Woodward Canyon Columbia Valley Red Wine

So did I mention I just did a fantastic trip to the Walla Walla Valley to enjoy some delicious and wonderfully hand crafted wines?  I didn't?  Well hold that thought, because I think I'll do an entire blog post devoted to my summer vacation this weekend, so stay tuned OK?

In the mean time, tonight I am enjoying a bottle of Woodward Canyon Columbia Valley Red Wine, which is the standard house red for Woodward Canyon. Now to give you a little inside baseball, Woodward Canyon has a tasting room conveniently located next door to my absolute favorite winery of all time, L'Ecole No. 41 which is on Route 12 just west of Walla Walla (in fact, these two wineries, I think, still represent the western boarder of the Walla Walla wine region).  So after my recent wonderful visit to L'Ecole, I sauntered (oh you can visualize it) to the tasting room at Woodward Canyon to enjoy some of their offerings.

So in the tasting room, nothing had seemed to change since my last visit in 2000, except of course the new posters for the "Artist Series" and the new vintages, but it was still in the same house (see the photo above).  I tasted a few wines, and bought a few wines, one of which is tonight's selection, the Columbia Valley Red Wine, which is the everyday table wine.

Well, as I remember my last visit, Woodward Canyon had some wonderful wine, and even this simple table blend is no exception.  The color in the glass is a deep garnet, and the nose is a pleasant blend of leather, cedar and grass.  The taste is very dry, with some modest berries on the front end which gives way to licorice and a bit of chalk, and finishes with just a hint of dark chocolate as the tannins really step in to make this a tart, dry wine.

I would rate this wine a solid 7.5, and it would have certainly rated higher if not for the aggressive price.  At $21 this is a little too expensive for an everyday wine, but as a vacation wine it's certainly appropriate.  As for pairings, this would work very will with grilled red meat, or a nice Italian dish, though I can also imagine it complementing a cedar planked salmon!  So if you have a chance, enjoy a glass of wine from Woodward Canyon, Salut!