Posts Categorized: Events

A Step by Step Guide to Surviving Election Day

Election supplies

The day is finally upon us! Are you excited? Nervous? Stressed? Completely over it and checked out? We’re right there with you. One thing we can all agree on is that stress levels are at an all time high, but we believe the key to getting through the madness is to slow down and stock up on all of your tried and true creature comforts.  And we’re here to help. So here’s the plan:

STEP 1: Stock up on the essentials! What are your go-to comfort foods? Make a list of the things that make you feel the coziest and head to the store. Here’s what’s on our list:

a. Underwood Canned Wine (duh)

b. Frozen Pizza

c. Brownies + Chocolate + Frosting (go big or go home!)

d. Cookie Dough

e. Tissues…maybe we will cry tears of joy? Either way be prepared!

f. Bedtime Necessities

g. Coffee

h. Advil

i. Underwood Bubbles

j. Juice

2)  Prepare: Get comfy and don’t forget your mental health

a. Download your favorite meditation or relaxation app in-case you need to take a little break…or a few.

b. Put on your pj’s, it’s going to be a long night

3)  Here we go!

a. Pop open that can, or cans, or bottles.

b. Get to work on that pizza. Make sure to have a side of treats close by. We give you full permission to eat the whole pizza. Stress eating is normal and natural, we won’t judge.

c. Don’t forget that outside exists! Go for a walk, play with your pup, or just get some fresh air. It’s 100% ok to leave the house in PJ’s and sneakers. Maybe the only good thing to happen in 2020?

4)  Re-coop

a. Make yourself a cup of sleepy time tea

b. Draw yourself a bath, light some candles, set out the crystals

c. Grab an eye mask and some earplugs

d. Put on some soothing tunes and doze off

5)  Good morning! Congratulations! You made it! Celebrate with an extra cup of coffee, or a mimosa if you are waking up to good news! You deserve it.

Pro tip: brownies are an acceptable breakfast choice today.

Cheers!

#pinkiesdown

I’ll Have What She’s Having

underwood wine coolers feast

On September 13th, 2018, we blasted back to the past for Feast Portland: 80s vs 90s. Feast Portland is one of the nation’s most beloved food & drink festivals, and is where we introduced our Underwood wine in a can back in 2013.

If you know us, you know we’re not afraid to mix our wines with other quality ingredients to create new wine drinking experiences.  We debuted our Riesling Radler wine cooler in 2017, but for Feast, we wanted to take things up a notch and and create a lineup of special wine coolers exclusive for the event.

Our enologist, Jeb, was up to the challenge and may or may not have cracked a few Zima’s to inspire the brainstorming process. After some trial & error, we landed on two limited edition wine coolers: the Ecto Cooler and Wu-Tang.

menu for wine coolers wine cooler lineup

The Ecto Cooler was questionably green, but don’t let that fool you – its taste was reminiscent of Hi-C, and the Feast attendees couldn’t get enough of it. It was the first keg we emptied and quickly became the drink everyone kept coming back for. Our other special edition wine cooler, Wu-Tang, was an effervescent version of the time-honored Fuzzy Navel that tasted just like a peach ring, but better. These wine coolers were served alongside What She’s Having (our Strawberry Cooler, temporarily rebranded) and the Cosmo Cooler (our Riesling Radler). 2,700+ pours later, our kegs, and our Union Wine Co. staff bartenders, were exhausted.

wine cooler

We decked out our space with 80s and 90s ‘antiques’, or should we say, priceless relics borrowed from our Marketing Ops Manager Joan’s basement.

underwood wine

As we brainstormed what Union Wine Co. would’ve been like if it was around in the 80s or 90s, we thought: weren’t we there all along?

 

Feast Portland, thanks for letting us relive our glory days. We’re still on cloud nine, and will continue to rock our canny packs around the Industrial Chateau – why did they go out of style, again?

dacn pinot noir underwood feast photo booth

 

feast

Photography by Adam Wickham

We’ll Drink To This

 

At Union Wine Company, we’re passionate people. Passionate over the wine we make. Passionate about the place we live and work. And we care a lot about giving back to the organizations that keep our community thriving.

Last month, we presented a check for $100,000 to our local Planned Parenthood. This donation was the result of Get it Girl, our white wine blend made in collaboration with our friends at Wildfang, whose profits (all 100% of them) were given to Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette.

“This partnership was about more than making great wine. It was about using our platform to stand up for the values we believe in and make an impact for organizations that we care deeply about. It is an honor to be able to write a check of this size to such a fantastic organization. Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette is dedicated to helping people in the local community, something that we at Union Wine Company believe strongly in.”

– Ryan Harms

Union Wine Company Founder, Owner

We are pretty darn proud that our company was able to raise this amount of money for an organization doing so much for our community. It’s far and away the largest donation Union Wine Company has ever made. Even so, we wanted to do more.

After our founder, Ryan Harms, presented the check to Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, our team hunkered down in a conference room – powered by coffee, pastries (and maybe some Bubbles) – to get crafty. After all, winemakers (and those that support the winemaking process) are good with their hands. We spent the morning stuffing bags and making buttons.

Donating $100,000 and making buttons for an organization our company cares so much about? We’d say that’s a pretty great way to spend a morning.

Thank you to all who bought a can or two or three for the cause. We couldn’t have done this without you.

Still interested in getting your hands on Underwood Get it Girl? Limited quantities are still available for purchase on our online shop, with 25% off.

 

 

Photography by David L. Reamer

Grilled Pizza Cook-off 2.0

There is a tradition at Union Wine Company that involves two tenacious competitors and a heck of a lot of dough. It rolls around every 2-3 years, similar to snowfall in Portland, and like snow after a month of solid rain, it is warmly welcomed by all.

We’re talking about the (Sometimes) Bi-annual Grilled Pizza Cook-Off. The humble but hardy contestants include Ryan Harms, our owner, and JP Caldcleugh, our winemaker. JP took the cake in the last cook-off, and after a couple years of regrouping, Ryan was ready for a comeback.*

Each contender put a lot of heart into their homemade dishes. Ryan devised a signature sauce with hand torn tomatoes that kept us coming back for slice…after slice…after slice. JP concocted a prosciutto pie that featured pizza’s best friend: basil, fresh from the Amity Vineyards garden.

As per tradition, the entire Union team gathered in the winery parking lot to do the real hard work – judging the pizzas. Everyone loves a good comeback story, and in true Hollywood fashion this year’s pizza crowning went to Ryan.

However, with full bellies and faces adorned in post-pizza glow, it was agreed that we all truly won the grilled pizza cook-off.

*Or, our Director of Finance Eric was just in the mood for pizza.

 

Photography by David L. Reamer

How to Make Wine Can Chicken

How to Make Wine Can Chicken

It’s no secret that at Union Wine Company, we’re proponents of thinking outside the box. Or in this case, outside of coq au vin.

This Memorial Day Weekend, we brought a new take on our Underwood cans to life. At Austin’s famed Hot Luck Fest, we partnered with Chef Doug Adams (his new restaurant Bullard PDX will open in the new Woodlark Hotel this fall) to bring our vision of Wine Can Chicken to life. Most people have heard, and some have tried, the infamous BBQ dish “Beer Can Chicken,” but no one had experienced what true wine can chicken could be – until this weekend.

Amidst 100 degree heat, we paired 1,000 pounds of chicken with 300 cans of Underwood Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris to create the ultimate show stopper.

Want to recreate the dish at home? Chef Doug Adams shares his recipe below.

Ingredients:

For Rub:

  • 2 Guajillo chiles
  • 2 Garlic cloves
  • 2 tbsp Orange juice
  • 2 tbsp Lime juice
  • 1 tbsp Fish sauce

Directions:

  1. Remove giblets from chicken; discard.
  2. Rinse chicken inside and out; pat dry.
  3. In a small sauce pan, toast chiles on high heat till fragrant. About 2o seconds a side.
  4. Put the chiles and garlic in pot with just enough water to submerge the chiles. Simmer for 5 minutes and let stand until chiles are soft.
  5. Place the chiles and garlic in a processor with water and a pinch of salt; process smooth. mix with citrus and fish sauce. Rub marinade all over the chicken.
  6. Prepare barbecue grill and preheat for indirect-heat cooking.
  7. Carefully lower chicken over the wine can until can is inside body cavity. Pull legs forward so chicken stands upright on can.
  8. Carefully set chicken and can, in this upright position, on center of grill (not over direct heat); cover charcoal grill and open vents; close lid on gas grill.
  9. Cook until temperature reaches 160*, about 1 hour.
  10. Using oven mitts, carefully remove chicken with can from grill, keeping it upright.
  11. Let chicken stand on can for 15 minutes, then, holding a towel around the can to steady it and protect your hands, with a large carving fork, carefully remove chicken from can to a carving platter or carving board.
  12. Carve chicken and serve, adding salt and pepper to taste.
  13. Garnish with spicy pickles or avocado salsa.