there it was time to walk down into the cellar and grab a glass of the 1999 “Special Selection” Red Wine out of a magnum. WOW, if you haven’t had a chance to taste some of Rick and Kevin’s “Special Selection” then you are missing out. It is absolutely delicious! The “Special Selection” is one of those wines that we only make when we’ve had an exceptional vintage. In the entire time that Woodward Canyon has been producing wines, there have only been four vintages of the “Special Selection” - the 1988, 1993, 1999 and the 2005. Don’t worry – you haven’t missed the 2005 yet! It is due out later this year. We only produced about 157 cases of the 750ml and 30 cases of the magnums so if you want some please contact us at getthedirt@woodwardcanyon.com so we can make sure you receive the release email. It is made up of 69.5% cabernet sauvignon, 25.7% merlot and 4.8% cabernet franc.

After trading white wine glasses for red wine glasses and grabbing their taste of the “Special Selection", the guests headed upstairs where the meal started off with a light salad made from local greens and fresh herbs from the Woodward Canyon herb garden. This was paired with the 2007 Washington State Chardonnay (also recently sold out). Moving onto the main course, guests enjoyed a top sirloin roast grilled outside on the wood-fired grill with roasted red potatoes. The dinner was paired with both the 2005 Charbonneau Red and the 2006 “Old Vines” Cabernet. Dessert was light and fresh - we simply topped lemon curd with hand picked strawberries (picked by myself earlier that morning) and freshly whipped cream and a sprig of mint. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves, the dinner and the wines. It is great to know everyone who works at Woodward is a self-proclaimed foodie – which makes it so much fun to cook together!

Thanks for reading!

Shari, Guest Services

The Woody Team Rocks!

We always knew that the Woody crew rocked but let me tell you, they really ROCK!
Getting ready for and executing any event like Spring Release Weekend always takes coordination and a lot of work, but this year we also had a new building (our Reserve House - pictured above) to get open for the tasting and then the following Wednesday we hosted the Washington Wine Commission's export tour – 8 members of the foreign trade for lunch and then a tasting for 60 with 15 other wineries present.

The week of Spring Release we were pretty ready for the usual tasting, but due to the finishing of the floors we could not get into the new building until Tuesday – meaning no furniture was in place, appliances were still being installed and the building was very dusty.

Zero landscaping was in place too. Monday, Kiko and Manuel from the cellar and I hauled and spread gravel for the new garden and Jorge and Hermenegildo from the vineyard laid the gravel paths and prepped for the sod.

Tuesday morning dawned and it was raining cats and dogs, so absolutely nothing was accomplished in terms of moving into the building or installing the landscaping. Things were getting a little tense since the clock was ticking.

On Wednesday and Thursday it was all hands on deck! The cellar crew and vineyard guys laid sod like pros, moved plants from their temporary homes, mowed, trimmed, weeded and then got the tank room ready to great visitors on Friday. Rafa, our Cellar Master and Kevin took on preparing for bottling as well as moving furniture and doing whatever else was asked. Kellie, Tasting Room Manager, deadheaded daffodils all morning and then started in on cleaning the new building. Thomas, National Sales, helped assemble shelving, packed stuff around and stocked the buildings with wine for the weekend. Shari, Guest Services, cut cheese for hours, readied glasses and helped organize the new building as well. Marlene, Marketing/Web, held down the tasting room and handled the organization of the weekend while the rest of us ran in 50 different directions. Sue and Lori in Accounting/Compliance answered phones and Sue planted our barrel planters.

Friday morning, we were ready and open for tasting in both buildings; plants and lawn were in place and art was hanging in the new building!

Then we all poured wine for 3 days. Except for Kevin who poured wine for 2 days, flew to Chicago on Sunday, did a trade tasting Monday and flew back on Tuesday to finish preparing for bottling. Bob and Kelsey joined us on the weekend to haul and wash glasses and to pack up sold wine.

This Monday, the guys broke down the tasting tables and they and Tasting Room ladies got everything cleaned and put away. Sue crunched numbers for the weekend and Kevin resumed getting ready for bottling. On Wednesday, the tables went back up, glasses were set out and Thomas and the Tasting Room staff shopped for, prepped, and made wood-fired pizza lunch for 8 foreign trade members and our staff. More clean up, and then preparation for a tasting for 60, followed by working the tasting and more clean up.

WHEW! These guys are "awesome" to use Kellie's favorite word. They work their tails off, are willing to do a whole lot of things outside of their job descriptions and are fun to be around. Rick and I are lucky, lucky dogs – thanks everyone!

-Darcey

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Whew! This is going to be just a quick update. It was a crazy busy weekend for Spring Release and then with the WSWE (Washington State Wine Experience) buyers here last night. And with Balloon Stampede here this weekend I can already tell that it’s going to be a crazy summer. But I just love when it starts to get busy around here. Makes things move that much quicker.

We all made it through Spring Release this year. We had some awesome customers come through, like always, both new and old. It is always fun to see new faces mixed in with some of our longtime friends. We did our normal tasting in our production building, where we were pouring our 2007 Dry White Riesling, 2007 Estate Barbera, Non-Vintage Red Wine, 2007 Walla Walla Valley Cabernet, 2006 Columbia Valley Merlot, 2006 “Artist Series” Cabernet and our new release the 2006 Estate Red Wine. What a fun line-up of wines. We also held our first event in our brand new Reserve House, where we poured the 2006 “Old Vines” Cabernet and the 2002 “Old Vines” Cabernet from a magnum as a bonus. We were so excited to get in there after all this time. The building is going to be a great addition to the Woody grounds.

Right after Spring Release we got to turn around and get things ready for the WSWE, which we hosted here yesterday afternoon. There were 16 different Walla Walla Valley Wineries pouring and around 60 buyers. Talk about a crazy event. I met Rick at the WWCC Enology and Viticulture Center at noon and we brought 8 of the buyers out to Woodward for wood-fire pizza lunch after a quick trip through the Estate Vineyard. Then it was off to Walla Walla Wine Works for their next session before all 60 buyers were back here to taste with the 16 WW Valley Wineries. Due to Mother Nature not cooperating with us, we had to do the event in our production building. We had more wine flowing than I’ve seen in a really long time. It was crazy. It reminded me of a swarm of bees at the speed everyone went through and tasted everything. Then it was off to L’Ecole #41 for a bbq dinner.

This weekend brings us the Walla Walla Balloon Stampede. We’ll have balloon enthusiasts coming to the valley as early as today to start taking trial runs and getting ready. As a local in this valley I’ve always enjoyed this weekend. I remember as a kid getting up early in the morning to see if I could spot any balloons in the sky. Though, if the weather stays like it is today, I’m not sure if we’ll see any this weekend. With the wind blowing like it is, who knows where the balloons would land if they ever got up.

For those of you in Seattle, check out Daniel’s Broiler this month. They are showcasing Washington wines and one of their features is Woodward Canyon! Also, if you’re in the Coeur D’Alene area, Rick and Darcey will be doing a winemaker’s dinner at Beverly’s the Coeur D’Alene Resort on May 17th. Call Beverly at 208-765-4000 directly for more information. And here’s a sneak peak of the menu if anyone is interested. Looks like they are pairing some great food with some older vintages of Woodward Canyon wines, which we're sold out of here at the winery.

Amuse Bouche: Tuna Nicoise – 2007 Estate Sauvignon Blanc
Salad: Tropic Salad – 2006 Washington State Chardonnay
Appetizer: Smoked Copper River Salmon Carpaccio – 2006 Columbia Valley Merlot
Intermezzo: Washington Apple Granite’
Entrée: Veal Osso Buco, Seared Yellow Fin Tuna and Roasted Squab with Smoked Tomato Compote – 2004 “Old Vines” Cabernet, 2001 “Artist Series” Cabernet and 2005 “Artist Series” Cabernet
Cheese: A trio of the world’s fine cheeses – 2003 Charbonneau Red
Kiss Goodnight: Chocolate Chipotle Cupcake

See you all in the tasting room!

Ciao,

Shari / Woodward Canyon

Notes from the Rollerbag

Travel, to someone working at Initech that spends their perfunctory eight hours puttering away in a cubicle, must seem like a non-stop world of delight: nights in plush accommodations with room service, luxurious dinners with adoring distributor reps, strolls in Central Park.

Not quite so.

The world of sales is highly unglamorous.

To wit, exhibit A:
I am on a middle seat on a 757 from Las Vegas to DFW, sleeping peacefully, headphones in, some death metal blaring away.

The hum of the engines lowers in pitch, and the familiar sequence that tells me we're making our initial descent into the city du jour begins, and I awaken slowly, like a wood elf from a midsummer afternoon idyll.

My left leg is warm and damp. I touch my jeans. And now chunky, as well.

I open my eyes to a three year-old with matching chunks on his chin being held by a sheepish mother that shrugs and gives me an underwhelming "sorry."

Sorry, indeed.

Note: if your child pukes on an unrelated passenger on the airplane, and said passenger is sleeping, do not hesitate to wake the stranger up. He or she will not mind, or at least, will mind far less than discovering the remains of baby's lunch spattered upon them.

A few other bits of advice, when traveling:

1) Be aware of the limits of your personal space. I won't go into detail on this one but use your imagination.

2) You may have just gotten out of bed, but don't dress like you're still in it. Velour sweat suits and plush furry slippers may be de rigueur for Saturday cartoons and Cheerios, but they do not make for appropriate travel wear.

3) Realize that people are at their lowest level of cerebral activity when boarding and deplaning an aircraft (and when merging onto a freeway). It's easy. Locate your seat (hint: it's the alphanumeric quantity in big bold letters on your boarding pass). Upon finding your seat, throw one bag up top and one at your feet, remove yourself from the aisle, and sit quietly. No talking or fun of any kind. Upon landing, do not unbuckle your seatbelt and stand up in the aisle at the first available opportunity. This is both unnecessary and annoying (or perhaps annoying because it is unnecessary). Anyhoo, calm yourself.

4) Read the signs. Yes, there are information kiosks and gate agents, but consider them as a last resort when trying to determine the relatively simple (i.e., the location of your gate, or whether the plane is boarding). Just because they exist to be of assistance does not mean they aren't thoroughly unimpressed with your foolish inquiries.

5) The extra shot with the super size beer is never a good idea, and moreover, it's not that great of a bargain, if you do the math.

6) Never check a bag. Nevah-evah. Going for a whole week, you say. That’s what guest laundry is for at the hotel where you'll be staying. Need seven changes of clothes? No, you don't. Seven pairs of underwear, most would argue, is a necessity, but the person you work with on Wednesday will never be the wiser that the pants you're wearing you wore the day before when working with someone else. Simplify.

Until next time, may all your departures be on time and your arrivals early.

Blessings and cheers,

Thomas the Sales Guy

Perks of the Job!

I have this really good friend who I’ve known for years. We both went to high school together and then we followed each other to college as well. We even went so far as to having our college graduation party together because we had so many of the same friends and our families knew each other well. Over the years I’ve become friends with his wife, who I also went to high school with, and have fallen in love with their two boys. So I always try to do something special for his birthday. Last year, I did a mini vertical of Walla Walla cabernets from 2000-2004. Not something I would recommend for three people, but it was a lot of fun and the wines were amazing. So this year I decided that I needed to do something even more special. After racking my brain I came across a 1998 “Old Vines” Cabernet from Woodward Canyon and decided that was just what I was looking for.

So the three of us made plans to get together over a nice dinner and crack open the bottle. It was fantastic! We paired the wine with a steak and potato dinner just like mom used to make. In the mouth, the wine was rich and still very powerful, with flavors of muted toasted oak and vanilla as well as raspberry, blackberry and a hint of the terroir that is typical of the Champoux Vineyard. It was well balanced and for being 10 years old it still had years of cellar time on it. The steak was hearty enough that the wine didn’t overpower it, leading to a wonderful pairing. We savored every last drop in the bottle and then wished we had three more to open.


The grapes were harvested entirely from Champoux Vineyard, planted in the 1970’s, above the Columbia River in southeastern Washington. The very warm growing season of 1998 gave incredibly ripe fruit with great richness and concentration. Champoux Vineyard consists of 170 acres of mixed varietals - cabernet sauvignon, lemburger, cabernet franc, syrah, merlot, riesling, muscat, and chardonnay. We, along with Quilceda Creek, Andrew Will, and Badger Mountain/Powers, are all partner wineries in the Champoux Vineyards along with Vineyard Manager, Paul Champoux. We primarily use Champoux fruit for our "Old Vines" Cabernet. The cabernet vines were planted in 1972, making them one of the oldest cabernet blocks in the state. The fruit produces extremely elegant and bright red cherry flavors which was evident in the 1998 vintage.

Then I gave him his “present” of the 2002 Woodward Canyon Estate Red to cellar for later. If you have not had a glass or bottle of the Estate Red you don’t know what you’re missing! This is definitely one of my favorite wines we produce here and the 2002 Estate Red is one of my favorite wines from the valley that vintage. It is a Bordeaux style blend entirely from our Estate Vineyard. This merlot, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and petit verdot blend has a soft generous texture that transitions to a supple, balanced mouth feel with a long and layered finish. This is a wine that can lay down, with proper cellaring, for 10+ years. And even though we are out of the 2002 vintage we still have plenty of the 2003 and 2005 available, both of which are excellent.

Needless to say he was pretty excited about the wines. It was a pretty special night that I will remember for a long time. I wouldn’t give or open a bottle like that for just anyone.

So happy drinking everyone! I hope you are all enjoying something special at this moment. If you are on facebook please friend us and keep up on what's going on out at the winery. And next time you are in the valley come see me in the tasting room!

Cheers!

Shari / Woodward Canyon Winery

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