Many of Idaho’s best wine grapes are grown in the Snake River Valley American Viticulture Area along the Sunnyslope. Huston Vineyards, owned by Gregg and Mary Alger, is on Chicken Dinner Road adjacent to the historic town of Huston, Idaho.

“My wife and I are both native Idahoans,” Gregg said. His family homesteaded near Meridian and her family in Owyhee County.

“We grew up on farms in southwestern Idaho, but neither of us wanted to be farmers. Mary worked for Simplot and I owned my own company,” he said. “Then we had two little boys, and decided to do something different, with our kids. We sold our business and property in Eagle, Idaho, looked for something else — and landed on Chicken Dinner Road.”

They bought 273 acres of farm ground and started farming. In 2007, the AVA was approved in southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon and Gregg told Mary they should look into it since they were right in the heart of it.

They both went back to school to learn about viticulture and enology and in 2011 opened their tasting room.

“We only have 10 acres of vines on our farm, but our estate wines represent only 25% of our production. We have vineyards in other locations nearby,” Gregg said.

“We have two labels. Our Chicken Dinner label is available in Idaho, Montana, Utah, Oregon and Washington and can be purchased in many stores,” he said. “Our Huston label is our Snake River Valley series and what I call our terroir wines (a French term describing the essence of a regional character) and reflective of uniqueness to this valley.”

Any vineyards that produce for the Snake River Valley series must be located in this AVA with local soil and growing conditions, he said.

His Cabernet is grown at 6 different sites with unique soil structures, row orientation and canopy management.

“All of those components add to the uniqueness of the wine,” he explained.

Each site is carefully managed to ensure premium quality of these small-lot varietal wines. The rich volcanic soils, 2,500-foot elevation, abundant water for irrigation, long growing season with intense sunlight, warm, dry weather — and proximity to the Snake River — add up to create unique flavors, he said.

The grapes are ripened by the warm growing season and cool nights — preserving natural acids and creating wines with outstanding structure.

One of the largest growers for his grapes is at Dry Lake, with the largest vineyard in Idaho.

Any wine that doesn’t make it into the Huston series gets blended into the Chicken Dinner red wine. Their first estate vineyard consisted of red varietals, including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah and Malbec. Additional varietals will be planted over the next few years to incorporate the diversity of soil types and structure located within this AVA.

“Our brand has grown rapidly; we are the third or fourth largest winery in Idaho,” he said.

Three sales avenues sell their products.

“One, and probably most important, is direct to consumer — our tasting room where we sell to walk-in customers. As people find out about our wines, this business has picked over the past few years, though it’s been a strain with the COVID situation,” he said.

“Second is our wholesale business. In southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon we have a sales/delivery team that sells our products to restaurants and off-premise locations such as grocery stores or wine shops.

“Thirdly, in outlying areas we use distributors who sell and distribute in their local areas,” he explains.

“Our two boys, who are the reason we made this move in our life, are engaged in the business and understand it from the ground up,” Gregg said.

Jacob is at University of Idaho getting a food science degree. Joshua is a senior in high school and plans to go to Walla Walla Community College for a viticulture and enology degree.