Potato Wine Long Post

Potato wine, why not? There's potato vodka, potato ice cream, etc. ;)

Of course being an Idahoan, there's much more to our state than just potatoes, such as world clbutt white water rafting, Micron, and Boise State University (home of the blue football turf).

First and foremost, Ste. Michelle is in Washington, maybe you meant Ste. Chapelle?

Next, for those who are curious, there was recently a Idaho Wine Festival:

Idaho's winning wines DANA OLAND Staff

The secret to Idaho´s wine industry´s success will be in the winemaking, the chemistry, art and heart that goes into each bottle. Each year, the state´s wine reputation deepens as grape growing techniques develop and the beverage´s sophistication increases, as evidenced Saturday at the third Treasure Valley Wine Society´s Idaho Wine Festival, Tasting and Awards at the Doubletree Hotel, Riverside .

A bout 350 people celebrated Idaho wines and winemaking, sampling everything from syrah to chardonnay.

Ted Judd, who helped found the wine society three years ago, has long been an advocate for the state´s wine-growing. This compebreastion has become gratifying, he said, not just because of the enthusiastic turnout of wine drinkers but because the wines are just so good.

Winemakers, restaurateurs and sommeliers from across the region tasted more than 116 wines from 25 Idaho wineries two weeks ago. The results were compiled and announced at Saturday´s event.

"We told our judges to measure against the best wines in the world, not just against Idaho wines," Judd said. "And we´re proud of the results. The winning wines are truly world-clbutt."

The top wines are a mix of Idaho-grown and Idaho-made wines that used grapes from other regions, including Washington.

Best of Show went to such a wine, Coeur d´Alene Cellars´ 2003 Syrah, a smooth, round, not-so-chewy red. It´s not available in the Treasure Valley, but they´re working on it, said Kimber Gates, who represented the winery.

Holesinsky Winery in Buhl is the only certified organic winery in Idaho. It won the people´s choice award for its elegant, spicy 2005 Riesling. You can look for it in area stores starting in September.

Best of Show: Coeur d´Alene Cellars Syrah 2003

Best White: Ste. Chapelle Winery Sauvignon Blanc Ice Wine Reserve Series 2004

Best Red: Pend d´Oreille Winery Malbec 2003

Albertsons People´s Choice: Holesinsky Winery 2005 Rielsing

2006 Idaho Wine Festival winners

GOLD MEDAL WINNERS

Coeur d´Alene Cellars Viognier 2004

Coeur d´Alene Cellars Syrah 2003

Hells Canyon Winery Retriever Red NV

Parma Ridge Vineyards Viognier 2004

Pend d´Oreille Winery Malbec 2003

Snake River Winery Malbec 2004

Ste. Chapelle Winery Sauvignon Blanc Ice Wine Reserve Series 2004

TimberRock Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

SILVER MEDAL WINNERS

Bitner Vineyards Red Blend 2003

Camas Prairie Winery Lemberger Champoux Vineyard NV

Coeur d´Alene Cellars No. 6 Red NV

Frenchman´s Gulch Winery Syrah 2003

Hells Canyon Winery Merlot Idaho Reserve 2004

Holesinsky Winery Riesling 2005

Indian Creek Winery White Riesling 2005

Koenig Distillery & Winery Riesling Ice Wine Windridge Vineyard 2004

Miceli Vineyards & Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2004

Sawtooth Winery Merlot 2003

Sawtooth Winery White Table Wine Late Harvest Reserve 2003

Sawtooth Winery Muscat Blanc 2005

Ste. Chapelle Winery Riesling Special Harvest Winemaker´s Series 2005

Ste. Chapelle Winery Sauvignon Blanc Winemaker´s Series 2005

Ste. Chapelle Winery Riesling Ice Wine Reserve Series 2004

Ste. Chapelle Winery Merlot Winemaker´s Series 2004

Silver Medal Winners (Continued)

Terra Nativa Merlot 2003

The Winery at Eagle Knoll Eagle Head Red NV

TimberRock Winery Cabernet Sauvignon 2003

Williamson Winery Syrah 2003

Williamson Winery Syrah 2004 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Also, more info about the AVA:

Idaho wine industry seeks its place in the sun JOE ESTRELLA Staff

Federal AVA designation would recognize Snake River Valley's unique conditions

JOE ESTRELLA

Staff

Idaho wine makers want to make the Snake River Valley as recognizable to wine aficionados as the Napa and Sonoma valleys in California.

For the last year, the Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Commission has been waiting for a decision from the U.S. Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau on whether a portion of Southwest Idaho -- defined as the prehistoric Lake Idaho area -- will be designated as Idaho´s first-ever American Viticultural Area, or AVA.

An AVA designation, also called an appellation , would declare 8,263 square miles beginning outside of Twin Falls and ending just over the Oregon border as a region where geological, topographical and climate conditions produce grapes for wines with distinctive flavors that cannot be duplicated anywhere else in the United States.

"It (the AVA) would mean that the Snake River Valley would be known for grapes would have a unique characteristic, leading to wine that would have a unique personality," said Lloyd Mahaffey , owner of the five-acre Casa D´Aguila vineyard near Eagle, which expects to have its first production harvest next year. "And that would prove that Idaho is an up-and-coming wine-growing region."

Over the years, the government has issued 172 AVAs, including 93 in California. They range from the 62-acre Cole Ranch AVA in Mendocino , Calif., to the 26,000-square-mile Ohio River Valley AVA.

The Snake River Valley appellation request encompbuttes 10 Idaho counties, including the cities of Hagerman, Glenns Ferry, Boise, Eagle, Caldwell, Nampa and Weiser. It reaches into two Oregon counties.

Wine production is relatively new to the Treasure Valley. Commission Chairman Brad Pitler said Ste. Chapelle opened the area´s first winery in Emmett in 1982. Before that, the industry was centered around the Lewiston area, until Prohibition and the difficulty of growing grapes in a cold- winter climate put most operations out of business.

The commission filed its request a year ago. Approval can take 18 months to two years. That means the green light on Idaho´s first AVA could come in early 2007, says Ron Bitner , former chairman of the wine commission.

Mahaffey said an AVA designation would also be a powerful marketing tool. The serious wine drinker is often drawn to a label indicating that a bottle of wine comes from an AVA, he said.

Wine industry officials in Washington, which has nine AVAs, including three added in the last year, say it´s impossible to determine whether the appellations have been responsible for the industry´s runaway growth in that state. But Robin Pollard , executive director of the Washington Wine Commission, said that since 1983, when the Yakima Valley became the state´s first AVA, the industry has grown from 19 wineries to 400.

"An AVA clearly denotes a distinctive style and taste for your wines," Pollard said.

THE ECONOMIC IMPACT

Idaho officials have already taken note of the Idaho wine industry´s impact on the economy.

Tourism officials say wine-makers will play a big role in a promotional campaign the state is planning around the food and beverage industries, with an eye toward increasing Idaho´s reputation as a destination stop for wine enthusiasts.

"We want to emphasize what the wine industry can add to the tourism experience," said Carl Wilgus , administrator of the Tourism Division at Idaho Commerce and Labor.

A 2002 study by the University of Idaho said the industry injected $40 million into the Idaho economy that year, including $20 million in the Treasure Valley.

"And there has been a lot of growth since then," said Pitler, who is general manager of the Sawtooth Winery south of Nampa.

The U of I study also found that 14 wineries and 900 acres of land devoted to growing grapes produced 165,000 cases of wine. By 2006, unofficial industry statistics indicate, the number of Idaho wineries has grown to 25 and acreage to 1,600. Production is estimated at 250,000 cases at 2.4 gallons per case.

THE SECOND TIME AROUND

Bitner , who owns Bitner Vineyard in Eagle, said Idaho wine makers have been trying for an AVA for the Snake River Valley for five years.

An earlier application was sitting in Idaho Sen. Larry Craig´s office when it had to be destroyed along with other potentially contaminated documents during the 2001 anthrax scare in Washington D.C., he said.

The delay in filing a second application was partially caused by the fact that it took a year for the government to inform the commission that its application had been destroyed, Pitler said. It took another two years for geoscientists at Boise State University to complete a study by designed to establish the Snake River Valley´s grape-growing credentials once and for all.

"You have to show the feds why your region is distinct from other regions," Bitner said.

BSU professor David Wilkins said the study found that Idaho´s grape-growing season is shorter than California´s, but that brevity is offset by the state´s longer and warmer summer days. The extended heat produces optimum sugar levels that account for the unique quality of Idaho wines and can´t be duplicated elsewhere, he said.

He said the quality of Idaho grapes is also the direct result of the south-facing slopes in the Snake River Valley, where the grapes are planted. The southern exposure provides more direct sunlight, while the slopping ground allows cold air to drain away from the grapes, thereby preventing frost damage.

At times, Wilkins said, Idaho´s cold winters can work to the industry´s advantage.

"Because we have cold winters, we can produce what´s called ´ice wine,´" he said. "You simply let the grapes stay on vine until later in the season, which produces high-sugar grapes that are then picked and processed while frozen. You couldn´t do that in California. It´s another way we benefit from our more variable climate."

The Snake River Valley´s elevation of about 2,800 feet is better suited for operating a vineyard than drier, colder and windier areas of eastern Idaho, Wilkins said.

Meanwhile, Bitner said a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research speculates that the global warming problem could ultimately elevate wineries located in the northernmost part of the nation to a greater prominence. He said the study´s conclusion that rising temperatures could scorch grapes in hotter climates means Idaho´s grape crop would be even more valuable.

Idaho wine grapes

The grape varieties that are most widely planted in Idaho:

White: White Riesling, Chardonnay, Gewürztraminer

Reds: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot

New varieties that have been planted in the last 6 years, primarily Rhone varietals

Whites: Viognier

Reds: Syrah

Did you know?

One ton of wine grapes can produce 178 gallons of juice.

A case of wine is 2.4 gallons or 9 liters.

The U.S. adult consumes 2.53 gallons of wine per year, which is up from 2 gallons in 1990.

On average, Canadians consume 2.4 gallons of wine per year, the British 4 gallons, Italians 14 gallons and the French 15 gallons.

Treasure Valley wineries

1. Snake River Winery, Parma

2. Parma Ridge Winery, Parma

3. Bitner Vineyards, Caldwell

4. Williamson Vineyard, Caldwell

5. Koenig Winery, Caldwell

6. Ste. Chapelle Winery, Caldwell

7. Hells Canyon Winery, Caldwell

8. Weston Winery, Caldwell

9. Vickers Vineyard, Houston