Idaho Snake River Valley
The Snake River Valley AVA was established in 2007. It spans southwest Idaho and parts of Baker and Malheur counties in eastern Oregon. The area is 8,263 square miles or 5.27 acres.
The AVA boundaries have been defined to encompass the ancient area of Lake Idaho, a 4-million year-old, now-dry landform (sometimes referred to as a geologic “bathtub”) located mostly within Idaho
The relatively flat, low elevation (compared to surrounding mountainous regions) and semi-arid land within the AVA includes a wide variety of soil types, but is predominantly sand, mud silts, loess, and volcanic detritus on top of sedimentary bedrock. Indeed, so varied are the soils within the appellation that soil was not considered a viticulturally distinguishing characteristic of the AVA petition.
The Valley has a rather short growing season of 142 days compared to other Washington AVAs with over 200 days. This forces the winegrower to be more selective in which grapes they grow.
The majority of currently cultivated varieties are cool-hardy cultivars of white wine grapes, including Riesling, Gewürztraminer and Chardonnay
The majority of Idaho wineries are located here, only
10% of Idaho wineries are located outside of Snake River Valley. Currently
there are no wineries in the Oregon sections, but it may only be a
matter of time.
The wineries of the Snake River Valley AVA
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