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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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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