It was an old Emmett orchard - 3,000 trees that hadn't been watered in four years when Mike Medes bought the land in 2002.

Medes, who could have retired to a life of leisure, decided to start Rocky Fence Vineyard with 10 acres of organic grapes. He had never farmed before.

"I thought it would be a great way to supplement my retirement," said the 62-year-old Medes. "Now I'm working harder than I ever have in my life."

Fast forward to 2008 and Medes has shipped more than 10,000 pounds of his first crop of table grapes to Taiwan.

His grapes are Idaho's first organic exports to Taiwan, said Eddie Yen, Idaho's trade representative in Taiwan who helped make the shipments happen.

Medes' story spotlights Idaho's efforts to nurture small-acreage farmers and expand niche markets overseas.

IDAHO EXPORTS

From Medes' 10-acre farm to large corporations such as Boise Cascade, exports are a billion-dollar source of revenue for the state.

In 2007, Idaho exports totaled $4.7 billion, up 26.2 percent over 2006, according to the state Department of Commerce.

Exports of hard goods represent more than 10 percent of Idaho's gross domestic product, said Damien Bard, administrator of the International Business Division of the Commerce Department.

"A lot of people know Idaho potatoes," Bard said. "But we make everything for processing those potatoes from seed to harvest."

This year is looking even better, thanks in part to the weak dollar. Bard said that federal data through June 2008 show that exports totaled $2.5 billion, nearly 16.9 percent above the same time last year.

Taiwan is Idaho's sixth-largest export market, according to the Commerce Department.

"Seven out of 10 of our trading partners are in Asia because we're on the West Coast," Bard said. "We have the port of Lewiston that allows for competitive shipping prices."

Idaho also exports many different services, like the engineering and construction offered by URS in Boise, but there is no comprehensive tracking of those services at any level of government, Bard said.

GRAPES TO TAIWAN

It wasn't beginner's luck that got Medes' grapes to Taiwan. It took a lot of phone calls and relationship-building over several years on both sides of the Pacific.

Idaho signed a sister-state agreement with Taiwan in 1984. In 1990, the state opened a full-time trade office in Taipei.

In 2007, $18 million worth of agricultural products were exported to Taiwan from Idaho, said Laura Johnson, section manager for the market development division at the state Department of Agriculture.

That figure is low, Johnson said, because the exporter may work in another state where the shipment would be documented.

"Asian markets, particularly Taiwan, love fruit. They give fruit as gifts," she said. "I think it has a lot of potential, especially for farmers like Mike Medes because he has high-quality fruit."

Idaho has been shipping a lot of apples, white-flesh peaches and cherries to Taiwan, Johnson added.

"Our climate, with its hot days and cool nights, is such that we'll get very sweet fruit," she said.

Competing against grape-growing powerhouses California and Chile was not an option for a small-acreage farmer like Medes.

Yen and Medes decided from the beginning that Medes would focus on specialty grapes because of the growing demand for organic products on the island, Yen said in an e-mail.

One of Yen's responsibilities as a trade representative is to find a fit between Idaho products and the market. Trade offices are funded by the state and managed by the Department of Commerce and the Department of Agriculture.

Trade representatives also investigate importers to make sure they're reputable, and they identify emerging opportunities like organic grapes.

Medes grows eight varieties. He planted 9 acres of table grapes and 1 acre of wine grapes - about 5,000 vines.

Yen and Medes worked together for more than a year to find buyers for the first shipment of table grapes.

"The two major varieties - blueberry and purple passion - from Mike are great ones with very special tastes," Yen said. "All the people in Taipei I showed those grapes to told me how much they liked the taste and asked for more."

Medes expected his first crop three years after he planted the vines, but the grapes weren't ready. Then in the vineyard's fourth year, 2007, an outbreak of powdery mildew destroyed what would have been the first crop. His wife, Liz, took a part-time job in town to help make ends meet.

But Medes and Yen kept talking.

THE BREAKTHROUGH

Idaho Department of Agriculture Director Celia Gould arranged several trips to Idaho for buyers from Taiwan to look at Rocky Fence Vineyard.

This spring, Medes' prospective buyers visited the vineyard to give him the specifications for his shipments.

For example, the grapes had to be super cool - with a 39-degree interior temperature - for two days before they were shipped. There had to be at least 19 pounds but no more than 19 pounds, 2 ounces of grapes in each box.

Each pallet had to be wrapped in an insulated blanket, and all the seams taped shut to keep the grapes cold and to pass inspection.

Four separate shipments were flown out of Boise Airport on UPS flights.

"We still don't have the big volume to ship by regular 40-foot container load by ocean, which is a much cheaper way for international shipping," Yen said.

When the grapes arrived in Taiwan, Medes received photos of the shipment via e-mail.

"One of the pallets was tipped, and I was really fearful that it would be the end of the relationship," Medes said.

But the buyers accepted all of his grapes. Medes anticipates having more orders from Taiwan next year.

With the exports to Taiwan, he estimates that this year he'll get about a 5 percent return on the cost of the improvements he made to the land.

It has cost him about $5,000 an acre every year for five years to maintain the vineyard, without paying himself, and he predicts it will take 10 to 15 years to recoup his investment.

Medes said he's glad he went organic because grapes are brokered at such a low price that he would never make it as a small-scale farmer using conventional techniques.

"This is not a typical Idaho crop," he said. "That makes it challenging. There's not a lot to go on."

Bethann Stewart: 377-6393