Woodward Canyon Winery

Located in the Walla Walla Valley appellation of Washington State, Woodward Canyon Winery was started in 1981 by Rick Small and his wife, Darcey Fugman-Small. Since that time, the winery has consistently produced premium, award-winning cabernet sauvignons, merlots, chardonnays and many other varietals. Early on Rick determined that quality would take precedence over quantity. Consequently, Woodward Canyon has remained small, increasing its production from 1,200 cases in 1981 to our current production of about 15,000 cases. About 7,000 of this total production is Nelms Road, Woodward Canyon's second label.  Woodward Canyon is a founding member of the Walla Walla Valley Wine Alliance and of Walla Walla Valley Vinea, the Winegrower's Sustainable Trust. Woodward Canyon Winery is located in Lowden, about 13 miles west of Walla Walla, Washington. Our tasting room is a restored 1870's farmhouse. The Woody Way It All Starts In The Vineyard: Marginal fruit, even in the hands of the most adept winemaker, can only make wines of middling quality. Along with our 41-acre Estate Vineyard in the Walla Walla Valley, we source fruit from a handful of well-established Washington state growers whose grapes have proven over the course of the years to provide the best possible material for winemaking that we can procure. Woodward Canyon is also a joint owner of Champoux Vineyard, one of the older vineyards in the State.  Don't Cut Corners: We are in the business of making the best wines we can possibly create. It can be technically difficult, sometimes tiring, and occasionally costly, but by putting quality above all else, secondary concerns become, well, secondary. Make Wines That Are In Proportion And Balanced: We drink wine with food; in fact, the next winery barbecue or wood-fired pizza day is all we often talk about. Our goal is to create wines that show their very best when part of a shared meal, and so our wines strive to be structured and compelling, rather than overextracted and tiresome. It is our hope that the last drops of a bottle of Woodward Canyon will be as enticing as the first taste. Be Consistent And Be Cellar-Worthy: We've stayed with many of the same vineyards Rick started off with in 1981, and in knowing a vineyard's tendencies and the characteristics of its fruit, we've been able to maintain a string of fantastic releases, year after year. And because of the level of attention we pay to our wines throughout their production, our wines have a long lifespan in the cellar where they continue to evolve and develop.  Be Sustainable: Fundamentally, we're harvesting an agricultural product, and with that comes a certain responsibility to the land from which the fruit comes. This means we use inorganic maintenance products only when absolutely necessary. It also means that we are actively interested in the well-being of our employees and of our community; all employees receive a living wage, and we participate year-round in discussions of how to better manage our natural resources locally. Read more about Woodward Canyon's committment to sustainability here.