Blog

Nov 19, 2021 Idaho Wine Commission

Q&A with Veer Wine Project: A License to Experiment

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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Topics: Winemakers & Growers Feature

Nov 12, 2021 Idaho Wine Commission

Idaho’s 2021 Grape Harvest: Bright and Intense—Like Idaho’s Summer

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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Topics: Wine Education, Winemakers & Growers Feature

Nov 3, 2021 Idaho Wine Commission

A Family Affair: The Story of Fujishin Family Cellars

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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Topics: Winemakers & Growers Feature

May 19, 2021 Idaho Wine Commission

Bottle of red. Bottle of Bleu. The story of Rolling Hills Vineyard.

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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Topics: Winemakers & Growers Feature

Apr 14, 2021 Idaho Wine Commission

Holesinsky Vineyard & Winery: Of Chardonnay and hand sanitizer

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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Topics: Winemakers & Growers Feature

Feb 11, 2021 Idaho Wine Commission

Better than poetry. Inside Coiled Wines.

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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Topics: Winemakers & Growers Feature

Jan 13, 2021 Idaho Wine Commission

Jovinea Cellars and the power of persistence

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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Topics: Winemakers & Growers Feature

Dec 2, 2020 Idaho Wine Commission

Split Rail Winery is weird, wacky and totally rad

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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Topics: Support Local Wine, Winemakers & Growers Feature

Nov 11, 2020 Idaho Wine Commission

Winemakers share their secrets about Harvest 2020

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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Topics: Support Local Wine, Idaho Wine Events, Wine Education, Winemakers & Growers Feature

Oct 29, 2020 Idaho Wine Commission

Clearwater Canyon Cellars: a legacy of land and love

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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Topics: Support Local Wine, Winemakers & Growers Feature