Mark and Lori Pasculli have rehabilitated a Cabernet Franc vineyard near the Boise suburb of Eagle and have naturally chosen to make that Bordeaux variety a focus of their young estate winery. This bottling, with some guidance from winemaker Angela Shaltry, is from Rolling Hills’s first commercial vintage, and there’s a richness beyond its savory herbal profile. Blackberry and … [Read more...] about Rolling Hills Vineyard 2018 Cabernet Franc, Eagle Foothills, $37
Idaho
Williamson Vineyards 2020 Albariño, Snake River Valley $23
The Williamson family planted the Spanish white Albariño at the behest of Sunnyslope winemaker Martin Fujishin, and it’s been a golden grape in Idaho for both the Williamson’s winery brand and Fujishin’s Free Dog Wines project. Here, it’s young winemaker James Nederend at the helm of this bottling that garners the Williamsons their first Double Platinum, rewarded for its … [Read more...] about Williamson Vineyards 2020 Albariño, Snake River Valley $23
Camas Prairie Winery 2020 Raspberry Mead, Idaho, $14
Best Buy! Year after year, judges hang gold medals on Jeremy Ritter's honey-based wines as he furthers the delicious history of this family-owned winery that began in the Idaho Panhandle in 1983. In the winter of 2015, Ritter production from Moscow to the town of Bovill, a small logging town in the foothills of Idaho’s Bitterroot Mountains. He starts with the lightest local … [Read more...] about Camas Prairie Winery 2020 Raspberry Mead, Idaho, $14
Jovinea Cellars 2020 Roussanne, Washington, $24
Lewis-Clark Valley winemaker Lisa Grigg works with several varieties for the whites she and her husband, Michael, producer under their young brand, but she readily admits Roussanne is the one that "speaks to my soul." The inspiration is evident with this finesse-filled bottling from last year's vintage, which signaled their 11th pulling from Konnowac Vineyard just south of … [Read more...] about Jovinea Cellars 2020 Roussanne, Washington, $24
Indian Creek Winery 2018 Malbec, Snake River Valley $25
Much of the enchanting artwork that adorns the bottles of Indian Creek originates with second-generation vintner Tammy Stowe-McClure. Among the outliers is The Mountain Benefit Series, a showcase for Boise artist Rachel Teannalach, and the stage is Mike McClure's marvelous Malbec from the 2018 vintage. His six-barrel production is split into 25-case lots of the same wine that … [Read more...] about Indian Creek Winery 2018 Malbec, Snake River Valley $25