Albariño Is At It Again!


Great Northwest Invitational Wine Competition 2022

Great Northwest Wine conducts a one-of-a-kind wine competition each year. The 2022 judging was staged the first week of October with influential wine professionals recruited as judges, and held at the historic Columbia Gorge Hotel in Hood River, Ore. This contest contains dozens of wineries from Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. With hundreds of wines submitted to this competition, we are proud to say that our 2021 Albariño brought home a gold medal. If you haven’t had an opportunity to taste this award winning wine, please check  out the information on our website here, or come out to the tasting room and purchase one to take home. 
Cheers!

Win a delightful basket when you join wine club…

Join Wine Club for a chance to wine a wine harvest dinner basket. Join Williamson Vineyard's wine club during the month of October and, not only wine you receive a welcome gift and fabulous wine club benefits, you will automatically be entered to wine a wine harvest dinner basket!
Winner, Winner, Harvest Dinner!

Welcome, and congrats, to our newest, and luckiest, wine club member, Janet Keyte!
Janet took advantage of our October promotion where new wine club members  were entered into a drawing for a fabulous gift basket. This gift basket is lovingly packed with delicious goodies that make up a special harvest dinner. Earlier this month we put the names of all our new October members into a spitoon and, low-and-behold, Janet Keyte was our lucky winner!

Janet, give us a call (208-459-3322) or email us at wine@willorch.com to make arrangements to retrieve your prize.

And to everyone else who became a member in October, welcome to our wine club family!

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Hello Fall Six Pack of Harvest Moon!

FALL INTO FALL…

with a 2019 Harvest Moon 6-pack!

Enjoy more of your favorite Harvest Moon Red with a special 6-pack of the 2019 vintage. This wine is excellent at a cook out when you have spicy foods or as the star of your favorite sangria.

Regularly priced at $33.30
Wine club will receive 20% off a 6 pack
General public will receive 15% off a 6 pack
Promotion valid Sept. 14 – 25th.
This promotion is only valid for the 2019 vintage of Harvest Moon. No other discounts apply.

Mediterranean Grilled Chicken Kabobs

Our gardens are bursting at the seams with fresh produce. We want to enjoy the backyard grill as long as we can, so join us and grab your kabob skewers and let’s get dinner started!  The wonderful thing about kabobs is that you can use whatever protein and vegetables you have on hand, with a little added seasoning and some fire and you’ve got a tasty, but light meal. Pair with a loaf of crusty bread or steamed rice and you’re all set. We’re breaking out the Viognier, Blossom Rosé, and Malbec for this kabob, but feel free to pair your favorite wine as this dish will pair with most wine choices.

 

1/4 cup lemon juice
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1/4 cup dry white wine
1-1/2 to 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (your taste)
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary or 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed, or any herbs you prefer
1-1/2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts (or chicken thighs), cut into 1-inch cubes
1 – 2 small summer squash, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 ripe bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 red onion, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 medium lemons, halved
Chopped fresh herbs of choice (parsley and dill are two of our favorites)
crumbled feta cheese

In a large shallow dish, combine lemon juice, 4 tablespoons oil, wine, pepper flakes and rosemary. Add chicken and vegetables, turning to coat. Refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight.

Drain chicken and vegetables, discarding marinade. Thread chicken and vegetables, alternating them, onto 8 metal or soaked wooden skewers. Grill, covered, over medium heat until no longer pink, turning two to three times, 10-12 minutes.

Meanwhile, place lemons on grill, cut side down. Grill until lightly browned, 8-10 minutes. Squeeze lemon halves over chicken. Drizzle with remaining oil; sprinkle with fresh herbs and feta.

                                                          Enjoy!

MEMBER SPOTLIGHT

Ralph & Carol Myers

Carol and Ralph have been wine club members for almost a decade. Back in the day, they had made the trip to visit the Williamson fruit stand to purchase local apricots when they spied the tasting room right next to the packing shed. According to Carol: “Of course we had to go in for a tasting. This is where our love for Williamson wines began. We both favor red wines, but on this occasion, we tasted their Viognier.  We’ve been huge fans ever since and haven’t tasted a Viognier we like better. After the tasting we decided to become wine club members.”

It’s always a treat for us to see the Myer’s come through out door! We know we’ll get to “geek out” with them over food and wine pairings. Ralph and Carol are always up to some new culinary exploration. These culinary hobbyists have experimented with everything from fermentation, beer making, sourdough bread making, to building a pizza oven in their back yard.

We’re always hungry after a hearing about their latest creations! “We often create tasty pasta dishes or crank up the wood fired oven for pizza that all go so well with the Williamson Sangiovese. It’s one of our favorites and when we buy a case, so there’s always some Sangiovese on the list.”  They’ve gone full urban farmer and enjoy, “tending to our large garden, edible landscape plantings and raising sheep and laying hens.” They raise a plethora of goodies, “fresh basil, eggplant, tomatoes, onions, peppers and our grass-fed lamb.” 

“We always enjoy driving out to Williamson Wines to pick up our wine, have a tasting and visit with the wonderful employees and Williamson family members. We look forward to many more memorable occasions where we sit down to share good food and wonderful Williamson Wines! “

We couldn’t have said it any better! Ralph & Carol always remind us to experiment and enjoy the process of making food. Not to mention the importance of celebrating that good food with good wine! Thank you for being such loyal and lovely part of our wine club family!

Cheers!

Wine Club Member Spotlight

Williamson Vineyards is thankful for the loyal support of our wine club! This next year we are going to share a little about a few of our most supportive members. We can’t do what we do without our amazing wine club ambassadors. Cheers!

Two of our most amazing wine club ambassadors ever, are Karen Bowles and Susan Daly! This sweet set of sisters have been members of our wine club for 9-10 years! Karen and Susan host a wine gathering every year, often featuring an Idaho winery. These classy ladies don’t just throw any wine soirée! They turn it into a fun and educational gathering with different themes, where they share some of their favorite wines with their friends.

Susan told us some fun facts: ” I put the wines in groups on my dining room table to include the reds, red blends, dry whites, sweets, verticals. In the middle of the table I made a copy of the importance of the windmill that was on the back of one of your wine labels, I purchased a mini steel windmill, and a copy of the Williamson logo”, “We had 3 vertical tastings. The 2018 and 2019 Riesling. The 2018 and 2019 windmill red. I think, the 3rd vertical was the 2018 and the 2019 Malbec”

These amazing wine club members have obviously been planning this for a while, and we were honored to find out that their latest epic wine party featured all Williamson Vineyards wines!! Thank you Karen and Susan for making Williamson’s wines a part of your annual tradition.

*We would have loved a picture of them together, but one of our ladies was always taking pictures!

Wine Time Fridays Podcast

This northwest based podcast is hosted by Shelley Webb and Phil Anderson, who have been drinking wine together for over 15 years. They discuss their week over a glass of wine, giving their feedback, food pairing options and opinions.

These crazy kids magically found a bottle of wine that we have been sold out of for years! Their casual banter about our long lost rosé is light and fun. Tune in between minute 4:25 and 11:55 to get their take on a classic Williamson wine.

Wines tasted this episode:
2016 Williamson Vineyard Blossom Rosé of Sangiovese

Idaho Wine Month Episode #1 – Wine Time Fridays Podcast

one bottle red wine and one bottle white wine next to wine barrel

Idaho Wine Competition 2022

We are thrilled to have two of our favorite wines as gold medal winners at this year’s Idaho Wine Competition. If you haven’t had the opportunity to taste our Sangiovese and Albariño, what are you waiting for?

one bottle white wine and one bottle red wine against a tree backdrop

2021 Albariño won Double Gold and our 2019 Sangiovese won a Gold. Check out more detail at our webstore here: Williamson Vineyards wine shop

If you’re interested in more  information about this year’s Idaho Wine Competition, head over to their website here: Idaho Wine Competition

Available for purchase in our tasting room or via our webstore. Psst! Wine club members – remember to sign into your account to receive your special discount.

Savor Northwest Wine Competition

The 2022 Savor Northwest Wine Awards competition, conducted this year in early March in Cannon Beach, Oregon had approximately 700 entries. We are so pleased to report that both the 2019 Cabernet and 2019 Sangiovese received Silver medals. Both these delicious wines are available in the tasting room or via our webstore here.

Links to the full story are here: Savor NorthWest Wine Competition 2022

Lemony Asparagus Pasta

We wait all year for local asparagus and when it starts to come in, we find all kinds of ways to enjoy this amazing spring veg.  This is a light, fresh dish that is perfect as a main course for lunch, or add your favorite protein for a scrumptious dinner. If you need to stay away from gluten, there are many terrific gluten free pastas out there that will work great. Tasty add-ins would be fresh spring peas or chopped ham or bacon. We’re going to add extra garlic and pepper flakes! This will be so tasty with our Dry Rosé or Riesling, or if you’re a red wine fan, try the Sangiovese or Malbec.
Cheers!


Lemony Asparagus Pasta

¾ lb. penne pasta
1 lb. thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. dry white wine, (Albariño or Dry Riesling would be great)
1 small lemon, zested and juiced
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving
1/4 c. fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)

1.    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add penne and cook according to package directions, until just al dente. Reserve ½ cup pasta water, then drain pasta and set aside.
2.    Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Cook asparagus until crispy, then season with pinch of salt. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3.    Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Cook onions about three minutes, add garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes more. Add white wine, reduce for 2 to three minutes, add heavy cream, lemon juice, and zest. Bring mixture to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Add in salt, Parmesan, and black pepper. Reduce heat to low and mix until well combined.
4.    Mix in pasta and a little pasta water and toss until well coated, allow to simmer 2 to three minutes until sauce thickens. Turn off heat and mix in asparagus and parsley until well coated. If sauce is too thick, add small amounts of pasta water until you reach desired consistency. Serve with more grated Parmesan, cracked black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Serves 4

Enjoy!