close up bottle pouring wine into glassFUN FACT!!
Did you know that it takes 600-800 grapes to make a bottle of wine?
Wine grapes can vary from about 50-100 grapes per cluster. It could take anywhere from 8 to 12 grapes clusters per bottle. Each variety of wine grape can hold anywhere from 30 to 50 clusters, depending on what a winemaker requires.
Thus, the winemaker and the wine grower are entwined in their efforts for the grapes to reach their maximum potential for the wine produced.
We believe that wine is defined by its “terroir” (the characteristic taste and flavor imparted to a wine by the environment in which it is produced) and shaped by the decisions of both the grape growers and winemakers!


We learned something interesting when we were researching this recipe. Shepherd’s Pie is made with lamb. If you use beef then it’s Cottage Pie. Who knew? What we do know is that it’s a deliciously comforting meal that makes it easy to feed a crowd. Serve it with a fresh green salad and if you’re feeling adventurous, make an Irish soda bread and you’ve got an epic meal. If you’re making Shepherd Pie, pair with our Syrah, Malbec, or Harvest Moon Red. If you’re going for a Cottage Pie, then pair with Cabernet, Windmill Red, or Sangiovese. Cheers!

picture showing a skillet with mashed potatoes on top with a scoop out showing ground meat and carrots and peas

Shepherd’s Pie

Filling
•    1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
•    1 ½ pounds ground lamb
•    Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
•    1 medium onion, chopped (2 cups)
•    4 carrots, peeled and cut into ¼-inch coins (1 ¼ cups)
•    3 tablespoons tomato paste
•    1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour
•    1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
•    1 ¼ cups low-sodium chicken broth
•    ½ cup dry red wine
•    1 cup frozen peas
•    ¼ teaspoon paprika
•    ¾ cup packed chopped flat-leaf parsley

Mash
•    2 ½ pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 ½-inch pieces
•    Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
•    1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
•    1 pound Savoy cabbage, thinly sliced (5 cups)
•    1 leek or bunch green onions, sliced
•    1 clove garlic, minced
•    ⅔ cup whole milk, warmed
•    4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for brushing

Filling: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium-high. Swirl in oil. Add lamb; season with 1 teaspoon salt and cook, breaking up into bite-size pieces and stirring occasionally, until browned in places and just cooked through, 7 to 9 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.

Remove all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet; return to medium heat. Add onion and carrots; season with 1 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are softened and golden in places, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in tomato paste; cook 30 seconds. Stir in flour; cook 1 minute. Return lamb and accumulated juices to skillet. Stir in Worcestershire, broth, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and paprika. Bring to a boil, scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer until thickened slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in peas and parsley. Transfer to a 2-quart baking dish.

Mash: In a large pot, cover potatoes with 1 inch of water; add 1 tablespoon salt. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and simmer until tender, 12 to 15 minutes; drain. Return pot to medium heat; swirl in oil. Add cabbage, leek (or green onion), garlic clove and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until collapsed and tender, 7 to 9 minutes. Return potatoes to pot; mash with a potato masher. Add milk and butter, mashing and stirring until mixture is creamy and cabbage is distributed evenly. Season with salt and pepper. Spread mash evenly over lamb mixture; brush top with butter. Place on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment.

Bake until golden brown in places and bubbling along edges, 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Pie can be refrigerated in an airtight container up to 2 days.

Enjoy!


Soups Galore!

We have hosted a soup contest at our Fall Barrel Tasting Weekend event for years. Each year event attendees take on the great responsibility of tasting and voting on their favorite soups. If you didn’t get a chance to submit or sip this year, we hope you remember to join us next year at our Fall Barrel Tasting Weekend! This year we made soup contest history! Not only did we have a record number of folks submitting soups for judging, but we had our first ever tie! Read below to learn a little more about our newest soup savants.

FRIDAY

Julia Figgins
Buffalo Chicken Chili
Julia Figgins created a crowd pleasing Buffalo Chicken Chili with all the fixins’. The fan favorite was to pair her spicy chili with our 2020 Malbec, because the fruity flavors in our wine played nice with the spice in the chili.Unfortunately, we aren’t able to share a recipe for this soup because Julia “shoots from the hip” and makes it up as she goes. 
Sarah Heasley
Polska Kielbasa Soup

Sarah Heasley created a spicy Polska Kielbasa Soup that really got our taste buds buzzing! If you make this delicious dish, we recommend pairing it with the 2020 Henry’s Red, because the smoky flavors in the wine brought out the smoky flavors in the soup.
For a printable copy: Polska Kielbasa Sausage Soup

SATURDAY

Cherie Holsclaw
Seafood Chowder

Cherie created a Seafood Chowder that simply blew away the competition!
This creamy dish of comfort paired nicely with the 2022 Albariño, the crisp citrus of the wine is a good juxtaposition to the creamy richness of the chowder.  Mmm mmm good!Cherie is also an intuitive chef and does not cook from a recipe. But she did share a few notes about how she creates her soup. Seafood Chowder

We want to take a moment to say a great big thank you to all the contestants who participated in our soup contest. THANK YOU! 

Other soup submissions recipes available to download here:
Tortellini Soup – Lisa LaBarbera
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup – Billie Farley

 


Sharing wine with friends and family around the holidays is a relaxing way to enjoy the season. Giving a bottle of wine from your favorite winery is a perfect gift for those on your list who love to support local businesses. We want to help you finish up your holiday gift giving with our annual Christmas Case Sale!

Make your holidays merry when you build a case from our curated list at 20% off!
Wine Club members save 30% off their cases!

Mix and match your case from the following wines:
2021 Viognier, 2021 Albariño, 2021 Blossom Rosé, 2019 Nectar, 2019 Windmill Red, 2020 Windmill Red, 2020 Malbec, 2020 Henry’s Red.

As an added bonus for your gift giving, we offer local delivery for purchases of 6 bottles or more.
Our delivery range includes Boise, Garden City, Star, Eagle, Meridian, Middleton, Caldwell, Nampa, Kuna, Homedale, and Marsing. If you are outside of these towns, reach us at (208.459.7333 or email) and we’ll see what we can do. Please keep in mind that someone 21 years of age or older must receive the wine. Idaho State Police will not allow us to leave unattended alcohol on your doorstep.

We can ship too! Check with us to verify which states are available to us.

No other discounts apply. While supplies last.This promotion is valid November 29 thru December 23, 2023.


Salt Lake Magazine visited here on the Sunnyslope and looked into the Sunnyslope Wine Trail and the AgVenture Trail. They had great things to say about Southwest Idaho and you can find their article as a PDF here – Follow-The-Trail-MagazineArticle


Begun in 1998, Open That Bottle Night is a call to open that special bottle with friends and share the experience, instead of letting it continue to sit in the cellar. We’ve decided to get into the spirit by holding a drawing from participants who submitted pictures of their Williamson wines and a short description as to why they decided to Open That Bottle. We received some lovely entries and we put the names into a wine spittoon and drew out the winner,
…Lisa Shaffer!

Lisa wins the wine-rrific gift basket, valued at $140.

Congratulation Lisa! Thank you for this fabulous picture, you can pick up your gift basket prize at the tasting room at your convenience.
Lisa had this to say about her favorite bottle: “We love this bottle of Last Drop and opened it because it is unique and we know they won’t be able to ever make it again the same. Terry and I really enjoyed it and it pairs well with lasagna!  It rates best in a Williamson glass.”

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We were blown away by everyone who entered the contest. Many of the entries truly touched our hearts. We would like to gift a bottle of our delicious 2020 Dry Rosé to our honorable mentions seen below. Cheers!


Richard & Trudy Jackson

Stacy Irwin

Renee & Steve VanAtter

Margie & David Wilkins


A freelance writer named Shana Clark spoke with Beverly, Patrick, and Mike about what grows well in the Snake River Valley AVA. She then wrote an article for VinePair, an online wine magazine. Her article touched on how terroir can affect the grapes grown in a particular region. She spoke with several wine makers in the Snake River Valley AVA and winemakers in Arizona about the challenges of climate and grape varieties.  You can read the full article here: For Emerging American Wine Regions, Can Trends Trump Terroir?

 

 


Beverly had the opportunity to visit with Paige Comrie this summer. Paige is a wine lover with a passion to connect other wine lovers with great wines from across the world. She choses wines that range from delicious & affordable Tuesday night picks to high-end limited edition releases that are truly something to celebrate. She wants to share not just the wines with her followers but the stories of the folks that make those wines.

Find the entire article here: Women in Wine: Beverly Williamson


We had the opportunity to host a freelance travel writer this summer. Casandra Karpiak is a regular contributor to the Associated Press wire and MSN. She spent time in the Treasure Valley exploring the lodging, food, culture, and attractions. She visited restaurants and museums in Boise and came out to the Sunnyslope where she enjoyed a wine experience with Bev Williamson.

Find the entire article here: Boise is Ready to Host


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!

Dan and Candi Puga
This cute couple has been in the Sunnyslope area and have known each other since kindergarten! They have raised a beautiful family and are very active in the local community. They have been members at Williamson’s for roughly 10 years!

 How did you find Williamson Orchards & Vineyards? The current Williamson siblings were a few years younger than us in school and we also attended church with the family. One day around our 20th anniversary, we took a drive around Sunnyslope area, and were pleasantly surprised that wineries were popping up all around the area. Going to the wineries has became a weekend date tradition.

Why did you become a member? I’m not exactly sure our joining date, but it was one of our early memberships. The picture (above on left) in front of the old fruitstand shed and tasting room was May of 2015, a beautiful Mother’s Day. We later used that picture for our 25th wedding party invite!

Tell us about some of your experiences at Williamson’s. We appreciate the welcoming service even during the difficult season of covid. To this day, Williamson’s is one of our favorite stops along the Sunnyslope wine trail and we love the new conveniently located tasting room.

What are some of your favorite wines? Williamson’s provides a wide variety of wines that we both enjoy and love. Dan tends to taste the reds and I stick with the rosés or whites. Some of our favorite wines include Sangiovese, Red Blends, Petite Sirah, Dry Riesling, Blossom, and Lilly White.