Potato wine, perhaps?

Filed in archive Vineyards on July 2, 2007

There are wineries in all 50 of the United States, but as we all know some are better known than others. I live in New York, right on the Hudson Valley Wine Trail, and there are plenty of people who have no idea that there are wineries in this area that produce award-winning wines. I try to keep this in mind when I read about other states, such as Idaho. While Idaho might be best-known for their potatoes, one corner of the state is trying to grow a local wine industry.

The Idaho Statesman reports:

In March, the Department of the Treasury declared 8,263 square miles of southwest Idaho and southeast Oregon an American Viticultural Area. The designation is for grape growing regions that produce wines with a distinctive style and taste, stemming from factors ranging from climate to soil composition to geography...

Some wine experts see a good future for the region. Angie Riff recently left a wine industry career in California to return to Boise with her husband to raise their two children.

"The Eagle wine industry is very young," said Riff, 31, who plans to use her biochemistry/microbiology degree to help open a winery with an Eagle grape grower. "There aren't a lot of vineyards out there yet, but from what I've seen they look great."

While Idaho certainly doesn't come to my mind when I think of grape-growing regions within the U.S., I'll be curious to see what they have to offer. The state does border Oregon, which is well-known for some fabulous pinot noirs. I'll be eager to give these Idaho wines a taste.