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Woodward Canyon Winery
was established by Lowden native Rick Small in 1981. One of the first
Walla Walla wineries, it quickly rose to fame with a series of intense,
complex, long aging red wines. The winery has consistently produced
premium, award-winning Cabernet sauvignons and Merlots as well as
barrel-fermented Chardonnays. His "Old
Vine" Dedication Series Cabernet Sauvignon is considered some
of the best American Cab made today.
"Quality" has
characterized the Woodward Canyon philosophy. Woodward Canyon has
remained small. It's initial production in 1981 was 1,200 cases.
The winery produced only 15,000 cases in 2002.
Woodward Canyon enjoys the advantage of owning mature
estate vineyards, the first twenty six acres of which were planted
in 1976. The Estate vineyard now includes Cabernet sauvignon, Merlot,
Cabernet franc, Sauvignon blanc, Chardonnay, Dolcetto and Barbera.
Woodward
Canyon also purchases grapes from some of the best vineyard sites in
Walla Walla. Woodward shares vineyards with such wineries as L'Ecole
No. 41, Chateau Ste Michelle, Leonetti, and Andrew Will.
Canoe Ridge Vineyard,
with its fine, sandy soil, provides intensely flavored Merlot and Cabernet
Sauvignon; old-block vineyards of Mercer Ranch in the
Horse Heaven Hills provide mature vines from ancient soils for big, well-structured
wines; and the silty loam soil of a newer vineyard, Pepper Bridge,
in the Walla Walla Appellation, produces rich flavors and supple textures; Celilo Vineyard
and the Columbia Valley Appellation bring complexity to Woodward's award-winning
Chardonnays.
Woodward Canyon Winery's own vineyards are near the sites listed above,
and are carefully managed by the Small family. Recently, 17 additional
acres of estate vineyards were planted to high-density Merlot, Cabernet
Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.
Nelms Road
Nelms Road is Woodward Canyon's second label, less expensive, from younger
vines and from the juice left after their higher end wines are made-
it is a bargain, when we have it! Woodward makes Cabernet
Sauvignon and Merlot under this label.
“Woodward
Canyon
and L’Ecole Wineries
Side-by-Side in Location, History”
By Christina Kelly
Avalon Editor/Writer
It was the days of one- and two-room schoolhouses, coon-skin hats and
hula-hoops.
Rock ‘n Roll, a blend of Southern
blues and gospel music, filtered out of transistor radios during the
1950s, appealing to teenagers looking to break out of mainstream music
and fuel a growing gap between teens and parents. The baby boomers
were emerging.
It was also a time of sandlot baseball, when kids begged the local hardware
store to pay for uniforms since the local school districts earmarked
funds only for reading, writing and arithmetic.
In the Walla Walla area, the two-room schoolhouse was public school
number 41 located in Lowden, WA, which now houses L’Ecole
No. 41 Winery. Across a field stood the teachers’ apartment
during the 1950s. The two teachers walked across the sandlot to teach
first through sixth grades. It is now Woodward Canyon Winery.
A sandlot baseball field where Rick
Small, now owner and winemaker for Woodward Canyon, played ball separates
two of the oldest wineries in the Walla Walla Valley. It is soon to
become a shared vineyard between L’Ecole and Woodward Canyon.
article
continues here......
Rick Small, age 10
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