Woodward Canyon Chardonnay 2020
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Suckling
James -
Dunnuck
Jeb
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This Washington State Chardonnay is light straw in color and brilliantly clear. Vibrant aromas of cider apple, beeswax, and pear marry perfectly with understated oak creating subtle spice and vanilla notes. Whole cluster pressing gives delineated fruit flavors. The texture and weight create a nice mouthfeel and leave ripe fruit flavors of lemon, peach, and pommes fruit. Acidity and fruit are balanced in proportion.
Pair with pan-seared white fish, roasted squash, or game bird. A perfect wine for holiday dinners or large family meals.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Rosemary, lemon zest and pink grapefruit on the nose. Medium-to full-bodied. Lovely, oily texture with notes of hay and oregano. Ginger, too. Seriously tasty.
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Jeb Dunnuck
All from the estate in Walla Walla but labeled as Washington State to keep it flexible, the 2020 Chardonnay has a beautiful mix of richness and freshness, with pretty white peach and ripe citrus fruits, hints of toast and green almond, medium-bodied richness, terrific balance, and a great finish.
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Wine
The winery has consistently produced premium, age-worthy, award-winning Cabernet Sauvignons and Merlots as well as Chardonnays. From the outset, Rick determined that quality would take precedence over quantity.
Consequently, Woodward Canyon has remained small. Woodward Canyon is located in Lowden in the Walla Walla Valley appellation. The tasting room is a restored 1870's farmhouse.
Woodward Canyon is a founding member of the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance and VINEA, the Walla Walla Valley Winegrowers' Sustainable Trust.
One of the most popular and versatile white wine grapes, Chardonnay offers a wide range of flavors and styles depending on where it is grown and how it is made. While it tends to flourish in most environments, Chardonnay from its Burgundian homeland produces some of the most remarkable and longest lived examples. California produces both oaky, buttery styles and leaner, European-inspired wines. Somm Secret—The Burgundian subregion of Chablis, while typically using older oak barrels, produces a bright style similar to the unoaked style. Anyone who doesn't like oaky Chardonnay would likely enjoy Chablis.
An important winegrowing state increasingly recognized for its high-quality reds and whites, Washington ranks second in production in the U.S. after California. Washington wines continue to gain well-deserved popularity as they garner higher and higher praise from critics and consumers alike.
Washington winemakers draw inspiration mainly from Napa Valley, Bordeaux and the Rhône as well as increasingly from other regions like Spain and Italy. Most viticulture takes place on the eastern side of the state—an arid desert in the rain shadow of the Cascade mountains. Irrigation is made possible by the Columbia River. Temperatures are extreme, with hot and dry summers and cold winters, during which frost can be a risk.
Washington’s wine industry was initially built on Merlot, which remains an important variety to this day, despite having been overtaken in acreage planted by Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Bordeaux blends and Rhône blends are common as well as single varietal bottlings. Washington reds tend to express a real purity of concentrated fruit. The best examples have a bold richness, seamless texture, plush or powdery tannins and flavors such as licorice, herb, forest floor, espresso and dark chocolate.
In terms of white wine from Washington state, Riesling is the state’s major success story, producing crisp, aromatic examples with plenty of stone fruit that range from bone dry to lusciously sweet. Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc perform nicely here as well, and Viognier is beginning to pick up steam.