Woodward Canyon Winery March 2001

Winter has indeed been kind to us this year and it appears that the threat of a killing freeze is over. We still must get to the middle of May before the danger of a spring frost is past; however, while a frost can damage this year’s crop, a freeze could have destroyed it entirely and cost us tons of time and expense in training the vines back up. We have actually had less snow than Seattle this year!

Traveling for marketing or attending wine auctions and winemaker dinners is keeping us busy. Wine auctions have become the thing and every organization on the planet seems to think that a wine auction and tasting is the best way to raise funds. Lately, we have been receiving at least three requests a week for donations – honestly! It would be possible to donate our entire production away, or so it seems.

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We have therefore decided to limit donations to primarily organizations that are health related, such as the University of Washington’s Alzheimer’s Research program, Planned Parenthood, the Yakima Valley Farmworker Clinic’s mobile vans that provide medical and dental care throughout vineyard country, Children’s Hospital in Seattle, as well as to a few organizations that provide wine or arts education. Of course, the small local charities also receive donations. As there are more and more auctions featuring wine, there has also been demand to provide more than just a bottle of wine. Large format bottles that have etched, hand-painted labels are now common. Auction lots that involve wine and personally guided tastings and tours, sometimes with food or lodging included, are the attention getters and while they make more money for the charity, they also take more time for us to put together and organize. The funds that are raised are incredible though. In this last month two auctions that we were involved in, sponsored by the Seattle Columbia Tower Club and the Seattle Hotel Association, that raise money for the farmworkers, wine education scholarships and breast cancer research made over $1 million dollars combined! That’s what having Microsoft in your backyard can do, even when it is painful to watch the stock prices.

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Vineyard
A small crew has been in the vineyard the last two weeks, increasing plant density and beginning pruning.

Our chardonnay plantings are some of the older in the vineyard and are now at a density of 3.65 meters x 1.83 meters, which is quite a lot less than the newer plantings. To increase the density, the plant is pruned, and one cane is bent over and buried at least a foot into the ground. Where the plant is bent into the ground, the nodes will sprout roots and a new plant will begin to grow. After at least a year or more, the cane connecting the plants will be cut and voila – new plants!

The new density will be 3.65 meters x .91 meters, or 3,000 plants per hectare. Woodward Canyon has some of the densest plantings in the Valley due to our relatively infertile soil and small amount of available water. With the higher density, we can ask each plant to do a little less while still getting the amount of fruit that we need in order for this to be profitable.

Since the vineyard has an elevation difference of about 152 meters from top to bottom, pruning begins on the vines at the top where it is slightly warmer and the danger of spring frost is the smallest. As it warms up, pruning will move down the hill where it stays cooler longer. Pruning the vineyard this way helps delay shoot growth, which holds bud break until after the danger of frost is past.

The additional acreage that needs to be developed in order to perfect our water right is being terraced. When the terraces are complete, the irrigation lines and grape posts will be installed and cover crop planted. Vines, which must be ordered at least a year ahead due to demand in Washington State, will be planted in 2002.

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Winery
“Barrels” is the key word in the winery. Wine is being racked from barrel to barrel; barrels are being topped and during racking they are washed before the wine is returned to them. All in all, there is an awful lot of barrel handling going on which makes for strong backs and legs.

Lab work is also a major activity at this time. The wines are analyzed to determine if they have finished both primary and malolactic fermentation and for the amount of SO2 that they have. We like to have the fermentations completed before blending takes place.

The sweet Riesling, Red Table Wine and Rosé of Cabernet Franc have been bottled. Small lots such as this, 500 cases or less, are still bottled by our staff, using the same equipment that we bottled everything with when we made less wine. Most wines are now bottled using a mobile bottling truck, but we will cover that in another column when it is set up here.

The Rosé is a fun experiment or “one of our little indulgences”. Several years ago when we traveled to the south of France we enjoyed the Rosés of the area and since Gilles is from the south, it only seems appropriate to see what we could do. It will only be available at selected restaurants and at the tasting room this year. Based on how it is received we will decide whether to pursue it or not.

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Spring is definitely in the air. Green is becoming the predominant color of the valley. The wheat is thickening; becoming a solid green and the trees are beginning to leaf out. Daffodils are in full bloom in our old garden and preparation on the new garden around the tasting room is in full swing. We are in a bit of a shock however as this is being written – waking up to snow covered forsythia and tulips. This is the latest snow that we can remember. By mid-day it has retreated up into the foothills, leaving much needed moisture behind.

Vineyard
The vineyard is an increasingly busy place this time of year. The terracing of rows for the new plantings is completed, as is the installation of posts. Pruning is continuing and spraying for weeds will begin when the snow and rain are passed. Trenches for the new irrigation line will also begin when the contractor is through installing the irrigation system for the new tasting room garden.

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The second wind machine has been installed to provide spring frost protection. The wind machines are situated near the bottom of the draws so that they can pull the warmer air from higher on the hillside down to warm the plants near the bottom where the cold air settles. They can create a variation of up to five degrees, which can be the difference between having a crop or not. The first machine was installed last year and the second was placed to protect the newer plantings. These machines, unlike the older models, automatically turn on at a set temperature. This lets the vineyard owner and manager continue to slumber peacefully as the temperatures dip in the middle of the night.

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Winery
Wines continue to be racked and the production crew continues to build strong backs moving barrels.

Corks are being tested in preparation for bottling. There is nothing worse than having a customer call and report that he opened what he expected to be a fine wine, only to discover that it was a corked bottle. We now go through a cork-testing program so that we can minimize that as much as possible. Usually about three cork suppliers are contacted and asked to send samples of fifty corks from each of the lots that we could purchase from. When the corks arrive,two from each lot are placed in twenty-five glasses of a neutral white wine, and are covered and soaked for twenty-four hours. There may be two or three sets of corks being reviewed at the same time. Several of the production crew then lift each cover and smell the wine.

They are looking at each lot to determine the number of “bad” corks that may leave a dusty, green or corked smell as opposed to the number of “good” corks that are neutral and let the wine show. It is very interesting to go through this process and find that a large number of corks in one lot will be bad vs. another lot in which there are none or very few. After this sensory evaluation, which is the most important, the look of the cork and the price of the cork are also considered in making the final decision as to which supplier and lot to purchase.

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Here, at Woodward Canyon, we have a fairly rigorous wine classification system. Red wine lots from the same vineyard and from different vineyards are kept separate until blending trials can take place. There are essentially six levels of red – the Special Selection, the Old Vines, the Dedication Series, the Artist Series, the Nelms Road reds and the Red Table Wine. The Special Selection is “layers above” the others and represents our best effort. It is made only when the fruit and resulting wine is extraordinary. Therefore, there has only been a 1988 and a 1993 Special Selection to date. The “Old Vines” cabernet sauvignon is made from vineyards that average twenty-five years old and has been made regularly since 1995, with the exception of 1996 when even the old vines did not measure up. The “Dedication Series” cabernet is made from a blend of older and younger fruit, but primarily older and we have made that wine since the beginning. The “Artist Series” began in 1992 and was solely from the young Canoe Ridge Vineyard until 1997. At that time, we decided that it was a better wine when blended with other vineyards. In 1998, we began production of a second label – Nelms Road. Both a cabernet sauvignon and a merlot are produced under that label and are at a mid-range price point. These are from younger and sometimes over-cropped vines. It has been a great success so far. We also offer a Red Table Wine (RTW), a less expensive non-vintage blend that makes a good house pour.

Blending trials are ongoing this time of year. Trial blends begin with educated guesses and past history and are determined by the nose and mouth feel of the wines. The production crew sets up with a number of lots, starts with a trial blend and adds and subtracts samples of various lots. Sometimes the addition of younger fruit will enhance a wine made up primarily of older fruit. But other times, it can’t step up and will be blended into the Nelms or RTW. We attempt to make blend decisions at the time of racking so that racking is more organized and lots can be combined.

There is a continual updating and proofing of labels this time of year. We have several labels, the Dedication Series cabernet sauvignon and the Artist Series cabernet sauvignon, which change each vintage.

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It seems as though there is always something that needs to be added as well, be it government warnings, UPC codes or seals such as that of the Washington Wine Quality Alliance. The quality of the bottle glass is decreasing, making it more difficult to get large labels to adhere well. So we are faced with trying to get more on a smaller label.

The Dedications series (or “old man” series as we call it, even though we have had three women) features a different Walla Walla Valley pioneer that had an impact on the agricultural heritage of the area. The 1998 was the sixteenth in the series, the first of which was A.P. Woodward. The curator of the Whitman College library assists us in finding our pioneer and has been known to hand-carry the pictures to the printer for us.

As you may suppose, the Artist Series features a different artist each year – the 1999 will be the eighth in the series. We have found virtually all of the artists through serendipity and the majority of the pieces were commissioned for the labels. However, it is always left up to the artist to determine the subject and some pieces have been purchased, but not used until a wine that the art complements is made. A large, bright subject such as dahlias featured on the 1995 label deserves a big, bold wine.

Here in the Walla Walla Valley and throughout the industry, there is a growing connection between the art community and the wineries. Several tasting rooms double as galleries and the Art Walla celebration, sponsored by the Blue Mountain Arts Alliance, is expanding the wineries’ role. Creating special items for the large wine auctions also increasingly teams wineries with artists who paint or etch the bottles, or who offer their works in combination with a wine that features the work on the label. Creative people, be they winemakers, artists or chefs usually enjoy collaborating and seem to energize each other. Being surrounded by creators and wonderful art is one of those great little bonuses of this business.