IDAHO's BestSecretKept

WITH NEARLY 200,000 CASES PRODUCED ANNUALLY, THE GEM STATE’S WINE COUNTRY GAINS POPULARITY

By Claudia Weathermon

The unusually long, wet spring has produced a restlessness for Idaho wine growers who—like their clientele—are more than ready for patio season to begin.

While most wineries have lovely indoor tasting rooms open yearround, the outdoor experience brings the magic to Idaho’s thriving wine industry, especially in the southwest part of the state. From the proper perch, you take in verdant vistas with row crops, orchards and vineyards gently curving down Canyon County’s Sunnyslope to the meandering Snake River. In the distance, the brush-dotted foothills of the Owyhee Mountains draw a rugged line across the horizon's haze.

The “Granddaddy” of Idaho wineries Ste. Chappelle is here, bottling since 1975, as the first post-Prohibition winery to open in Idaho. One of its recent standouts is the 2020 Panoramic Chardonnay, which received a Platinum rating with 91 points (Great Northwest Wines). Ste. Chappelle grows the most grapes and produces the most wine of any winery in the state.

There are about 20 neighboring wineries within 10 minutes of Ste. Chappelle that comprise the Sunnyslope Wine Trail. Drive a gravelly road deeper into the hillside, and you come across Hells Canyon Winery, which has given rise to the second generation of the family business under the label Zhoo Zhoo.

“The Zhoo Zhoo sisters—Bijou, Jocelyn and I—wanted to diversify our family wine business and make a product geared toward women,” explains Hadley Robertson. The popularity of Idaho wine country has walked right up to their country lane. “It used to be that people rarely came by, and if they did wander in, my dad would just come up from the field to help them. Now we are open year-round.”

Robertson suggests Sunny Hunny, a Riesling, with Pad Thai or shrimp salad. For heartier fare like Korean-style short ribs, she’d serve Hells Canyon LAVA/100 Atomic (Syrah).

Just six minutes west as you travel along Apricot, Pear and Plum lanes is Hat Ranch Winery, which also bottles as Vale Wine Co. The most recent accolade for founder and winemaker Tim Harless is the 2019 Syrah which earned double gold at the 2022 Cascadia Wine Competition. The Hat Ranch Winery name nods to Harless’ cattle ranching forbearers; the brand-style logo is from stationary found at the original homestead.

Harless is on-site most days and happily breaks from chores to converse with patrons. He weaves a fascinating tale of how he soared as a military and commercial pilot to settle into the earthy science of viticulture. Wines to try under the Hat Ranch label include the 2020 Semillon, which earned a double gold, and its 2018 Rivaura Vineyard Cabernet Franc, made with grapes from Idaho’s more northerly LewisClark Valley AVA. Under the Vale label, you’ll find fantastic Viogniers and Syrahs.

Newer to Idaho’s wine scene is the arrival of urban wineries and tasting rooms. Don’t let the term urban scare you away, though. A string of at least 10 venues is located along the scenic Boise River and its popular greenbelt—a tree-lined path where strollers and joggers wind their way past pocket parks, bistros and even a surf park. It’s where you’ll find the popular Telaya Winery established by Earl and Carrie Sullivan, who left careers in pharmaceutical and vet medicine, respectively, to pour their love of nature into a family business.

“Making something with your own hands, being able to have a product that you created, teaching our

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spotlight on: DUFFY WITMER CELEBRATES 50 YEARS AT THE PIONEER SALOON

Walking through the front door of The Pioneer Saloon is like taking a step back into Western history. Owner Duffy Witmer has, steadily over the years, collected aspects of Western heritage memorabilia worthy of a museum. Within the walls of this immensely popular local watering hole are treasures beyond compare—an original birchwood canoe, a stunning Native American ceremonial headdress, authentic Western barb wire sample patterns from the 1880s and 1890s, original Winchester and Remington bullet boards that are over 150 years old, a stunning collection of Pueblo ceremonial drums, a vintage rifle collection featuring guns from the revolutionary and civil war, and historic trophy mounts from all over the Western states and Canada, donated by longtime admirers or Idaho locals. Perhaps the favorite of all who enter, however, is the display featuring Ernest Hemingway’s favorite shotgun, one he used on many hunts with local rancher Bud Purdy and guide Lloyd Arnold down at Silver Creek.

The building itself, carries a large portion of Wood River Valley lore—it was, at one point, a hardware store, then a 1950’s gambling hall. Owner, Duffy Witmer came to The Pioneer Saloon in the fall of 1973 from Santa Barbara as a newlywed with his wife Shelia. At that time Larry Stone and Ed Redman owned the restaurant, which had most recently been run as a pool hall and cowboy bar upstairs (cowboys would literally come into the bar on their horses and tie up, for a drink ... and they still do!), with a French fine-dining restaurant operating downstairs. Witmer started as a dishwasher and a bus boy, then moved on to food prepping, bartending, and just about every other job in the joint, learning the ropes and every aspect of the restaurant business before buying into half of the restaurant in 1977, and the other half 9 years later.

Witmer, who has been at the helm of one of Ketchum’s most popular restaurants ever since, credits the original concept of The Pioneer Saloon as a traditional Idaho steakhouse— the way mom and dad would BBQ in the backyard—to Larry Stone and Ed Redman as founders, noting that he is proud that not much has really changed fifty years later. Improvements to the décor and menu have been made, but Witmer has carried on the tradition—continuing to serve good food in an interesting atmosphere accompanied by the warm and friendly service you would expect from a small town back when it mattered where you ate.

Come in and rub shoulders with your favorite lift operator, bus driver or construction worker, alongside famous and interesting people from all over the world, and learn firsthand why they say “If you haven’t been to The Pioneer Saloon, you haven’t been to Ketchum.”