I don’t know about you but when I think of Idaho, I think spuds; potatoes, french fries and tater tots, heck even their license plates say “famous potatoes” right? Before we ventured off to Boise I needed to do a little homework on the wineries in the region and I discovered that Idaho had recently received their first AVA certification, The Snake River Valley Wine-SRVW. What I also discovered was prior to prohibition; Caldwell Idaho was the first area in the Northwest to grow wine grapes, thanks to early German settlers. So why did Idaho take so long to bounce back from the prohibition days in terms of a wine growing region? I got the answer from one of the founders of the region, but more on that in a bit.

I will admit I knew Idaho had producing wineries like St Chappelle and Sawtooth, largely because I had seen them on the shelf. Hey I like to fly-fish, so you would have thought I might have at least once picked up the Sawtooth label out of the sale rack at my local grocer and brought it home…Nope…..Remember “famous for tater tots” not wine.

So as we ventured out into the SRVW country on the hunt for our first of three stops, you could have asked me to close my eyes, spin around three times and click my Nike soles together and say Red Mountain, Red Mountain, Red Mountain and viola I would have believed I was in Red Mountain or any number of Washington AVA’s. My GPS (My Wife) led us right to our first stop, Sawtooth Winery. On the way here we passed no one on the roads, its January so I expected it to be slow, but unfortunately when we arrived a tour bus had beaten us to our destination. Thankfully the bus was only half full and our wait was short. After negotiating our tasting fee to taste all The Main Line reds and the Reserve reds we were off and swirling. We started with their ’05 Merlot and it was full of berry and the tannins were smooth and finish had some staying power. I could feel myself warming up to Idaho wines as first tasting was above my expectations, next up was a Tempranillo that was good and ’05 Syrah that not only tasted great, but it earned a ride home with me. Overall impression, the Sawtooth Winery would be a stunning venue in the summer with million dollar views and their wines had good structure, fruit and showed all the signs that the winemaker here had skills and a vineyard that was yielding great fruit.

On the way to our next stop, my wife starts laughing as she reads the map. She points out, there is a road ahead called Chicken Dinner Rd! I was a bit in disbelief, but sure enough there it was Chicken Dinner Rd. Well this led to a number of jokes, laughter and funny thoughts of good cross roads names as we headed to our next destination Koenig Winery & Distillery. Then I hit the brakes and sure enough the people who live on this road have a sense of humor, we were at the cross roads of….. Drumstick Lane and Chicken Dinner Rd!

Koenig Winery & Distillery is a great winery located on The Sunny Slope looking over the Owynee Mountains and the Snake River. As we entered we walked past the tank room and the distillery equipment and upstairs to their tasting room. Their staff was great and friendly and gave us a history lesson on the winery and how they came about making wine and spirits. We tasted our way through the reds and we really enjoyed the ’06 Cab Sav for $20, it displayed hints of coffee and black fruits and fine tannins that finish without a bite or chaulkiness. The ’07 Syrah had a great balance of spice and cherry and was a Syrah that would hold up to any of the $20 Washington Syrahs. We also really liked the ’06 Cuvee Amelia Reserve Syrah $50, this is a big wine that tasted well now and would only get better after cellaring for a few years.

After tasting the reds I was eager to taste the vodka they were offering, on this day they were tasting the Huckleberry Vodka. I am not spirits guy and I will make no claims to knowing any more about vodkas other than I love a good lemon drop. Koenig’s vodka was smooth and the huckleberry flavor was fantastic, it also earned a ride home.

Our last stop was a recommendation from staff at Koenig Winery, Bitner Vineyards and as our luck would have it there was a tour bus here. This bus was full, a 50^th birthday party, so it was very crowded in the tasting room. The group was very friendly and partying like 50 yr old rock stars legends. We mingled like we were with them and struck up a conversation with a member of the party. He introduced us to the winemaker Ron Bitner, who as I learned is one of the founders of the wine region. Ron was the second producer of grapes in the state and is managing some of the oldest blocks, 1981. In 2007 Ron and Mary ventured into producing wine under their own label in addition to making to growing grapes.

Bitner’s wines were outstanding and Ron is a very interesting character, a world re-known entomologist, father of Idaho wine country and an overall nice guy. I could have talked with Ron about his history in wine and Australia for a couple hours. Truly what a boutique winery is all about, small production focused on the quality. Mary Bitner also recently opened a B&B for guests who wish to stay in Idaho wine country. When I travel to wine country I always find a winery or two that is a must stop every time I visit, and Bitner Winery has made that list.

So why is the wine industry emerging from Idaho now? Well evidently the politics in Idaho are heavily controlled by a couple religious parties in the state and they had a strict restrictions on the production and distribution of alcohol. Well an economic impact study was done in a few years back and this study revealed that under these strict regulations this industry was generating $30 million dollars annually to the region. There was an ah ha moment I was told ……and well let’s put it this way the regulations slackened and wine region was off to the races tripling in size over the last 3 years with rumors of many more wineries coming soon.

There were many wineries to visit in SRVW country, but some were open by appointment only. There is an emergence of wineries happening in the Eagle and Boise areas as well. Do your research before you visit. This region is emerging fast and geographically located near the 3^rd largest city in the NW and an airport served by Alaska Air and SouthWest Airlines ( 1hr 20min flight). If you enjoy traveling thru wine country the Snake River Valley Wine region should be on your list of destinations to visit, lots of sunshine, easy quick access to all areas of the region, a recreation mecca, great places to eat, and wine makers who have a passion for making great wine all adding up to a great Winecation experience.