Why you should visit Treasure Valley wineries
This blog post covers the best wineries in Treasure Valley, Idaho.
These seven Treasure Valley wineries make world-class wines from sustainably grown grapes.
Several wineries on this list are industry veterans; they’ve been around since the birth of the Idaho wine industry. Other wineries on this list are just getting started. Many are family-owned businesses.
No matter their origins these special Treasure Valley wineries all have one thing in common… They make great wine from sustainably farmed grapes!
These grapes are usually grown right there in the winery’s own estate vineyard using methods that are good for the earth.
Treasure Valley is a region in Southwest Idaho. It includes the state’s three largest cities of Boise, Meridian, and Nampa. Smaller towns like Eagle, Garden City, Caldwell, Kuna, and Middleton are also situated within the valley.
This blog post covers Treasure Valley wineries located in Caldwell, Eagle, Wilder, and Kuna. Boise is within easy driving distance of all four towns.
If you’ve never tried Idaho wine before then you’re in for a treat. This special wine region is a lot like the Washington wine industry was years ago. Full of promise and talent!
I predict the Idaho wine industry will blossom and boom in the near future. Whether you visit these Treasure Valley wineries in person or simply look for the labels at your local shop, they’re well worth the effort.
How to access Treasure Valley wineries
Treasure Valley wineries are easy to access. But you will need a car.
Treasure Valley is Idaho’s largest metropolitan area. It includes the state’s three largest cities of Boise, Meridian, and Nampa. Smaller towns like Eagle, Garden City, Caldwell, Kuna, and Middleton are also within the valley.
This blog post covers Treasure Valley wineries located in Wilder, Caldwell, Kuna, and Eagle. Boise is within easy driving distance of those four towns.
- Eagle, Idaho is 10 miles from Boise. The drive will take approximately 16 minutes. Check out our post dedicated to the best wineries in Eagle, Idaho.
- Kuna is located 19 miles away, which is about 28 minutes by car.
- Caldwell is 28 miles from the city. The drive should take about 33 minutes.
- Wilder is 40 miles west of Boise’s downtown area. The drive should take about 42 minutes.
It would take you about 1 hour and 15 minutes to drive from Wilder to Caldwell to Kuna and then Eagle. That’s not a ton of driving. But you would need a car to make that trip. Or better yet hire someone to chauffeur you all day so you can safely enjoy the Treasure Valley wineries on this list.
If you already live in Idaho State, then great! You can simply jump in your car and drive to the Boise area. But if you live outside the State of Idaho then you will need to fly into a nearby airport, rent a car, and drive to the Treasure Valley wineries on this list.
Your best option is to fly into Boise directly. Luckily Boise Airport (BOI) offers nonstop flights every day from major cities like Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix, and Salt Lake City (among others).
The best Treasure Valley wineries for a wine tasting
Indian Creek Winery (Kuna, ID)
Indian Creek Winery is a family-owned winery near Kuna, Idaho.
In the 1980s Mui and Bill Stowe lived out their dream of planting vines and making wine in Idaho. Their daughter Tammy carried on the family business alongside her husband Mike McClure. Together they craft acid-driven, food-friendly wines.
Winemaker Mike McClure fosters healthy soil with organic practices. Irrigation, canopy management, and disease control are all important to maintaining lush vineyards. The estate’s 20-acre Stowe Vineyard enjoys unique caliche soils. A big temperature change between cool nights and warm days creates grapes worthy of world-class wines.
Indian Creek Winery works with grapes such as Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and Zinfandel. Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Chardonnay, Moscato, and Riesling grapes comprise their white wines.
The Indian Creek Winery tasting room in Kuna is just a short 30 minute drive from Boise. They’re open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 12–5 PM. Wine flights cost $15 for five wines. Snacks like cheese, popcorn, nuts, and charcuterie are available too.
This fun winery regularly hosts live music and community events such as Hermit Music Fest, Raptor Fest, and WinoLympics. Check the Indian Creek Winery Facebook page for updates about their events.
Fujishin Estate Winery (Wilder, ID)
Fujishin Estate Winery is a family-owned winery near Wilder, Idaho. Cofounders Martin Fujishin and Teresa Moye focus on growing interesting grape varieties.
Martin Fujishin grew up on a specialty seed farm. After college he worked at Koenig Vineyards where he caught the wine bug. Eventually Martin opened his own winery in Idaho for two reasons: the land was affordable and the climate was ideal. The high desert’s warm days and cool nights leads to beautifully flavored grapes.
Fujishin Estate Winery works with well-known varieties such as Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, and Syrah. But they also employ more unusual grapes such as Petite Sirah, Petit Verdot, Verdejo, and Graciano. Clearly Fujishin and Moye understand that the Snake River Valley AVA is capable of growing a much wider diversity of wines than expected.
Visit the Fujishin Estate Winery tasting room to enjoy a glass, a bottle, or a wine tasting. The tasting fee is $8 per person. The outdoor patio and tasting room is open daily from 12–6 PM. The last seating is offered at 5 PM. You can make a reservation via the winery website.
Kerry Hill Winery (Wilder, ID)
Kerry Hill Winery is a boutique winery and farm in Wilder, Idaho. The winery is named after the adorable Kerry Hill sheep the owners raise on their property.
Kerry Hill Winery works with grapes such as Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, and Gewürztraminer.
Many grapes come from their estate vineyards in the Snake River Valley wine region. The winery also sources Pinot Noir grapes from the Dundee Hills AVA in the Willamette Valley.
Kerry Hill Winery makes itself a great place to relax year round. During the winter they provide blankets, heaters, and a fire pit. With hot summers come lawn games, live music, picnics, and plenty of outdoor seating.
The Kerry Hill Winery tasting room is open Thursday through Sunday from 12–6 PM. Reservations are not required.
P.S. Guests can book a stay at Kerry Hill Manor. This beautiful rental home offers three bedrooms, a full kitchen, and picturesque views of lush vineyards.
3100 Cellars (Eagle, ID)
3100 Cellars crafts sparkling wine just a few minutes from downtown Eagle.
Owners Hailey and Marshall Minder love Idaho. The couple met on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River. And it was during a trip to Hells Canyon when they agreed to make sparkling wine. When it came time to name their winery the Minder family found inspiration in the rivers they love so much. There are 3,100 miles of whitewater river in Idaho. And thus the name 3100 Cellars was born.
This small boutique family-owned winery is the only winery in the State of Idaho dedicated to sparkling wine. They apply old world winemaking methods to Idaho grapes grown in the Eagle Foothills AVA. Like many traditional method sparkling wines in France, 3100 Cellars ages their wines for several years.
The 3100 Cellars tasting room is located just 5 miles from downtown Eagle, which is a 10 minute drive. Tastings are available by appointment only.
At 3100 Cellars tastings are more of a wine experience than a simple tasting. Rather than pour you a few tastes they actually cover the entire winemaking process from harvest to bottle. The tour begins with an explanation of the estate’s sustainable farming practices. It continues in the cellar with the rest of the winemaking process. And of course it ends with a wine tasting. Paired with locally sourced snacks no less.
The tasting fee is $15 per person, which is waived with the purchase of three bottles. Tours can start between 12 PM and 4 PM on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. You can contact the winery by email or phone to make your tasting appointment.
3 Horse Ranch Vineyards (Eagle, ID)
3 Horse Ranch Vineyards makes award-winning wines in the Eagle Foothills AVA.
They employ a variety of grapes such as Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Malbec, Merlot, Mourvèdre, and Grenache. 3 Horse Ranch wines typically represent a single estate vineyard.
When Gary and Martha Cunningham founded this winery they decided to use “environmentally sustainable farming practices.” The reason? They lived near their vineyards. And they didn’t want to risk exposure to traditional herbicides and pesticides. As a result, the estate wines from 3 Horse Ranch Vineyards wines are made with “100% naturally grown grapes.”
The 3 Horse Ranch Vineyards tasting room is located 11 miles (a 24 minute drive) from downtown Eagle, Idaho. This winery tasting room is open Wednesday through Sunday from 12–6 PM. On Monday and Tuesday they’re closed.
P.S. If you’re looking for someplace to stay overnight this winery offers a rental home. The appropriately named “Vineyard House” has two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two decks. It also has a full kitchen. Even better, this rental home is across the street from Ranch House, which is the winery’s restaurant.
Sawtooth Winery & Tasting Room (Caldwell, ID)
Sawtooth Winery makes great wine at their Caldwell, Idaho estate.
In 1987 the Pintler family founded Sawtooth Winery. They were already the proud owners of rich pastures situated on steep, south sloping hills. One day Charles Pintler decided to grow wine grapes atop these hills and the rest is history. Today Sawtooth Winery is among the best local wineries in the Snake River Valley wine region.
Sawtooth Winery maintains the 70-acre Sawtooth Estate and 400-acre Skyline Vineyard. These Sawtooth Winery vineyards reach up to 3,500 feet elevation and are covered in volanic soil. The combination of cool summer evenings and lots of sunshine creates a big temperature change. All of these elements combine to create wonderful fruit.
Sawtooth Winery sources fruit from their own vineyards in the Snake River AVA. They sell remaining grapes to other Idaho winemakers. Winemaker Meredith Smith works with a range of grapes including Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Sangiovese, Pinot Noir, Malbec, Merlot, and Chenin Blanc. More unusual varieties such as Nebbiolo and Carménère also make an appearance.
Sawtooth Winery offers four different product lines. “Core” is their collection of everyday wines. “Classic Fly” is a limited production collection of their best wines. They only make 250 cases a year of these wonderful wines. The “Trout Series” are extremely limited edition wines you can only taste in their Caldwell tasting room. Last but not least are “Cans,” which is a trio of portable easy-drinking wines.
The Sawooth Winery tasting room is located about 11 miles from central Caldwell, which is an 18 minute drive. The tasting room is open daily from 11 AM to 5 PM. Tastings are available inside their tasting room or al fresco on their outdoor patio. You can book a tasting via the Sawtooth Winery Tock profile.
Bitner Vineyards (Caldwell, ID)
Bitner Vineyards is an exclusive members-only winery located just outside Caldwell. Luckily they allow a limited number of non-members to come in and taste.
Bitner Vineyards makes about 1,500 cases of delicious wine a year. This small-production winery makes a variety of wines from Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, Syrah, Merlot, and Petit Verdot. They also make a dessert wine from Riesling, Chardonnay, and Viognier.
The Bitner Vineyards estate in the Snake River Valley AVA is tended to with the utmost care. Their estate vineyards are Salmon-Safe certified, sustainable LIVE certified, and bee-friendly.
The Bitner Vineyards estate is located about 11 miles from downtown Caldwell, which is a 16 minute drive. They have a tasting room and an intimate patio with picturesque views. All tastings are held outside on the patio.
Reservations are required. Non-members can book a tasting appointment via the Bitner Vineyards website. Non-members can schedule their tasting for Friday or Saturday at 12:30 PM, 1:00 PM, or 1:30 PM.
Other wine destinations in the Western United States
Idaho State wine towns to explore
This blog post covers the best wineries spread throughout the entire Treasure Valley. It’s a lot of ground to cover, which is why we also have blog posts for specific locations within Idaho wine country.
Boise is the heart of Idaho wine country. Our list of the best Boise wineries and wine bars showcases the city’s burgeoning wine scene. One of these urban wineries even grows grapes in the Boise area foothills!
The small town of Eagle, Idaho is situated within Treasure Valley. Eagle is 10 miles from downtown Boise, which is about 16 minutes by car. Our list of the best wineries in Eagle, Idaho showcases a range of wine styles from vibrant sparkling wines to full-bodied red wines.
Places to visit in Washington State wine country
The Idaho wine industry has a lot to explore. Idaho borders Washington State, which is full of wonderful wine.
Walla Walla wine is among the best in the United States. Walla Walla Valley is famous for its agriculture, namely wheat and wine grapes. Our list of the best Walla Walla wineries with lodging shows you where to stay when you visit.
Red Mountain is famous for its fabulous fruit. These Red Mountain wineries turn the area’s great grapes into wonderful wine.
Prosser is a short 25 minute drive from Red Mountain. There’s a place in town called Vintners Village, which is a collection of Prosser wineries all within a small area. That means you can easily walk from one tasting room to the next.
Spokane is a small city in Eastern Washington. The best Spokane wineries are concentrated in downtown Spokane and spread throughout its suburbs. Most source their fruit from outside Spokane or the Walla Walla Valley.
