Posts Categorized: News

We’ll Drink To This

September 7, 2018

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

Make Summer Last Forever

August 30, 2018

We worked with Portland mixologist, Douglas Derrick, to create a Rosé libation to help make summer last forever.

Broad City Punch

2.5 oz Underwood Rosé

1.5 oz white grapefruit juice

1 oz Aria Gin (or London Dry Style)

1 oz chamomile syrup

2 dashes cherry-anise bitters (Peychaud’s or Creole)

Build all ingredients in a mixing tin. Shake, strain into 10 oz glass filled with ice. Garnish with a long stem mint sprig.

Bartender note:

For the chamomile syrup, brew 2 chamomile tea bags in 8 oz hot water. Steep for 5 minutes, filter out tea and sir in 1 cup bakers sugar while hot. Let cool and refrigerate in airtight container for up to 5 days.

About Douglas Derrick

Southwestern by birth, Italian by heritage, and Northwestern by preference, Douglas Derrick has found his home in Portland’s thriving restaurant scene. On top of leading The Negroni Social and inspiring Negroni Week, a world-wide charity event which joins bars from all over the world to raise funds for local charities with Imbibe Magazine and Campari, Derrick creates handcrafted cocktails in the way chefs that he has worked with create menus: by using seasonal and in-house, made from scratch ingredients that change with the farms they source from. He works full time for Campari America, preaching the gospel of Negroni to bars all over the world.

Photography by David L. Reamer

How to Make Wine Can Chicken

June 6, 2018

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:

1 whole chicken
1 Underwood Pinot Noir / Pinot Gris can

For Rub:

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

Directions:

Remove giblets from chicken; discard.
Rinse chicken inside and out; pat dry.
In a small sauce pan, toast chiles on high heat till fragrant. About 2o seconds a side.
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.
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.
Prepare barbecue grill and preheat for indirect-heat cooking.
Carefully lower chicken over the wine can until can is inside body cavity. Pull legs forward so chicken stands upright on can.
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.
Cook until temperature reaches 160*, about 1 hour.
Using oven mitts, carefully remove chicken with can from grill, keeping it upright.
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.
Carve chicken and serve, adding salt and pepper to taste.
Garnish with spicy pickles or avocado salsa.

WINE ON A MISSION

October 11, 2017

You may have guessed already, but a bunch of women casually sipping white wine spritzers is not the scene here. Yes, these ladies are smiling, and drinking white wine, wearing the now iconic Wild Feminist Tee by our good friends Wildfang, but there’s a lot more behind this picture.

Let’s start from the beginning.

It all began when two friends, our fearless leader Ryan, and Wildfang’s CEO – and force of nature in her own right – Emma Mcilroy, started talking about the idea of wanting to make a positive impact after the 2016 election. It was at that moment that the idea of creating a special, limited edition white wine that gives 100% back to Planned Parenthood was born.

Playfully called GET IT GIRL, this Oregon white wine blend has a bigger message; that women’s rights are human rights. It’s also a bright and beautiful blend of Riesling, Gewurztraminer and Pinot Gris that make this special edition a must-have right now.

The ultimate goal? To raise $100,000 for Planned Parenthood. Pretty kick-ass if you’re asking us. And it’s not just because we have plenty of women here working as assistant winemakers, harvest interns, accountants, cellar hands and marketers, that make it so very cool. It’s all of us, the men and women of Union Wine Company, coming together as one organization and committing to this cause together.

Put simply, the fight for women’s equality is far from settled, so this can of wine is just one step forward in doing some good. Enjoying great wine while doing so, isn’t so bad either! So, let’s drink to equality, shall we?

You can purchase GET IT GIRL here on our website, and at Wildfang’s West End bar.

Pizza Cook-Off

September 11, 2015

Earlier this year our winemaker JP flexed his pizza making skills while making lunch for our team. Not wanting to be outdone, our owner Ryan threw down the gauntlet and challenged him to a cook-off. They both have a history in pizza: Ryan learned to sling grilled pies in the kitchen at Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, the birthplace of grilled pizza. JP was educated on all things pizza by the godfather of California wine country cuisine, John Ash. Each contender brought a different style and process to the table with only two rules: dough had to be made from scratch and cooking method was a charcoal grill. Taking a break from our daily tasks, we sat around Ryan’s truck and tasted each contestant’s fare…tough way to spend a lunch break.

As in any contest, a winner has to be named. Tallying up the tick marks, JP’s pancetta with seasonal toppings pie topped Ryan’s take on a seasonal margarita pizza, and the Pizza Champion was crowned. A friendly rivalry is always good; one that involves food and cooking is even better, and we can’t wait to judge the next round.