Williamson Vineyards A Great Southern Idaho Oasis



The front door of the Williamson Winery. 
Left takes you to the fruit.  Right takes you to the Juice!


No matter where I travel I make it a real point to visit the local wineries. It has been something that my wife and I have done for many years. Just our way of being touristy I suppose.
This last week when we were in the Boise Valley I wanted to make at least one stop in Idaho wine country. It being a Monday, I knew that most of the self respecting places would be closed, recovering from the busy Independence day weekend.

However, we did luck out as we drove toward Lizard Butte outside of Marsing, Idaho. Litterally a driveway away from the Ste Chappelle Winery that I wrote about a few weeks ago, was a winery owned by the Williamson family.

For those of us from the Boise Valley, we grew up knowing that there were basically three major families in the fruit business from that region. The Symms, the Saxtons, and the Williamsons. Little did I know that over all these years, the Williamsons, like the Symms, have gotten very busy in the wine industry.

The Williamson's Many Wine Awards

Williamson Fruit celebrated 100 years in 2009. Originally a homestead of Lillian Williamson and her husband George Gammon. The farm has grown from having to deliver water by horse and trailer to water the trees, to being a major producer of tree fruit in the region.

The Williamson Family got into the wine business about 20 years ago. They saw the success of their neighbors and decided that putting in some vines wouldn’t be a bad idea. A few years ago they entered into an agreement with Rob Koenig from Koenig Winery, which is just down the street about 200 yards.

With Koenig at the winemaking helm, the Williamsons have done very well for themselves. They have acquired many trophies, ribbons, and accolades over the past decade.

We pulled into the fruit stand/winery at the end of the day. The very friendly winery staff actually came out to greet us, and tasted us through their portfolio. Once they found out who I was they even opened a couple of “special” bottles for us to try.

I can’t share with you the notes from the entire portfolio, but these are the notes on my favorites.

The 2011 Dry Riesling is done in an Alsace style, using german yeasts. It is an off-dry with a 1.86 residual sugar, which allows the fruit, spices, and creaminess come through from the malolactic fermentation. This would have been great with a nice buttery scallop.

Williamson’s Rose’ is called Blossom. Made from the 2011 vintage of Sangiovese grapes, this wine is subtley sweet and spicy. The wine shows flavors of wild strawberry, white pepper, and melon.

The 2006 Syrah, and Cabernet Sauvignon were both very drinkable. I particularly liked the characteristics of the syrah, with dark berries, black cherry, and pepper. The finish was very nice on this wine.

As a special treat I got to taste the 2006 Reserve Petite Syrah. This wine shows great potential for ageing, The nose is rich with dark berries, and the flavors of blackberry, blueberry, pepper, and tobacco make this wine fantastic!
Last, the winery offers several late harvest wines and a nice port. I suggest trying them, as they are all very nice.

You can find Williamson Orchards, and a map to their tasting room at www.willorch.com. I suggest making a stop in the next time you travel through Southern Idaho.

Cheers!

Wine To Your Mother

My adorable mother, who has endured everything, including
being the subject of my blog!

As much as I hate to admit it, I’m pretty much your typical guy.

I like to think of myself as some special hybrid product of the 1970s and 80s, with a lifetime of daytime talk show hosts and self help books to make men more fragile, sympathetic, and empathetic with the plight of the common female. Somehow, I’m more sensitive than the other men around me.

Truth is, when it comes to special events like anniversaries, birthdays, and especially Mother’s Day I become pretty much the typical blithering male who doesn’t go and buy a card or gift until midnight the night before the big event.

Honestly, it wasn’t until I read an article from a female wine blogger this week that I realized that it is mother’s day next weekend. At least I’m a week ahead of the other dweebs with XY chromosomes out there!

So, I know most of us will be out there looking to buy mom a gift this week. I know that I need to myself. But, as you know, I won’t be purchasing anything until next Saturday night. If you’re challenged in that way, just cut out this article and tape it to your dashboard until next week.

There are two types of mothers out there. Those who drink, and those who don’t . You can usually tell the ones who do. They have an extra lilt in their step even when everything else seems to go wrong. It’s as if they are oblivious from all the yelling in the backseat, puke on their shoulder, and their bra being used as a slingshot for Barbie and Ken. They’ve achieved a special zen from living better through chemistry.

If your mom is a wine drinker you’ll usually already know what kind of wine she likes to drink. I’m always amazed at how opinionated people can be about drinking only “red” or “white” wines. However, if you don’t pay that close of attention to your mom I have some suggestions as well.

First, if your mom is a hard core wine drinker you won’t want to go to Rite Aid and just pick up any old bottle from the bottom shelf. Put down the Barefoot Moscato there Bubba and step away slowly.

Your mom is probably a little more defined in her tastes than that if she’s drinking wine on a regular basis. I highly recommend that you go to a wine shop or a local winery tasting room and purchase her something a little more special. The nice thing is that Spring Release just happened these past few weeks and most of the wineries in the region have just popped out several brand new labels that will likely make a discerning mom squeal with joy.

If your mom is like mine. An old, cigarette smoking, bar hugging, tavern frau (just kidding mom...love you!) you might want to consider buying her wine in a box. Otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend any form of bulk wine purchase for the woman who changed your pee pants.

If mom is a red wine drinker, I suggest getting her a nice bottle of red wine such as a Merlot or Red Blend wine. I've picked up a huge number of under $15 bottles from the Northwest red blends recently, and with a few exceptions I've been pretty darned impressed. 

If your mom only likes sweet wine I suggest picking her up a nice Moscato or Late Harvest Riesling. There are several great wines from this region that are sweet. They range from $7 to over $400.  The amount you spend depends on your level of guilt left over from your evil teen years.

I wouldn’t personally use Mother’s day as a time to “enhance” momma’s drinking experience by purchasing her a 50 year old bottle of Chateau Expensive. Just get her a nice bottle of wine that says I love you in liquid form.

Happy Mother's Day!