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Pioneer winemakers blaze trails
in the Gem State

By Andy Perdue
Wine Press NW

reprinted with permission

At first glance, the Snake River Valley seems an idyllic place to grow wine grapes. But making wine in the area west of Boise is more like an extreme sport.

With elevations reaching 3,000 feet, winter weather always a threat and a less-than-tolerant religious influence skeptical of the industry, Southern Idaho's fledgling wine industry is fighting for growth, support and survival.

Even so, vineyards are being planted in this fertile region, new wineries are emerging, and more than a few heads are being turned by the quality of Idaho wines.

Image © Jackie Johnston 2002

'I think we have a future'

"We have the most unique growing conditions in the world," says Steve Robertson, owner with his wife, Leslie, of Hells Canyon Winery in Caldwell. (In photo above).

Surrounded by 40 acres of vines, the Idaho natives perhaps seem out of place, though they're obviously in their comfort zone and relish their place in one of the most exciting emerging wine regions in the Pacific Northwest. After moving back to Boise from Portland in 1974, the Robertsons opened a restaurant, which they sold six years later to plant grapes.

They opened the winery in 1984. Its first name was Covey Rise, but after a lawsuit with a Washington winery with a similar title, the name changed in 1988 to Hells Canyon Winery. In hindsight, the legal problems were a stroke of luck because the name and beautiful labels help sell more bottles than the product inside.

The Robertsons have a sense of elegance far removed from the agricultural region surrounding them. Make no mistake: Running the vineyard and winery is hard work, and the Robertsons are dawn-to-dusk folks, but they carve out an enjoyable existence that includes vintage automobiles, fine cuisine, gardens and patios with a European feel and reminiscing about favorite times in grand places around the globe.

Steve pulls out a few bottles of wine to sample. The first is the 1985 Covey Rise chardonnay. "That's the wine that put Idaho on the map!" Leslie proudly extolls as she reveals a copy of Decanter magazine that featured the chardonnay with some heady company from California and Europe.

It's still a stunningly bright wine that doesn't reveal its age in the glass, but instead greets the nose with aromas of oranges and coats the palate with deliciously clean and crisp citrus flavors.

The Robertsons embrace the outdoors and wildlife for which Idaho is known, and this shows on their labels, which feature hunting dogs, fish and more. Hells Canyon's "Artists Conservation Series" labels even won a global award for the British Columbia company that designs it. Adams Label of Surrey, B.C., won Best of Show last year in the Tag and Label Manufacturers Institute's 23rd annual competition. The winning label was for the 1998 Idaho pinot noir.

Hells Canyon's wines are crafted a few hundred miles away in Eastern Washington with the help of Rob Griffin, co-owner and winemaker of Barnard Griffin Winery in Richland. Ever the maverick, Griffin bottles some of the wine under his own label with the Hells Canyon Vineyard designation.

The relationship between the Washington and Idaho wine industries is strong. It was cemented in 1996, when a devastating winter decimated vineyards throughout Washington's Columbia Valley. Vintners turned to Idaho looking for grapes - any grapes - to make it through that tough year.

"Idaho's wine industry might not exist today if it weren't for '96," Steve Robertson says.

He says a similar devastating freeze in 1991 knocked down Idaho vineyards just when area vintners were starting to gain some momentum, and the wineries and vineyards were hurting until the bonds between the two regions solidified a half decade later.

"Now, I think we have a future."

The similarities between the Idaho and Washington wine regions are striking. Each experiences hard winters on a regular cycle. Each laid its foundation on white wines, particularly riesling. And each is in a dry agricultural area that gets fewer than 10 inches of rain a year and therefore relies on irrigation.