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Wine and cider tasting experiences in Idaho are not a stuffy, formal affair. We invite you to come as you are—even if that means with your kids in tow! There’s fun to be had for the whole family.

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February isn’t just for Valentines anymore. This wonderful month has not one but two national wine holidays—National Drink Wine Day on February 18 and Open that Bottle Night on February 25. Idaho wineries and cideries have great events planned to help you fall in love with wine and cider all over again as part of our Idaho Winter Wine Weekends.

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When you think of wine tasting, do you think of sitting on a sun-dappled patio in summer? Or perhaps you reminisce about the crisp fall air when wineries have just finished harvest? Why not expand your tasting experience into four seasons and discover the delights of Idaho wines in winter? It’s the perfect season to pair your favorite wines with hearty fare or to enjoy sipping a great wine next to a cozy fire while making the most of winter’s long nights.

This year we invite you to plan a weekend escape to one of Idaho’s award-winning wineries and cideries during our 2023 Idaho Winter Wine Weekends. Participating locations will welcome you with special food and wine pairings, tasting flights, promotions, and fun activities—all in a cozy, welcoming atmosphere.

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The holiday season is an especially important time to support Idaho’s growers, winemakers and business owners. Throughout December, we encourage you to tune into our social media channels where we’ll spotlight 12 different ways to experience or gift Idaho Wine. From holiday events, wine tours, group tastings, custom glassware, gift boxes and more, we’ve got you covered with recommendations to sip local and gift local for the holiday.

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Wine industry experts judged over 150 of the state’s best wines

The 13th annual Idaho Wine and Cider Competition took place on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, and identified the state’s top wines and ciders this year. The competition was organized by Great Northwest Wine and supported by a judging panel of respected writers, sommeliers, winemaking consultants, wine buyers and industry experts.

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Finding the perfect holiday gift can be a challenge. Questions like “Does she already have one?” or “Will he like it?” or “What haven’t I given them already?” can plague even inspired gift givers. Not to worry! The Idaho Wine Commission Board, Staff, and Members joined forces to give you their best gift-giving ideas sure to delight everyone on your list—aged 21 and older!

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What started out as a passion project for winemaker Will Wetmore is gaining momentum. The Idaho Wine Commission sat down with Will to learn what makes his label, Veer Wine Project, so unique, and how he’s let his curiosity lead the way since day one.

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Intense Heat

Temperatures soared across the Pacific Northwest in June this year, and the heat wave lingered in Idaho for a good chunk of the summer. National Weather Service data showed the Treasure Valley in southwest Idaho—home to two of the state’s American Viticultural Areas (AVAs)—had the hottest summer on record. And the heat affected the Lewis-Clark Valley AVA in the northern part of the state as well.

“During bloom time, it was about 100 degrees, so bloom went really fast,” said Vince Hewett, assistant winemaker at Rivaura Vineyard near Julietta, Idaho. He said they saw consistent 100-degree weather for close to a month in June and July.

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Fujishin Family Cellars has a unique niche in the Idaho wine community—turning people onto something new by growing new grape varieties. For them, it’s what keeps winemaking fun. We sat down with co-founder Martin Fujishin (pronounced, aptly, like “magician”) to hear why growing lesser known varieties is worth the work, and how he and his partner and co-founder Teresa Moye continue to develop their passion for grape growing and winemaking.

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This year, one of the most highly anticipated competitions of 2021 took place. After much planning and preparation, many worried that COVID would put a stop to the festivities before they even began. But with an abundance of caution, the fun and games went off without a hitch. Records were broken. Medals were given. Drama filled the air. And the glasses. No, we’re not talking about that other competition, the Olympic Games. This was the 12th annual Idaho Wine Competition, a celebration of Idaho wines and winemakers.

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Idaho saw its summer temperatures rise sharply in June and continue through the months of July and August with temps regularly over 90 degrees— often climbing to triple digits. Climate research has found higher average temperatures are increasing, and the EPA reports that heat waves have increased in intensity, frequency, and duration over the last fifty years. For Idaho wine growers, like Mike Williamson of Williamson Orchards and Vineyards, the heat of the past few summers is a growing concern. “I kind of obsess a little bit over the 10-day forecast,” he says. “So, if something’s on the horizon, we start taking action to get ready for it now.”

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Have you recently drank wine or cider on a patio? How about gone on a wine tour? Or maybe even chatted up a local winemaker or winegrower? Well, guess what… any one of these activities could make you a winner when you play Sip Local Bingo—summer’s best reason (25 reasons actually) to #DrinkIdahoWine all summer long.

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So, you get our emails, read our blogs, and love Idaho wine. But how much do you know about us and the work we do? And more importantly, how can YOU help us help grow the popularity of Idaho wines?

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So, you have an idea. You like wine. Maybe you even have a background in science or chemistry. Or maybe you’ve fermented a batch or two and just have a knack for it. Now you’re thinking about going into the wine biz. But how to begin? Well, you’ve come to the right place. When it comes to starting a winery in Idaho, we wrote the book.

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Okay, let’s get the bad news out of the way first: this year, there’s no Savor Idaho, the crown jewel of Idaho Wine and Cider Month. But here’s the good news… You can still have fun discovering Idaho wines all month long with the Savor Idaho To Go Passport. The passport is your ticket to visit as many Idaho wineries and cideries as you can for special events, tastings, promotions and prizes!

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When Mark and Lori Pasculli met, they were just a couple of kids from the country working in a restaurant in California’s central valley. Little did they know, some three decades later, they would found one of Idaho’s newest vineyard and wineries, Rolling Hills Vineyard, with their kids and two dogs, Bandit and Bleu.

The dream of owning a winery may have been far off in the future. But a shared love of the land was always in their hearts. “We're both drawn to agriculture,” says Mark. “We were raised in the country. Even as a kid, I never lived on a paved road until I moved to California.”

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Life has changed in so many ways over the past year. But not all change is bad, as this half-dozen of new wineries and tasting rooms in Idaho are here to prove. And with vaccines and temperatures on the rise, there’s no better time to get out and get familiar with the newest members of the Idaho wine-growing community.

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You probably wouldn’t imagine going to a winery to pick up hand sanitizer. But if you lived anywhere near Buhl, Idaho in the past year, you just might have done so. For James Holesinsky, owner and winemaker of Holesinsky Vineyard & Winery, the pandemic was a strange twist of fate that converged and comingled both ends of his businesses: making wine and making chemicals

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After a year stuck inside, life is starting to open up again. And it couldn't come at a better time. Spring, the season of rebirth, has arrived. And summer, with all its warmth and long days filled with never-ending sunshine, is right behind it. For wine lovers, adventurers, dreamers and others, there's no better time to get out and explore Idaho than now.

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Remember the old days when ordering a bottle of wine filled you with dread? Back when a tuxedoed waiter would look down his nose and shudder at you for ordering a dry white with your ribeye. Or a bold red with your whitefish? Well, drink up! Those days are gone, my friend.

A recent survey finds 90% of Americans care more about drinking what they like over what's 'right.'

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Before starting Coiled Wines, winemaker Leslie Preston's life was going down an entirely different path. "I was in grad school at University of California, Davis and my plan was to be a professor and teach French literature," she recalls. What she didn't know at the time, soon her students would be the ones instructing her — lessons that would change the entire course of her life.

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These stay-at-home date night ideas are so good, you may never leave the house again.

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Jovinea – pronounced joe-vinh-Ā-uh (with a long "a," not a long "e") – of Jovinea Cellars, is a combination of two words. The first is "jovial," meaning cheerful and friendly. The second is "Vinea," which is Latin for "Vine." When put together, you get the full meaning of one of the newest wineries in the Lewis-Clark Valley AVA: joy flows from wine.

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Holiday shopping can be stressful — especially for the ones who seem to have everything. But we know a secret: you can't go wrong with wine. For one thing, giving wine is easy. You don’t need to know the difference between a Beaujolais and a Grenache.

At the most basic level, it's just choosing between red and white (and sometimes pink). Secondly, there's an almost endless stream of wine-adjacent gift ideas (like food, totes, glasses and more) floating out there. All you have to do is find them.

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If you had to sum up Split Rail Winery in a word, chances are "wacky" wouldn't be the first one to come to mind. But if you're Jed Glavin, Split Rail's owner and winemaker, it's exactly the word you'd use. In fact, it's a word he uses a lot when discussing wine, grapes, winemaking and life in general.

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The canopy has been set. The vines have been pruned. The grapes have been watered (and dried out). Now, comes the moment of truth. It's Harvest, the most anticipated and exciting time of year for winemakers and wine tasters alike. After months of hanging on the vine, the grapes are brought inside and winemakers finally get to see, and taste, the fruits of their labor.

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Her name was Irene.

She is the great grandmother and muse of Coco Umiker, co-owner, along with her husband, Karl, and head winemaker at Clearwater Canyon Cellars.

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The new gold standard

COVID-19 has spoiled so many events in 2020, but it couldn’t stop the Idaho Wine Competition from proceeding on a hot and sunny day in the middle of August. That’s not to say its presence wasn’t felt. For the 11^th edition of the event hosted by Great Northwest Wine, the judges were respectfully spaced at least six feet apart from one another, per social distancing safety guidelines, at Koenig Vineyards in Caldwell, Idaho.

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When we caught up to Gig Leadbetter, co-owner and lead cidermaker at Meriwether Cider Co, his entire clan had just returned from a week of camping, hiking, bicycling (you name it!) on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State.

It was a vacation worthy of the firefighter-cum-college professor-cum-cidermaker, whose company motto “To adventures big and small” is printed on every bottle and can.

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These days, any number of online businesses specialize in sending subscription boxes of curated items direct to your door – including food, clothes, beauty supplies and more.

But did you know wine clubs were the OG subscription service?

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You don’t have to speak French to enjoy wine from Pend d’Oreille Winery, but it does add a little je ne sais quoi (a certain something) to the whole affair.

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Today, we're going to talk about something you wouldn't expect on a wine blog: food. In retrospect, it's not that far of a stretch. Good wine and good food... rarely do you have one without the other. Half the fun of wine is exploring and experiencing all the flavors that a particular bottle brings. Add food to the mix and you've just doubled your fun — discovering the ways the flavors of both come alive. Read More

Stepping into the tasting room of Potter Wines is a bit like going back in time. The art deco-themed space is more speakeasy than winery. Overall, the aesthetic is polished and sophisticated. It's only when you examine the wine list that you register the madness just under the surface.

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With most big summer travel plans on hold, weekend getaways outdoors are becoming more popular than ever. I mean, who doesn't love a good road trip, right? All you need is a car, a quality playlist and a destination.

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The first step to understanding wine is knowing how to talk about it.

Wine is one part chemistry, one part art, and one part English class. It seems there are more ways to talk about wines than there are types of wines. But, with the right terminology, you can go far. Here are some basic lingo to help you sound like and expert. 

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It's one of our favorite times of the year. June marks the start of Wine & Cider Month — our homegrown celebration of Idaho libation.

As wineries all over the state reveal their new spring releases, June is the perfect time to taste and explore the unique flavors that exist because of Idaho's distinctive terroir.

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Make room, potatoes. The numbers are in, and one thing is clear: you're not the only thing in the ground people associate with Idaho.

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You may have noticed our motto is "come as you are." It means, here in Idaho we take a more relaxed approach toward wine. You can forego the formalities and simply enjoy.

But for some, every glass is an opportunity to plumb the many nuances and complexities of wine: its characteristics, its value, even its flaws. Drinking wine is just one part of the fun. Discovery is the other.

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There is some good news in this pandemic.

With most of humanity in lockdown, Mother Earth is already showing positive signs of recovery. In Los Angeles, the notorious smog—which has defined the city for decades—has lifted. Meanwhile in Venice, Italy, the once murky, polluted canals are crystal clear (the cleanest they've been in 60 years). And in our national parks, wildlife roams free and appears to be thriving without us around.

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Are the contents of your wine rack dwindling faster than your stash of toilet paper?

Well, you've come to the right place! While maintaining the appropriate amount of social distance, we've put together this quick guide of Idaho wineries that are still very open and very essential. So you can restock without leaving home.

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ICYMI, earlier this year we looked at what wineries do in the winter, a period of dormancy that is anything but unproductive. Now, as signs of Spring are beginning to appear, we wanted to return to the vineyards for another important time for growers (maybe the most important): bud break. 

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Amid the rugged and scenic landscape of the Lewis-Clark Valley, people can take advantage of year-round adventure: hiking, kayaking, fishing and hunting, and other daring pursuits. But recently, another activity has begun to define the region: sipping fine wines.

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Have you ever been part of a book club? Well, everyone knows the best thing about a book club is the fantastic assortment of wine and snacks! Every month it's like an after dark version of brunch. (Is “dunch” a thing? Feels like it should be.)

So imagine how delightful it would be to join another kind of club that takes all the best elements of book clubs (lots of wine) and only requires you to read the label on a bottle.

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If you’re like us, Open That Bottle Night (OTBN) occurs on every day ending in “y.” But for many wine lovers, it’s an annual event that takes place on the last Saturday of February where you’re encouraged to pull the cork on that special bottle of wine you’ve been saving for “someday.” This unofficial (and glorious) wine holiday is the brainchild of former Wall Street Journal wine columnists Dorothy Gaiter and John Brecher. Created in 1999, the idea came about when the two noticed there was one question readers always asked: “what bottle should I open?”

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Here at the Idaho Wine Commission, Valentine's Day is one of our favorite times of the year. Wine and romance just go together like Cabernet Sauvignon and filet mignon, Champagne and caviar, Riesling and ricotta...

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Okay, we already know from last month's blog about ice wines that most wineries don't just shut their doors and go into hibernation for the winter. But there has to be more to the story than that, right?

Well, yes, there is.

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Baby, it's cold outside. Which means it's the perfect time for ice wine – one of nature's coolest (and sweetest) discoveries!

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It may be a tradition to leave milk and cookies for Santa. But for the rest of us, it's wine please! Everyone knows wine is the best holiday gift.

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The holidays are upon us, and with them comes holiday travel. Whether you're bringing a bottle of Idaho wine to your destination or sending visitors home with bottles of liquid treasure, you can't just drop them in your suitcase and hope for the best.

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Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of year. It’s a day to give gratitude for your loved ones, to feast (and drink) with family, and to try and avoid awkward questions from your cousins. The day after is a different story—Friday is totally up to you.

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Have you ever heard a wine lover talk about ‘vintage?’ That’s not code for an old bottle of wine (or pair of jeans). It refers to the year grapes were harvested.

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Kate Ledbetter, co-owner of Meriwether Cider Co. explains why cider tastes best during harvest season.

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One of the premier events for lovers of Idaho wine is just a month away.  The ninth annual "Sippin' in the City" takes place Thursday, November 7, from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. and tickets are going fast.

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France. Italy. California. For most people these are the first places that come to mind when they think about wine.

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By this point we all know that Idaho makes fabulous wines, right? Well sometimes, it’s good to not only know it, but also prove it. That’s why for 10 years Idaho wineries have participated in an independent judging competition cleverly called “The Idaho Wine Competition.”

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Have you talked yourself out of visiting a nearby winery? It’s more common than you think. Let’s answer some of those roadblock questions and get you to the grapes.

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Buy local. Shop small. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We hear this so much it’s become a cliché. But sometimes people talk a good game about eating local while forgetting to drink local.  

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Cheers to you! Pour yourself a glass, and let’s talk Idaho wines.

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