arts
I heard it through
the grape Vine
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I
magine watching the heavy summer sun dip below the horizon on
a lazy Friday evening, as you taste some of the region’s finest wines
and groove to live, local music. Picture yourself laughing with friends,
swirling your glass and viewing the work of the valley’s most avant-
garde visual artists. If you haven’t yet had an opportunity to see—or
taste—this experience yourself, it’s time to pay a visit to Woodriver
Cellars.
Since its new name and new ownership, the winery has made
sweeping changes. “We bought new vineyards…we have a new
winemaker…we’ve begun making wine and storing it in French oak
barrels and hand picking grapes as opposed to machine picking.
The combination of all these things has propelled our wine into the
next level,” says Kristin Dudley, General Manager. To date, the winery
boasts over fourteen awards at some of the northwest’s most presti-
gious festivals and competitions.
In harmony with its high quality winemaking, Woodriver Cellars
is looking to showcase some of the area’s best talent. For years, local
hearth of a stone fireplace. The tasting room isn’t your typical gallery.
artists and musicians have refined their skills just as the viticultur-
“The art complements the experience and the experience comple-
ists prune their vines to produce a healthier, more robust crop. And
ments the art,” says Dudley.
while Malbec grapes finally spring forth on the vine, promising a rich
Better yet, the winery sees the big picture. “[Art] gives you roots.
harvest for next year’s wine—talented artists also display the fruits of
It gives people a purpose for why they live somewhere and an op-
their labor in the winery’s newly renovated tasting room. This creative
portunity to appreciate who’s in their community. It adds a compo-
harvest is all part of what Woodriver Cellars calls its “commitment to
nent to life; a depth to people’s daily experience. True art—it makes
culture and the arts,” says Dudley. “It parallels our commitment to
you think…it is moving. That’s what gives meaning to people’s lives,”
wine and the art of winemaking.”
Dudley says.
By partnering with local artists and musicians, the winery aims to
Although fine art—like fine wine—is often a matter of personal
“create a place that complements the arts or that provides that cul-
taste, Woodriver Cellars handpicks their artists for quality. Amy Pence-
ture for Idaho, for people visiting here,” comments Dudley, adding,
Brown, Boise Art Museum’s curator, serves as a consultant in helping
“People are longing for cultural stimulus, something outside of the
Dudley select artists. Dudley also has a discerning eye—due in part
everyday, somewhere to go where they feel like they’re taken outside
to her background in fine art and graphic design. “It’s really a maturity
of what they usually experience.”
we’re looking for, someone that understands what they’re doing as
far as communicating a message or whether they have a purpose;

not just art for art’s sake,” says Dudley. Such artists—with a clear di-
Mission accomplished.
rection of where they are headed—are invited to apply. She explains,
“We tend to go for work that’s a little bit unusual, a little edgy; noth-
On Friday and Satur-
ing traditional.”
day nights, a sizeable Unlike a traditional gallery, participating artists enjoy exposure
crowd comes to enjoy from the other events that Woodriver Cellars hosts. “People come
some of the valley’s here (for) weddings, live music, the wine, to play bocce ball…the art
best wine against a doesn’t have to draw a crowd all by itself,” comments Dudley. “That’s a
backdrop of some of big deal for artists, because not a lot of galleries get that kind of traf-
the valley’s best art. fic.” In fact, Dudley estimates that this summer alone, the winery will
There are no white- have seen more than thirty thousand people. In addition, Woodriver
washed walls or Cellars doesn’t charge a commission for any pieces sold. Artists are
cavernous spaces. And there is no need also invited to decorate a wine bottle in a way that reflects their style
to speak in hushed tones. Illustrative artworks and vivid
of work. Those wine bottles—one painted with leafy vines, another
photographs speak in excited voices from cheerful yellow and olive
covered in mosaiced glass and tile—will be auctioned for charity at
green walls. Fabricated steel candelabras bend and curve along the
the end of the year.
22 l www.eaglemagazine.com
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