Lemony Asparagus Pasta

We wait all year for local asparagus and when it starts to come in, we find all kinds of ways to enjoy this amazing spring veg.  This is a light, fresh dish that is perfect as a main course for lunch, or add your favorite protein for a scrumptious dinner. If you need to stay away from gluten, there are many terrific gluten free pastas out there that will work great. Tasty add-ins would be fresh spring peas or chopped ham or bacon. We’re going to add extra garlic and pepper flakes! This will be so tasty with our Dry Rosé or Riesling, or if you’re a red wine fan, try the Sangiovese or Malbec.
Cheers!


Lemony Asparagus Pasta

¾ lb. penne pasta
1 lb. thin asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2″ pieces
3 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 c. heavy cream
1 c. dry white wine, (Albariño or Dry Riesling would be great)
1 small lemon, zested and juiced
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 c. freshly grated Parmesan, plus more for serving
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more for serving
1/4 c. fresh parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes (or more, to taste)

1.    Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add penne and cook according to package directions, until just al dente. Reserve ½ cup pasta water, then drain pasta and set aside.
2.    Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon oil. Cook asparagus until crispy, then season with pinch of salt. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3.    Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Cook onions about three minutes, add garlic and cook until softened, about 2 minutes more. Add white wine, reduce for 2 to three minutes, add heavy cream, lemon juice, and zest. Bring mixture to a boil, then simmer for 5 minutes. Add in salt, Parmesan, and black pepper. Reduce heat to low and mix until well combined.
4.    Mix in pasta and a little pasta water and toss until well coated, allow to simmer 2 to three minutes until sauce thickens. Turn off heat and mix in asparagus and parsley until well coated. If sauce is too thick, add small amounts of pasta water until you reach desired consistency. Serve with more grated Parmesan, cracked black pepper, and red pepper flakes.
Serves 4

Enjoy!

Wine Club Member Spotlight

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.

Yummy Quick Pizza Bites

Why not put that amazing air fryer you have to good use by making a crispy and delightful treat? We think pizza is a food group all on its own and deserves to be eaten as a snack, appetizer, or dinner. Use this recipe as a template and substitute your favorite pizza toppings. Pineapple & ham would be delicious paired with Albariño, Riesling, or Harvest Moon Red. Maybe you have a bottle of Cabernet or Homestead Red, then make your topping pepperoni. Have fun and explore some new wine and pizza pairings. Cheers!

Air Fryer Pizza Bites

  • 2 sheets frozen puff pastry- thawed overnight in refrigerator
  • 1/4 cup pizza sauce (more to taste, but not enough to be soggy)
  • 3.5 oz. shredded ham
  • 8 oz. can pineapple chunks in juice, well drained
  • 2/3 cup shredded pizza cheese
  • Quantities are guidelines, you might want more or less of each ingredient.

Preheat your airfryer to 350°F. Spray the basket of your air fryer with non stick cooking spray. Use a 3in. round cutter to cut 9 discs from each pastry sheet. Or  if you don’t want to waste any pastry, cut into small squares with a sharp knife. Place on prepared basket/tray. Spread evenly with pizza sauce. Top with ham, pineapple and cheese.

Bake for 10 – 15 mins or until cheese melts and base is crisp.

Pro Tip: make sure all your topping ingredients are already cooked before putting them on the puff pastry to prevent a soggy crust.
Enjoy!

Alaska Airlines lets Idaho Wine Fly Free

Great deal for taking wine on Alaska Airlines


The Idaho Wine Commission has brokered a terrific partnership with Alaska Airlines. You may have heard that Alaska Airlines has agreed to allow their Mileage Plan™ members, to check a case of Idaho wines at no additional cost.

They have now added another bonus which Williamson Vineyards is participating in:

When consumers show their Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan membership and in-bound boarding pass (paper or digital) to winery tasting room staff, they receive one complimentary tasting at that location.
The Idaho Wine Commission has more details, click here.

Grapevines Sleeping Sweetly

Harvest is over and the weather has been cooperative so that our vines have safely gone to sleep, to rest and get ready for the next growing season. Our vineyard guys have been busy getting all the harvest paraphernalia put away for another year.

While the leaves where still green on our vines this fall, they where sending valuable carbohydrates into the woody trunk and roots as fuel to get the vines through the quiet winter months. This reserve is essential to keep the vines fed until they wake from their winter sleep and send leaves out to allow photosynthesis to generate the spring growth to begin another year.

Sleep well, little vines and we’ll see you mid-winter for a bit of trimming.

2020 Albariño Receives Double Platinum

We have received a wonderful acknowledgement of our delicious 2020 Albariño with a Double Platinum from Great Northwest Wine. It’s available for purchase right now, check out the webstore here for more details. Of course, we love to see you in the tasting room too! If you’re interested in what Great Northwest Wine has to say about our award winning Albariño, check out their details here.

 

Vineyard Update – November 2021

Vineyard Update

In the vineyards, we have our crews working to prep the vineyards for winter. This means planting our cover crop, taking down any bird nets left from harvest, and checking (and if necessary) repairing the trellis wire to be ready for the pre-pruning machine in January. Plus any other last minute cleanup that we need to finish before the snow flies.

Our crews have worked hard this year, putting in long hours to get all the work done before the freezing temps move in to put the vines to sleep for another year.

Cheers!

Mike & Patrick Williamson
The Vineyard Guys

Christmas 2021 Case Sale

Christmas Case Sale

Giving a bottle of wine from your local winery is a perfect gift for so many people and occasions around the holidays. So get in on our annual Christmas Case Sale!

Make your holidays merry when you build a case of your favorite wines at 20% off!
Wine Club members save 30% off their cases!

This promotion is valid 11/26/2021 – 12/12/2021.

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, get ahold of us (208.459.7333 or email) and we’ll see what we can do. Please keep in mind that someone over 21 years of age 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.

“Wine Club only” wine limitations still apply. Excludes – Library wines.
No other discounts apply.

Virtual Happy Hour – November 11

Build the Perfect Charcuterie Board

Dress it up or dress it down, we can show you how to build a delicious (and wine friendly) charcuterie board for your every need.

We’ve created a PDF of our outline for this happy hour. VHH Nov 2021-Charcuterie.pdf

We have some announcements about releasing wine and Fall Barrel Weekend and the “Charcuterie” section starts at about 9.40mn.

Virtual Happy Hour – October 7

We had a special request for our Virtual Happy Hour from a wine fan. They had questions about the storing of wine, and thought we could help. Please watch the video for  our suggestions.

 

We start with talking about upcoming winery events and new releases, Wine Storage and Transportation starts at about the 8.20 min. mark.