The booming Boise population creates a growing consumer base for Idaho wines, even as the rampant development puts pressure on farmland prices in the traditional fruit-growing region west of the sprawling metro area.

While wine consumption is on the decline globally, the industry is still growing in the Gem State, Idaho Wine Commission executive director Moya Shatz Dolsby said in her welcome speech to the American Society for Enology and Viticulture, which gathered in Boise June 15–18. 

Her organization represents 65 wineries and over 1,350 acres of vineyards across three American Viticultural Areas. Many wineries are located along the Boise River Greenbelt, a popular bike and walking path that draws tourists and locals alike. 

“People aren’t coming to Idaho for wine, they are coming to go rafting, they are coming to go skiing. Wine — we’re a great add-on,” Shatz Dolsby said. 

The conference week opened with a tour of wineries and vineyards, organized by the commission, to introduce attendees from around the U.S. to the Idaho industry. 

The founders of Gem 73 Winery in Sunnyslope hope the views of the orchards and vineyards and their vision to make wine approachable will woo customers to drive out to wine country. The winery is still under construction but boasts a view from the crush pad so scenic that the owners’ son plans to have his wedding ceremony there this fall. 

Co-owner Teresa Poppen said the vision for the new winery is to “demystify wine” to attract younger consumers. The design includes large windows from the tasting room overlooking production areas and the analytical lab, where they also plan to invite visitors to try their hand at blending. 

Poppen and her husband founded the new winery in collaboration with friends in the tight-knit wine community in the area. Those include Jay Hawkins, a wine commission board member who began planting the surrounding vineyards over a decade ago, and Greg Koenig, one of Idaho’s best-known winemakers.

In the vineyard, Hawkins said the region’s growing climate and practices are very similar to those in Eastern Washington. He shared his experience with two of his more challenging varieties and using lasers for bird control.

“Zin and Nebbiolo are my wild kids,” he said. 

He saw yields decline in his Nebbiolo when it was spur-pruned, so he switched to a cane-pruning approach on advice from a Nebbiolo-growing friend in Washington. It’s working, and he lets the canes grow long enough to provide some afternoon shade for the fruit zone. 

For the Zinfandel, he battles botrytis bunch rot even in the arid climate. Aggressive canopy management and thinning down to one cluster per spur have significantly reduced the disease pressure, Hawkins said. 

Then, the tour visited Precept Wine’s Skyline and Sawtooth vineyards outside Nampa, which are the largest vineyards in the state, suppling Sawtooth Winery and many other wineries. 

At each block, Will Wetmore, owner and winemaker of the Veer Wine Project and also a board member of the wine commission, poured wine made from the grapes grown there. 

Meanwhile Jake Cragin of management company Winemakers LLC discussed how the vineyard practices depend on the wines they are destined for, ranging from production to ultra-premium markets. 

“Here we try to do as much as we can mechanically,” Cragin said of a production-tier Riesling block carrying about 5 tons per acre. Using a Pellenc TRP precision pruner saves on labor and delivers a canopy well-suited for the higher-acid wines they want. 

Next, the tour visited a Cinsault block that Wetmore used as the foundation of a “chillable red” wine he makes with the carbonic maceration technique that delivers more fruit-forward, lower-tannin red wines. 

Cragin said the young Cinsault block, planted in 2022, has been a challenge. It tends toward huge, heavy clusters that can cause breaks in the vine.

“We grow it like a white with lots of water,” he said. 

Julianne Germain of the Idaho Wine Commission said Wetmore’s Cinsault is a prime example of what the Idaho industry is trying to do: make approachable, affordable wines that draw in new consumers. •