Cañon de Sol Winery Celebrated 10

After ten years in the sunshine of Washington state and the Columbia Valley, Cañon de Sol Winery celebrates with a weekend of events.

Friday, the 28th of August, the winery hosted an Anniversary dinner featuring a multi-course meal especially prepared by Castle Catering to pair with Cañon de Sol wines. Appetizing shrimp were paired with Viognier while guests gathered. The first course was a Beet & Goat Cheese Salad with Fried Green Tomato. Merlot was paired with Salmon Nicoise and Duck Breast with fruit salsa. Meritage accompanied Chorizo with Fig and Chicken Apple Sausage. Finally, Syrah was paired with Shredded Lamb Tamales. The group moved to the barrel room to taste Library Wines and enjoy a variety of desserts.

Victor Cruz was presented with a champagne Saber to commemorate his achievement. As his wife, Kim, cheered him on, Cruz quickly learned the art and demonstrated his new talent - practicing on a bottle of Veuve Cliquot before adeptly opening a bottle of Dom Perignon. The evening was accompanied by the music of Dean Backholm. "It is an honor to be part of the joy and success that Victor is sharing in this celebration," Backholm says. The dinner, limited to 75 guests, sold out early.

In a touching presentation by the Cruz children, Ciara and Nicholas, many an eye teared. The evening blossomed with games and cherished wine giveaways. Trivial Pursuit enveloped Victor's pursuit of Cañon de Sol excellence. His first bottle of Syrah sold for $30 (not $28), and he has zero acres of grapes (for he hand selects his fruit for each vintage).

On Saturday, the 29th of August, the winery hosted a party for 300 guests. Food was catered via the much loved Taqueria Los Toritos taco wagon; and the music of Curtis Nettles stirred the crowd. Many were moved to dancing the night away.

Embracing a tradition passed to America from Mexico, the evening featured a piñata filled with corks. This gave attendees a blow at the ever-popular party game - and when the corks fell, many guests found discounts on Cañon de Sol wines.

"It was a treat to taste the Cañon de Sol library wines!" says Melissa McAloon, Member Services Director for Tri City Regional Chamber of Commerce. A special opportunity to sample limited availability Cañon de Sol library wines was offered to tasters at the event.

To commemorate this milestone, Cañon de Sol Winery offers limited edition etched magnums of Cañon de Sol Syrah and Cañon de Sol Meritage. Only 250 of each were made available, signed and numbered by winemaker Victor Cruz. Magnums are priced at $375 each, and special requests are being accepted for select numbers in the sequence (requests honored as available when received).

Victor Cruz has a passion for making good wine. As he says, "Good wine should be for everybody."

What's next? Cañon de Sol will open a tasting room in Woodinville to better serve a growing clientele. For more information, call the winery at 509.588.6311, eMail wine@canondesol.com, or visit the website http://www.canondesol.com/.

PHOTO: Rich Breshears ~ Breshears Professional Photography