Market and Restaurant now open at Woodward Canyon!

It's been a busy spring and summer for us at Woodward Canyon! Along with our yearly events like April Release and Spring Release, we opened a produce and gourmet goods market at the winery in May as well as the Reserve House Restaurant which we operate on-site.

The market, named Lazy S Arrow after the brand Rick's family used for their ranch, offers produce and herbs from our one acre garden at the Estate Vineyard and the gardens on the winery grounds.  Also called Lazy S Arrow, the garden produces amazing Walla Walla sweet onions, beets, fingerling, bintje and yukon gold potatoes and more!  The market also features local and regional products such as Walla Walla Roastery coffee beans, Theo chocolates (Seattle), charcuterie from Fino in Fondo (Oregon) and cheeses from around the Northwest and beyond.  Stop by on your way into - or out of - town!  The market is open Fridays through Sundays, 10 AM - 5 PM, and by request throughout the week.

The Reserve House Restaurant was also an exciting project! For those of you who have visited the small community of Lowden, you may recall there aren't any places to grab a quick bite to eat or enjoy a leisurely lunch with a glass of wine.  Since we have all of this fabulous produce from Lazy S Arrow and a variety of great purveyors to work with in Walla Walla, Rick and Darcey thought a restaurant would be a great addition to the winery.

Open seasonally, Fridays through Sundays, 11:30 AM to 3 PM, the restaurant features small plates sourced from local ingredients.  Our chef, Heidi Varney, is currently enrolled in the Wine Country Culinary Institute at Walla Walla Community College.  Her specialty is crafting delicious and flavorful bites from all the wonderful Walla Walla Valley produce and meats.  Click here to see what we currently have on the menu.

If you're thinking of stopping by, you don't need a reservation unless you are a group of six or more.  For questions about the market or restaurant, or to make a reservation for lunch, please call the winery at (509) 525-4129 or email shari@woodwardcanyon.com.

We hope to see you on your next visit to Woodward Canyon!

Welcome to the Team!

I'm sure that most people have heard by now, but we are happy to welcome Kevin Mott, our winemaker, and Thomas Woodley, our sales director, to our ownership team here at Woodward Canyon Winery.  Both Mott and Woodley have been a member of the Woody team since joining the winery in 2003 and are an important part of the future of Woodward Canyon. Kevin and Thomas join Rick and Darcey Small, along with their daughter and son, Jordan Dunn-Small and Sager Small, as shareholders.

"As we worked through succession planning, it became clear that Kevin and Thomas are integral to the operation of Woodward Canyon and to its future. While we think of them as family, we are happy that after almost a decade of dedication they have officially joined our family in the ownership of the winery."
                                                                                                                  - Rick Small

Rick, head of production, and Darcey, general manager, will continue day to day involvement and management of the winery.

I'll See you in Walla Walla

Are you still looking to plan that trip to visit Walla Walla and all the wineries our little town has to offer? Well right now is the best time to book. Alaska Airlines is currently offering 20% discount on all flights to and from Walla Walla from anywhere Alaska flies, excluding Mexico and Hawaii, if you book before February 6th and travel before March 31st. Alaska has also partnered up with the Walla Walla Wine Alliance to offer special savings for those who fly into Walla Walla, including waived tasting fees at over 75 Walla Walla wineries, special lodging and restaurant offers and 2-for-1 skiing and museum ticket offers. Just show your boarding pass at participating locations. And if all that wasn't a good enough reason to visit, after you spend the weekend purchasing wine the Alliance and Alaska has partnered up to offer no baggage fees on the first case of wine you check! All cases after are charged the usual baggage fees.

So book now and hope to see you in Walla Walla sometime soon!

Cheers!

Shari

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!

Woody Harvest 2011

My "harvest has begun" blog quickly turned into a "harvest is finally winding down" blog with the craziness in the tasting room the past couple of weeks. But instead of giving an update and then waiting a week or two for the next, everything will come out at once. Here's the full rundown on harvest at Woodward Canyon! 

The 2011 harvest was definitely one of those hurry up and wait seasons. We were one of the first wineries in the valley, if not the first, to bring in fruit, our Estate sauvignon blanc, on September 15th.

Estate sauvignon blanc through the press

 Next in was our Estate chardonnay, harvested eleven days later, on September 26th.

Estate Chardonnay

Then our cellar crew played the waiting game until the reds and DuBrul Riesling were ready for harvest. DuBrul Riesling was harvested on October 13th and then crushed first thing the following morning. The first of the reds harvested was roughly two tons of syrah out of the Champoux Vineyard on October 14th.

Champoux Syrah

After that things picked up to a steady pace. 9.3 tons of Weinbau merlot came in on October 18th. 5.5 tons of Sagemoor cabernet and 8 tons of Woodward Canyon Estate cab franc was brought in on October 21st. And we brought in the last of our whites, a bit of Celilo chardonnay on October 22nd.

Celilo Vineyard Chardonnay

The cabernet grapes were the last of the grapes to ripen and be harvested. We brought in Champoux Vineyard cabernet sauvignon blocks 1 and 2 (typically designated for "Old Vines") on October 27th. Canoe Ridge (block 7 and 16) and Spring Creek cabernet came in October 28th. Champoux cabernet, blocks 4 and 2 lower, came in October 30th.

Champoux Vineyard Block 1

The last of the cabernet we brought in was from Les Collines and Hedges Vineyard on October 31st and November 1st and an additional 3 tons of Les Collines cabernet on November 4th.

All in all we ended up with right around 109 tons of fruit for the 2011 vintage. Both Rick and Kevin seem to be excited about the fruit we did get from this cooler, later vintage, and are excited about the wines we will see down the road.

"This vintage reminds me most of 1984 followed then by 1991 and 1993.  The wines are sure to be different but they will be good from good producers.  I believe I told someone else that the wines will be more like the wines we used to make 25 years ago; like left bank Bordeaux possibly"  - Rick Small

Day in the Woody Vineyard

So I finally made it up to the Estate Vineyard to check and see how things were progressing and just like predicted, we are anywhere from 10 days to 2 weeks behind. There weren't any signs of veraison on the cabernet franc yet, which in normal years usually starts around the first of August. Now that we've had about a week to a week and a half of consistently 85+ days of sunshine it'll be interesting to see if we catch up in the vineyard and how quickly.

Not a bad way to start the day!

Grape clusters

Great view of the valley from our vineyard

Because of the freeze last winter, we had to cut back most of our vineyard.  Everything except for the cabernet franc, sauvignon blanc and chardonnay was cut back to the ground and will not produce a crop this year. Earlier we let the vines grow in fairly wild and now we are going through the vineyard and thinning down to what we will use to retrain as the trunk and the cordons.

Chicken parmigiana

Since we haven’t really gotten into spring or summer weather I decided that for this month’s recipe I was going to do a staff favorite comfort food - chicken parmigiana. This one is a staple for myself and my co-workers and I would eat it once a week if I could get away with it. Lately at the winery, we have been making chicken parmesan sandwiches (or grinders as they are called in New York) a lot. So here is the recipe we use to make them.

Chicken cutlets:

4 boneless chicken breast halves (approximately 2 pounds) – have butcher thin-slice them or pound per instruction #1

2‑1/4 cups seasoned breadcrumbs

1/4 cups grated parmesan cheese

1‑1/2 cups all purpose flour

3 large eggs, beaten with a fork

Salt and pepper

1/2 cup olive oil for frying (approximate)

PREPARATION:

1.) (Do only if butcher hasn't thin-sliced them.) Place chicken breasts between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper, and pound with a kitchen mallet or rolling pin until they are evenly about 1/4-inch thick.

2.) Set up a dredging station of flour, eggs, beaten with a tablespoon of grated parmesan and the breadcrumbs. Get a large sauté pan to medium on the burner. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken pieces on both sides. Coat first in the flour, patting off extra, then egg, allowing excess to drip into the bowl. Dredge in breadcrumbs. Set the chicken pieces on a plate.

3.) Heat the oil in the hot pan. When hot, add chicken cutlets, cooking to a golden brown on each side -- no more than a couple of minutes each. Set on paper towel-lined plate to drain a minute.

Pre-heat oven to 400.  Take your pieces of French bread (or other crusty bread) and place them in the oven for a few minutes until they become crispy. Top one slice of bread with a cutlet and homemade tomato sauce (see below for that recipe) and slices of mozzeralla and bake until mozzarella is melted, about five minutes. Enjoy!

Homemade tomato sauce:

2 small onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped (optional)

1 small carrot, chopped

2 28 oz can crushed tomatoes -- san marazanos are the best

1/4 cup red wine

basil

oregano

1 - 2 bay leaves

Salt

Pepper

Red pepper flakes

Saute veggies in olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Once tender, add crushed tomatoes. Stir. Add wine. Stir. Add seasonings. Lower heat to low or simmer, and continue cooking for minimum of 30 minutes. Flavors develop best when the sauce has been on the stove for a long time, so if possible start early and allow 2- 3 hrs to cook.  

Until Mother Nature gets on board with my wishes for summer (sunshine and heat, please and thank you) I will be posting comfort food recipes in defiance.