Build Your Own Wine Cellar

Tasting tour: Sample the vintages at Magic Valley's wineries

Even wine-loving foodies might be surprised by south-central Idaho's winery expansions. All six Magic Valley wineries now have tasting rooms open to anyone, and their winemakers are hungry for a spot in your cellar.

So make a local tasting tour an all-day adventure: Choose a few wineries and a driver. Leave time to wander the vines or chat with the vintners. Ask for the stories behind the wineries' quirky labels. And come home with new wines to love.

That's what tasters who swirl a glass at Hegy's South Hills Vineyard and Winery are doing.

"They're usually asking me how to get to the next one," owner Frank Hegy said.

Now is a perfect time to visit tasting rooms. Early summer is the first of two annual releases for Idaho wineries, so even people familiar with Idaho vintages can find something new.

The Idaho Grape Growers and Wine Producers Commission hasn't yet organized a wine tour in south-central Idaho, member Bill Ringert said, because the region has too few wineries, too far apart.

"We'd love to see it," said Ringert, co-owner of Hammett's Cold Springs Winery.

But there's no need to wait for the commission. Magic Valley's wineries are arranged along the Snake River and linked by highways, and our story package today makes a personal tasting tour easy to plan.

A note on winery etiquette: If you taste everything and buy nothing, you'll leave a sour taste behind you. Chatting and serving in the tasting room consumes a lot of time for little return, said Dr. Paul Monahan, owner and winemaker at Hagerman's Thousand Springs Winery.

"It's a little discouraging," Monahan said. "It's a big black hole. There's so many wines out there; the competition, it's really very competitive."

But Buhl winemaker James Holesinsky is more bullish on southern Idaho wines: "We're the new hottest area for tastings."

Cold Springs Winery