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 Joshua, 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.”
West Coast judges praise Huston Vineyards
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.
Mary Alger first in family to appreciate wine
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 legend of Chicken Dinner Road
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.”
Alger family reaches 10K in case production
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 Joshua 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
What a great story! Years ago when I traveled to Boise for work, I bought a bottle of Chicken Dinner Red and was shocked at how good it was! Next time I went to Idaho, I made sure I found the winery and visited. I was so impressed that I bought a few bottles to take home, especially the Malbec. Sooo good! I’ve ordered bottles from them since and luckily will be going back this summer. Cannot wait!!