Vineyards
We source our grapes from several vineyards
in the Snake River Valley. The majority of our fruit comes from Fraser,
Williamson, Sawtooth,
and Skyline Vineyards, all with track records of producing good fruit. In
the spirit of exploration and investing in the industry we also received fruit
from two small, young vineyards on the outskirts of the AVA, Rocky Fence in
Emmett and Eckerts Vineyard near the Thousand Springs Byway.
I spent the summer of 2006 exploring the vineyards of Idaho, looking at the growing conditions and meeting the farmers. I wanted to assess the quality and potential of the growing region before I started a winery here. I always suspected the region had good vineyard land and some of the wineries here already produce some delicious wines, but I was genuinely surprised at how excited I got as I started looking at the soils, microclimates, and slopes the vineyards were on. The small amount of Syrah I made in 2006 confirmed it for me, we can make fantastic wine here, so let’s do it!
Fraser Vineyards
Perched on top of a sandy, rolling hill with a spectacular 360-degree view of the Owyhee and Boise Ranges, this is one of the vineyards I’m most excited about. Planted by Bill and Beverly Fraser just a few years ago in 2003, this mostly Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard produced delicious wine in it’s first vintage, 2005. Since Cabernet vines can take years to show their full and mature character, the intensity of fruit in the first vintage bodes very well for the future of this vineyard. Bill Fraser has done a commendable job in choosing his site and setting up his vineyards. You can see from this photo the canopy is open, allowing dappled sunlight to touch the clusters, and the vines are under just enough stress to yellow the basal leaves, but not enough to shut down the vine. These conditions create small berries for intense wine and even maturation of the clusters, so that timing the harvest for optimal ripeness is easy.
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Visit
the Fraser Vineyards website »
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Williamson Vineyards
A beautiful vineyard backed by hills of white and with a view of the Snake River, it’s a pleasure to purchase fruit from the Williamson Family. They are known across the valley for their peaches and fruit stand, and are now in the wine business as growers and producers. I love working with growers that have their own wine labels because they really care about the quality of their fruit. I purchase Viognier, Syrah and Cabernet from this vineyard. The Viognier is fruity and soft on the finish while the Syrah and Cabernet will provide a lot of backbone for my blends. |
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Sawtooth Vineyard
This vineyard has brilliant soil and the slope for achieving a self-controlled crop. In other words, because the soils are low in organic matter and on a fairly steep slope that doesn’t hold any water, the vines produce a small crop and balanced canopy without a lot of human interference. With yields between 2 and 3 tons per acre and lots of heat, this vineyard is the earliest maturing in Idaho. A large component of my Syrah and Viognier blends come from this vineyard. The Syrah has intense flavors and a super soft finish while the Viognier lends a lot of viscosity to the blend. This vineyard should put at ease anyone who has wondered if Idaho is warm enough to grow high quality wine grapes. The harvest has consistently started between the last week of August and first week of September, on par with the warmest sites in Washington State.
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Skyline Vineyard
Just down the hill from Sawtooth Vineyard and owned by the same company,
Skyline Vineyard is the biggest in the state. With slightly
deeper and finer soils than Sawtooth, this vineyard produces a larger
crop and requires a little more work to produce small yields and
balanced canopy. The Syrah and Merlot I received off of the
vineyards produce highly aromatic wines with fresh fruit flavors
and soft finishes. The Owyhee’s look close enough to touch
from this vineyards and their stark, craggy peaks are a little spooky.
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Rocky Fence Vineyard
Nestled at the base of a large foot-hill alongside the Payette River in Emmett, this vineyards has heat, a nice slope for air drainage, and the climate moderating influence of a river. Just what I like in a vineyard. The owner, Mike Medes, is growing his vineyard organically and though he grows mostly table grapes he’s very eager to learn more about growing wine grapes. So in spite of how small most of his plantings are, I took on his Viognier so that I could see how this vineyard performs. So far, excellent. Where a lot of vineyards experienced dieback in their white varieties in 2007, this vineyard had no loss. The canopy-to-fruit ratio is balanced and the Viognier turned out with lovely floral aromas and lively acids on the finish. |
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