After a year ...

Not since the end of Prohibition in 1933 has the Idaho wine industry’s rate of growth been at the pace of 2008. This is only one year after receiving a federal designation for The Snake River Appellation. Issued by the U.S. Alcohol and Tobacco, Tax and Trade Bureau in March 2007, the designation recognized the unique soil and climate characteristics of an 8,263-square-mile area of southern Idaho essentially bordering the Snake River from just west of Twin Falls into Oregon.  
“We’re one of the bright stars in Idaho agriculture,” said Ron Bitner, owner of Bitner Vineyards in Caldwell. For a wine to participate in the Snake River Appellation, 85 percent of the grapes need to be from the region. The importance of the designation is significant.
“I didn’t realize it at the time,” said Bitner, one of the handful of Idahoans who began the application and imitative for the recognition in 2000. “People even seek out appellations to visit.  In recent weeks, visitors from New Jersey, Arkansas and California have visited the winery. We’ve been busier in the last two or three weeks than normal.” 
Asked about the relationship of recessionary economic times to drinking, Ron laughed and said, “I’ve heard that.”
Brad Pintler, winemaker at  the Sawtooth Winery in Nampa  and the current head of the Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Commission, considered the appellation as “not good, not bad,” but a characterization of a uniquely qualified area by geography and soil and climate for growing grapes and making wine.
But he noted that new wineries are starting up at a surprising rate. As of June 2008, there were 30 licensed wineries in Idaho, including the addition of four more this year. In a clear expression of optimism, Pintler pointed out that Sawtooth recently planted an additional 450 acres of grapes. Originally, there were 1,500 acres running like corn rows over the “steep ground and shallow soil.” Of the many varieties, the Vigonier and Syrah are among the most successful in Idaho. 
Pintler agreed on the assessment that Idaho’s wineries have the brightest outlook in the state’s agricultural scene.
“Right now,” said Pintler, “sales are slightly down at about 15 percent off last year. But this is partly seasonal. But there has been a lot more traffic [to the winery] than last year.” 
In the past year, the Idaho State Liquor Authority, which now offers Idaho wines, has seen an increase in sales of about 20 percent, or greater than $350,000. And, at an estimated average of $89 per case, the near 250,000 cases of wine likely to be produced this year will bring in revenues of more than $22 million.
The outlook for increased production and revenues continues to be optimistic. The rate of sales at the new Boise Co-op Wine Store in Boise’s North End, for instance, are estimated to be about 15 percent ahead of 2007.
Divit Cardoza, store manager and a former chef, said his sales represented about 10 percent of the state’s overall figure. The store, one of a relatively few in the Treasure Valley, opened last September.
Previously, wines had been for sale only at the Boise Co-op’s main store. Now, with about 3,000 facings or bottles on display, and thousands more in stock, the separate store has effectively tripled its size. “If you build it, they will come,” Cardoza said.
The Co-Op’s wine store is also one of few wine stores to have a large temperature-controlled room. The wines on display and available are, of course, from around the world – French, Australian, Italian, Chilean and Californian all in neat rows by region. But gathered in rows are about 60 Idaho wines including the traditional Ste. Chapelle brand and one of the newest Idaho stars, Cinder.
The winemaker at Cinder is Melanie Krause. Her first release of Vigonier has been snapped up by wine enthusiasts.
“This year we only released 350 cases,” she said. This reflects the lead time it takes to build up an inventory, or portfolio.
The name Cinder, Krause said, comes from her appreciation of the layer of volcanic ash that lies beneath the topsoil and helps with critical drainage. Grapes are not typically harvested until the third growth after they have been planted. 
“Next year it should be about 1,000 cases,” she said.
Partly due to an increased ability to ferment and obtain grapes, the drive to produce more is also related to the changing sophistication of the wine drinker’s palate.
Startup costs for wine-making, according to Krause, are not cheap. To defray costs she helped create a cooperative, in Garden City, with Syringa Winery and the Vale Wine Company.
“It will only cost us about $30,000 to 35,000 each by going in together,” she said. Expecting their first release from their new location in the Fall 2008 and Spring 2009, Ms. Krause is exited about the location near Boise. “I wanted to be able to ride my bike to work,” she said.
Krause is an Idaho native and received bachelor degrees in biology and Spanish from Washington State University. After graduation, she learned wine-making at Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery, also in Washington. Returning to Idaho, she discovered she could make awesome wine here, in part because of the climate and soil, but also because of the close relationship she has with growers and vineyard managers on issues of water management. She buys grapes from Fraser, Rocky Fence, Sawtooth, Skyline and Williamson vineyards.
“The American palate is maturing,” said Krause, seated casually on the concrete floor of her leased Garden City winery. “Our American impression of whites is that they are supposed to be sweet. So wine producers made sweet wines to get the public to buy. Then, over time [there was a move] to dry wines – it’s an acquired taste.”
Also, more sophisticated palates are moving in. She added that what will be important over the next few years will be the idea of eating and drinking more locally produced food and wine.

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The modern iteration of Idaho wines began in earnest in 1976 with the Ste. Chapelle label that focuses on sweeter white wines such as Rieslings. Ste. Chapelle was eventually sold to Canandaigua, and more recently to Ascentia Wine Estates.
“Ste. Chapelle has about 180,000 cases a year, mostly Riesling. So things don’t seem to be changing a lot, but maybe it’ll bring an improvement. With the new company I would hope there would be more marketing,” Pintler said.
Also, there are clearly changes occurring in Idaho wines, beyond the federal designation. The changes did not begin overnight, but are beginning to take root. For one thing, observed Pintler, there are new varieties. About 15 years ago, in part because of the Idaho Wine Commission, things started moving.  Now the Vigonier, Petite Syrah and other varieties are being planted. This began in the late 1980s and early 1990s. 
“Trellising methods changed, completely changing our way of growing, especially reds,” he said.
Things are a lot better than even 10 years ago. And, it took a certain amount of education for the industry, too, he said. In 1987, there were only three or four wineries around.
Karen Ballard, State Department of Commerce, said there is a powerful cultural and culinary tourism draw from the Idaho wine industry. In conjunction with the new appellation, there is a new dynamics of volume, recognition, creativity and collaboration that help the State promote the industry. For tourists, the scenic drive to Sawtooth and the commanding vista of the vineyard are nothing short of spectacular. Overlooking Surrey Lane, the Snake River and Owyhee Mountains loom in the distance. Elegant rows of chardonnay grapes line the lane to the winery.
As summer begins, maintenance tractors mow between the vines to clip cereal rye. This cover crop helps not only to keep down dust, but is integral to water management. Sawtooth used to be Pintler Cellars and was begun in 1987.  Pintler’s father, Charles, foresaw even then the potential for converting pasture into European vinifera vines in 1982. By 1998, Pintler joined Corus Estates & Vineyards, and changed its name to Sawtooth Winery in 1998.
“It wasn’t easy selling off the family farm,” Pintler said, “but it did make it easier for us.”
He no longer has to worry about marketing and can concentrate on producing great wines.”
 As for the appellation itself, Bitner and Virginia Gilerman (correct sp?) began the paperwork.  In 2000, he and some others began a discussion of the appropriateness and value of the appellation, and in 2001 Sen. Larry Craig became involved. Events of Sept. 11 intervened and in the ensuing anthrax attack at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., the application papers were destroyed. The next year, determined and convinced their science and insights were right, they started over. The application need to show the uniqueness of the area. The group’s submission included studies about the geography of the area, research and science that demonstrated how the soils and climate were unique to the area, and uniquely qualified as a specific wine-growing region.
Most of Idaho’s wineries and vineyards are in the Snake River area where generally ideal growing conditions – cold winter, summer warmth in the day with cold, pest-killing nights, and well-draining volcanic soils – tend to help balance grape acids and sugars. Intriguingly, as other countries and wine-growing regions seem to be struggling with effects of climate change, the Snake River area remains in good condition.
“Water is not a real issue. Besides, grapes are low in water usage,” Bitner observed.  “We have to watch, but … Bitner gets its water from the mountains and the Boise River, not the Snake River. So we are well positioned to grow warmer climate grapes. Also, the Sunnyslope elevation is good, at 2,200 to 2,500 feet, compared to the Napa Valley, which is nearer sea level.”
Finally, in March 2007, the appellation was granted.
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