Idaho Wines

Some of you might know that this past weekend, I was asked to participate in the 2009 All Idaho Wine Competition put on by the Treasure Valley Wine Society. I acted as one of the eight judges who tasted through 102 wines of the Snake River Valley. With the results in, here are my thoughts (I am not going to disclose the names of wineries as to avoid singling out any one winery for good or ill):

Idaho's best reds, for my palate, were the Tempranillos and Malbecs.

The most surprising whites (in a good way) were the Roussanne and Roussanne/Viognier blend.

I was disappointed across the board in the Cabernets.

I thought the Syrahs were good, but not quite at potential.

One Pinot Gris stood out, while some others weren't far behind.

Winemakers here are using a lot more oak than I originally thought.

An idea I had was to take the top performers and conduct a blind tasting verses the Columbia Valley counterparts (ala 1976 France vs. California). The idea of High Desert against High Desert would be a great comparison. Keep the price ranges similar (no fair throwing in Leonetti or Cayuse) and see what happens. In any rate, it would be very enjoyable day of wine tasting.

To view the results, here's the link: http://tvws.blogspot.com/

A big thanks to Robin Young for such an interesting and unique opportunity.

Cheers!