Huston Vineyards

By Eric Degerman

CALDWELL, Idaho — Gregg and Mary Alger can tell a winery story that many owners would cherish — plant vines, launch two brands, raise children and transition into a second-generation business.

The founders each grew up as farm kids in the Snake River Valley, went to college and achieved success. Gregg helped build an office equipment business in Boise, decided to sell his share in 2006 and turned a portion of that nest egg into nearly 300 acres of farmland along Chicken Dinner Road near the community of Huston.

A celebratory family trip took them through California’s Alexander Valley, and they stopped at a modest winery.

“It wasn’t much more than a metal shed along the side of the road — and it looked similar to the metal building behind our place,” Gregg says. “We did a little wine tasting; there was a taco truck, and after a couple of hours, we were filling our motorhome with wine. It got us thinking.”

That experience sowed the seeds for Huston Vineyards, the 2023 Idaho Winery of the Year for Great Northwest Wine. Now, their sons, Jacob and Josh, are taking over as winemaker and vineyard manager, respectively.

“We didn’t give up anything by moving back to farm life — we gained everything,” Mary says. “We’ve shown our kids how we grew up and how to think for themselves.”

In just the past year, the Alger family has seen repeated success in wine competitions with Merlot, Grüner Veltliner and a Riesling-driven blend under their quirky yet quality Chicken Dinner tier.

At the Great Northwest Invitational, a judging staged in the Columbia Gorge for West Coast wine buyers and sommeliers, the 2021 Chicken Dinner White earned a best-of-class award and its young estate Grüner Veltliner program earned a gold medal. Next, the Algers earned their first Platinum Award from Great Northwest Wine with that Chicken Dinner White — a 94-point wine.

Then at the 2023 San Francisco Chronicle, the nation’s largest wine competition, the Huston Vineyards 2019 Merlot and the same 2021 Chicken Dinner White each brought back a double gold medal.

Twenty years ago, Gregg knew of the world’s best scotches but not wine. It was Mary, with a résumé that includes Boise-Cascade and the J.R. Simplot Co., who appreciated what vines represent.

“I grew up Catholic, and wine was a part of my life,” she says. “There’s a beauty to it because it starts with farming and agriculture, so it comes from the earth and it’s one ingredient.”

Gregg adds, “I’m a slow learner. It doesn’t surprise me now that if you love scotch that you will appreciate wine, but I thought the whole world of wine was pretentious.”

Early on, the Algers sensed their strength would be in sales and marketing, so they hired talented winemakers to produce their wines.

“You’ve got to be certifiably crazy in this business if you don’t start by using a custom-crush facility,” Gregg says. “That really opens up time and windows of opportunity, and that way you aren’t worried about topping barrels every two weeks and pulling samples for testing every month.”

Along the way, they’ve hired former Ste. Michelle winemaker Melanie Krause of Cinder, Napa-trained Bill Murray and William VonMetzger, a product of Walla Walla Community

College’s vaunted winemaking program. A 2012 Malbec made for the Algers by Krause won best of show at the 2014 Idaho Wine Competition and raised the profile of Huston Vineyards.

“We were fortunate enough to be able to work with Melanie under a custom-crush arrangement early on until her brand grew as large as it has,” Gregg says. “Bill vonMetzger was with one of our favorite wineries in Walla Walla Vintners, and we hired him in 2019 to manage our production at Artifex in Walla Walla and the other half that we do here on Chicken Dinner Road. Bill Murray, who was with Sawtooth and Canoe Ridge Vineyard, is still a very good friend of ours.”

The Algers and their sons also have benefited from the advice of Snake River Valley growers such as Dale Jeffers at Sawtooth/Skyline vineyards and the Williamson family. Not only have their grapes contributed to some of the Alger family’s most popular wines, but they’ve also shown the potential of vines along Chicken Dinner Road. And estate plantings — including blocks of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Merlot, Syrah, Viognier, Muscat and Grüner — are the focus of the Huston Vineyards label.

“We planted an acre of Grüner in 2017, and we think we have real potential with it on our site,” Gregg says. “We felt the need to get more of it in the ground, so we now have 3 acres of it. Chefs in our area seem very excited about Grüner.”

This year marks the 15th anniversary for Chicken Dinner White, which began with Viognier off Williamson Vineyards in 2008. The Algers live on the farm road that got improved during the Great Depression, thanks to a supper served to Gov. Ben Ross, and that lore made it an ideal fit for a bargain-priced second label. It took off almost immediately when the foundation of the blend featured Krause’s Midas touch with Riesling.

Next came a red wine and then a Rhône-focused rosé that relies on Washington fruit. Its success prompted the Algers to develop a boxed-wine program — rare for an Idaho winery — and Chicken Dinner wines are the featured at the Caldwell Night Rodeo. There’s also a Chicken Dinner Wines delivery van, and there may soon be a second.

“Chicken Dinner has always been the brand to get exposure across the country,” Gregg says. “Our problem is that it grew so fast and we couldn’t get the grapes in Idaho, so we had to get them from Washington. As an industry, Idaho needs more acres for vineyards.”

The Algers now produce about 10,000 cases between their two brands. They continue to plant a few more vines, and they already are expanding the recently built production facility. That metal building behind their home won’t be torn down, but a new tasting room is coming with the growth.

Jacob was 7, and Josh was just 4 when their parents planted them in Canyon County, about 45 minutes northwest of Boise. The older brother graduated from the University of Idaho’s food and science program in 2022 with a minor in fermentation. Josh, 20, couldn’t wait to start his own business, Lake Idaho Vineyard Management.

“We could never get Josh to come to dinner,” Mary says. “He was always outside, and when we started planting the vineyard, he was there every day.”

And last year, Huston Vineyards grew to the point where those two brothers became part of the company.

“It was a beautiful year for us as business people and as parents,” Gregg says. “That dream came true.

“We might go to Hawaii for a week or 10 days at a time, but I’d get bored if I was away from this for too long,” he adds.

Huston Vineyards, 16473 Chicken Dinner Road, Caldwell, ID 83607, HustonVineyards. com, 208-455-7975

By Eric Degerman

GARDEN CITY, Idaho — Mark Pasculli graduated from one of the wine industry’s most respected universities, but he didn’t go to Fresno State for viticulture or enology.

His degree was in accounting, yet he’s proven to be a quick study after purchasing a neglected Cabernet Franc vineyard in the Eagle Foothills in 2016 at the encouragement of his wife, Lori.

Two vintages later, Rolling Hills Vineyard produced an estate Cab Franc that earned a Double Platinum and 96 points from Great Northwest Wine in 2021.

Last year, Rolling Hills followed that up with two more Platinums, making the young brand with a tasting room in Garden City an easy choice as the 2023 Idaho Winery to Watch.

“The only farming we had done before was tree fruit,” Mark says, “but Lori was raised on her grandparents’ vineyard in the San Joaquin Valley. Those memories are very special to her, and she fondly remembers riding on the tractor while sitting on her grandfather’s lap as they disced the vineyard rows.”

Lori’s late grandfather would be proud of what her family has accomplished in the Snake River Valley.

“This was our opportunity to do something together as a family — and we’re enjoying the heck out of it,” Mark says.

So are their customers. Their two barrels of 2019 Tempranillo, which received a double gold and best of class at the 2022 Idaho Wine Competition, went onto earn a Double Platinum and 96 points.

Last spring, the Rolling Hills 2018 Bleu Mascot Red Wine, a blend of Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon, received best of class at the state judging and a Platinum last fall. That wine from the family’s first commercial vintage honors the life of their beloved golden retriever — Bleu — and so far has provided funds for Boise Bully Breed, Fuzzy Paws Rescue and the West Valley Humane Society. Tasting room visitors who purchase a bottle of Bleu Mascot can nominate a Snake River Valley rescue organiza- tion of their choice. Each quarter, a drawing is held to decide where 10% of that wine’s sales are headed.

The story of the blend helps tell part of the Pasculli story, too.

“We purchased Cabernet Sauvignon fruit from Kerry Hill Vineyard and were able to get some wonderful Malbec from Dusted Valley in Walla Walla,” Mark says. “That Malbec is very fruit-forward, softens the tannins of the Cab, and they integrated really well.”

And the ties to the Walla Walla Valley have endured because the family still works with one of North America’s top winemaking educators — Tim Donahue of Horse Thief Wine Consulting in Walla Walla. For more than a decade, Donahue served as the winemaking instructor at Walla Walla Community College, mentoring dozens of future winemakers and helping College Cellars of Walla Walla to win a slew of gold medals, starting with the chilly 2010 vintage on through that first pandemic harvest.

While Rolling Hills Vineyard makes most of its wines at Koenig Vineyards in Caldwell, Donahue oversees some production in Walla Walla as Rolling Hills continues to grow. Those wines include Sangiovese and Zinfandel — varieties that fit in with the Pasculli family’s Italian heritage.

“Tim lives just 10 minutes away from Walla Walla Wine Services, and it’s a real blessing to have him there,” Pasculli says. “He’s got all those relationships and connections. He is simply the best.”

Ridge in the Horse Heaven Hills. In the Snake River Valley, Pasculli sources from Skyline — the breadbasket of the Idaho industry — sister site Sawtooth and young Rockspur on the Sunnyslope.

“What I really want that I don’t have access to right now is Dolcetto,” he says.

Since completing the back-breaking rehab work and establishing Syrah and that Platinum-producing Tempranillo, Mark and his son, Daniel, 29, continue to learn winemaking and grape growing together.

“The Cab Franc vines were about seven years old, and the property had not been maintained very well,” Mark says. “The entire drip system needed to be replaced, and we had to retrain the shoots because they had been poorly trained, but Cab Franc seems to really enjoy our site and nitrogen stays in our soil really well.”

Early on, they were helped by consulting winemaker Angela Shaltry, and they continue to learn from viticulturist Jake Cragin, who works for Winemakers LLC — a sister company of Precept Wine — and helps manage Skyline and Sawtooth vineyards.

“Daniel is the co-winemaker while going through the enology program at U-C Davis,” Mark says. “This is what he wants for his career and his life.”

Lori designed the Garden City tasting room and wine labels. Their daughter, Savannah, a paralegal, opened and manages the tasting room. Zachary, the youngest, handles videography, photography and social media beyond his own communications and design company.

“We’re definitely a close-knit group, and I’m confident that if you were to ask each of our kids privately they would say the same,” Mark says.

All three of the children have an ownership stake in Rolling Hills Vineyard, which began with 1,200 cases from the 2018 vintage. The fifth year of the brand — the 2022 vintage — will see Rolling Hills at 3,600 cases as Pasculli and his family show no signs of slowing down.

During the past two decades, the patriarch’s focus has been on disaster cleanup, restoration and construction in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. After they sold their restoration business in 2021, it made space in their building for Lori to design a tasting room a half-block off bustling Chinden Boulevard.

At the estate, however, they are dealing with zoning issues that have plagued several other wineries in the Snake River Valley, particularly those in Ada County and the Eagle Foothills. An arcane code now on the books demands that 75% of the property owners who live adjacent to Rolling Hills Vineyard must sign an agreement to allow the Pascullis to sell wine on their land.

“The process has been ‘festive’ to say the least,” Pasculli said. “We’d like to be able to have up to 24 events a year with not more than 50 people, with most of those as farm-to-table dinners and various wine-focused events.

“We understand the concerns of some of our neighbors and intend on respecting them while we put on small estate vineyard events,” he added.

It has generated headlines throughout the Snake River Valley as the wine industry in Ada County is at loggerheads with a small group of landowners, skyrocketing land costs, urban sprawl, a shortage of housing, fears of noise, traffic, DUIs and the NIMBY attitude. It is in contrast with the pro-business, pro-ag climate and anti-regulation narrative that has helped turn Idaho into the fastest-growing state in the country for each of the previous five years.

“We’re actively looking to add other vineyard properties,” Mark says, “but land set aside for agriculture is evaporating. And if you can find it, can you afford it?”

His background as an attorney, CPA and businessman prompted Gov. Brad Little to appoint Pasculli to the Idaho Wine Commission as a commissioner in 2021. His term ends July 2024 — the same year as Cragin’s.

“It’s a time commitment, but it has helped me to stay plugged in, and it’s a great group to work with,” Pasculli said. “I’ve never really felt like it’s a burden. It’s a lot of fun and an opportunity to learn and develop deeper relationships with people in this industry.”

Rolling Hills Vineyard, 152 E. 52nd St., Garden City, ID 83714, RollingHillsVineyard.com, (208) 948-3136.