The Idaho Statesman and KIVI-TV Channel 6 are teaming up on a three-day project to tell you about the Treasure Valley wine industry -and some of its best wines. We gathered a panel of wine experts and a panel of wine lovers to give us their picks of the best wines in the Valley.
Sunday
KIVI takes you on a tour of the Valley's wineries in its 10 p.m. newscast.
Monday
The Statesman publishes the Judges Choice wines, selected by our panel of experts. IN LIFE
KIVI gives you the People's Choice wines picked by our volunteer tasters at 10 p.m.
Tuesday
8th Street Wine Co. owner Eric McLaughlin showcases "cases" of winning wines on KIVI's "Good Morning Live" show from 5 to 7 a.m.
The Statesman's reporter in Washington D.C., writes about a Treasure Valley wine that is impressing diners in the nation's capital. MAIN 1
The Statesman publishes the People's Choice wines. IN LIFE
I recently had a look into the operations of three Idaho wineries. The folks of KIVI-TV Channel 6 shot film for a segment called "Vino Idaho," and I tagged along.
Three very different wineries were selected to illustrate not only their differences, but also to highlight the state of the industry.
Each of the wineries is enjoying success, but each also faces challenges. If you think making wine is a glamorous business, think again. It can be fun, certainly, but it's also hard, physical work combined with the challenges of selling the wine.
Here's how three Treasure Valley wineries are coping with a rapidly changing industry.
WINERY OF THE YEAR
It has been a long, hard struggle at times for Indian Creek Winery of rural Kuna, a family owned operation. After planting grapes in 1982, three harsh winters over the next 10 years froze out any hope of bottling a vintage from those years.
Even so, the struggle is lessening.
Indian Creek has achieved two notable awards this past year.
In August, its 2005 Malbec won Best Red of any Idaho red wine at the Idaho Wine Festival.
The well-known publication Wine Press Northwest designated Indian Creek as Idaho's 2008 Winery Of The Year.
Founder Bill Stowe finds this all gratifying as he turns over operations to the next generation. His daughter, Tammy, and her husband, Mike McClure, now handle much of the production work. In fact, Mike has taken over the job as winemaker, which can be demanding at a small winery.
Talking with him in the production room, you realize that the responsibilities entail a whole lot more than making wine.
"If I had to do one thing all day, I'd get sick of it," he said. "The diversity of things that need doing is the best part of my job."
Pruning the vines, keeping up the grounds, harvesting the 16 acres of vines, crushing and fermenting the grapes, aging and blending the wine, and then, finally, bottling it, means he has to be a jack of all trades.
When I mentioned that I'd heard his forklift had broken down, he laughed and said, "Yeah, I had to fix the fuel pump." Both a winemaker and a mechanic - now that's quite an unusual resume!
There are challenges ahead, however. Boosting production from 4,000 cases to 5,000 is one of them. Increasing the quality, character, and complexity of the wine is another.
"We want to age some of our reds for two years instead of one," McClure said.
Another year of aging means more expensive barrels must be purchased. More barrels mean more storage room is needed, and plans for an underground aging facility are in the works.
Then, on top of all that, the wine must be sold at a profit. Retired business executive Tom McKinstry has been brought in as marketing director in an effort to expand sales both in and outside of Idaho.
These are all problems of success, however, a far cry from some of the weather-related disasters of the earlier years when there was no wine at all to sell.
THE ORIGINAL
Fixing things like fuel pumps is no problem at Ste. Chapelle, Idaho's largest and oldest winery. "We have our own mechanic," Chuck Devlin said. He's general manager and winemaker for an operation that produces 150,000 cases a year.
Devlin has a lot of help to manage such a large operation. There's a full-time assistant winemaker and a full-time laboratory analyst, plus a host of production and vineyard workers who keep things operating year-round.
The day I visited, the high-speed bottling line was in operation, running at a rate of more than a bottle a second.
Think about that. Empty bottles are placed on the assembly line, filled with wine, corked, sealed, labeled, and placed in a carton, all at a rate of more than one per second. It took three workers just to handle filling the cartons and placing them on pallets.
Unlike a small family winery, Ste. Chapelle's challenge is to keep up with sales. "We're part of Constellation Brands, the largest wine company in the world," Devlin said. "If they decide to put our product on a retail shelf somewhere, then we have to produce the quantity they need."
Does that mean quality is sacrificed for quantity? Not at all. "We taste every fermenting tank, every fermenting barrel, every day," Devlin said. That's quite a chore in itself and means, of course, that he and assistant winemaker, Maurine Johnson, have to spit, not swallow.
Every batch of wine, every day. That's dedication to quality.
CHANGING TIMES
Speaking of quality, Wood River Cellars of rural Eagle - formerly known as The Winery At Eagle Knoll - has embarked on a mission to focus more on quality.
A significant part of the market today is young adults who have surprisingly sophisticated tastes and are looking for more complexity and structure in their wine.
No one knows for sure why this is. One explanation is that perhaps our 'espresso culture' has exposed this group of consumers to stronger, more complexly flavored coffee at an early age, leading them to expect more from their wine.
Regardless of the reason, consulting winemaker Angie Riff is ensuring that Wood River Cellars meets the expectations of today's consumers.
"A glass of fine wine really sets the mood when friends get together," she says.
A highly skilled winemaker, Riff is busy creating six new wines that the new owners can take pride in offering the public.
This year, the production goal is 3,000 to 4,000 cases, about as much as a typical family winery produces. And like a family-sized operation, Riff is involved in most aspects of production.
She's as much at home handling hoses and pumps as she is barrel sampling and blending. And she gets wet. "On some days a winery is one of the wettest places you can work in," she said, laughing.
I believe it. On the day I was there, she and production assistant Donny Fox were busy transferring wine from carboys and barrels into a large storage tank.
Hoses snaked around on the concrete floor of the production room as a pump hummed. Nearby, a noisy compressor ran to keep the outside storage tank at uniform temperature.
Later, the barrels and carboys would need washing out with water and the floor hosed down.
No, winemaking isn't glamorous. But it can be fun and satisfying. You see the satisfaction in Riff's face when she barrel samples and evaluates the taste. A smile means all the hard work is paying off.
THE FUTURE
The future of Idaho's wine industry is clear. A growing, more demanding market means issues of quality, production techniques, and capacity must be addressed.
If the three wineries I visited during the filming of "Vino Idaho" are any indication, then the industry is responding to the challenges.
The next time you get together with friends and open a bottle of Snake River Valley wine, raise a toast to the hardworking men and women who made the wine you're about to enjoy.
Garry Scholz: wineadvice.garry@gmail.com
