Western Wine Adventures

Fraser Winery - Boise’s First

By Alan Minskoff & Paul Hosefros, 3-06-09

	Bill Fraser

THE YEAR OF DRINKING LOCALLY
Boise’s First Winery: From Pounding Nails to Pouring Wines - Alan Minskoff

Idaho’s capital city’s first winery sits in an industrial area not far from Anne Morrison Park in what was once Bill Fraser’s construction office. Often linked with the new wave of Idaho winemakers—Melanie Krause of Cinder, Gina Davis of Davis Creek and Mike Crowley of Syringa—Fraser’s wines may be recent, but he’s been around.  Fraser ran a successful construction company for decades.

A wine lover and collector, Fraser had long been interested in growing wine grapes and making wine.  In 2003 he found a five-acre site in Canyon County on Homedale Road, at 2700 feet Fraser’s vineyard sits at “the highest point in Canyon County where you can see the Blues, the Owyhees and Bogus”; he planted three of the acres, then built a casita with a patio. 

He raises three of the five classic Bordeaux varietals—Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot—the winery makes three red wines and an Idaho Viognier.  His first release was his 2005; his Cabernet is a blend of 90 percent Cabernet with 5 percent Merlot and 5 percent Petit Verdot. (To be called Cabernet the wine must contain at least 75% Cabernet Sauvignon grapes.)

With help from his wife Bev, two stepdaughters, friends and a hired crew at the harvest, Fraser tends the vineyard, harvests, crushes and de-stems the grapes in Canyon County, but the wine is barrel aged—the reds for two years—and bottled in Boise at the winery. A Boise native and Dartmouth grad, Bill Fraser uses mostly new oak barrels: American, French and Hungarian, which he likes and is adding; he prefers medium-to-medium plus toast.

Some time back Fraser took a wine making course at UC Davis, but wondered whether he would be able to sell his first vintage.  His wines have sold well. Last year’s Idaho Viognier is all gone as is his initial Cabernet. 

Committed to advanced farming principles, he drip irrigates, uses a vertical shoot positioning (VSP) trellis system. Fraser says he went into wine making after he retired from construction because he “didn’t play golf and needed something to keep me occupied.” He’s got his wish. Fraser grows grapes, tends the wine in the barrels, bottles and self-distributes mostly in the Boise Valley. Fraser sees a lot of similarity between grape growing in Idaho and Washington, where long sunny days and cool nights as well as sandy soils conspire to give growers excellent conditions. Recently he attended a series of workshops with Washington and Idaho wine growers in the Tri-cities.

Fraser believes Washington vintners have similar practices to Idaho, grow their grapes from rootstocks unlike California, where grapes are grafted onto plants. Many Idaho growers also grow two stems up (in case winter kill takes out one of them), use similar varietals and fortunately (perhaps because of harder winters) have not been plagued by Phylloxera (root louse), which has caused so much damage in California.

He sees the climate of his hilltop vineyard as special. The sun rises and comes over the Boise Front and light lasts late into the evening.  Fraser says, “People don’t realize we have 3000-degree days as much as the Napa Valley and more than Oregon.” The Washington growers claim they have two more hours of sunlight than in Napa; it’s similar here. 

Grape growing and wine making may be a second career for Fraser. His attention to detail and commitment to craft have given him high profile admirers locally including the Grape Escape’s Pug Ostling, who says Fraser’s “just getting better and better.” He says it took Idaho wine makers a long time “to dance with the dirt. They’ve got it down now. It’s also warmer.” Ostling notes, “the thing is that wines are like wine makers: Fraser’s have finesse, they’re big and fit but don’t overpower you. They linger. Like Bill they have quiet strength.” Fraser’s labels are distinctive. They display the Fraser family tartan. A boutique operation Fraser produces about five hundred cases a year, and they sell quickly.

According to Ostling, “Wine is raising the civility of life in Boise,” and that’s worth a twirl, a sniff and a sip—and a visit to Boise’s first winery.

Fraser’s wines are available in the Wood River Valley at Ericksons, in Eagle, at the Boise Coop wine store and are featured at the Grape Escape on Eighth Street in downtown Boise and of course, at the winery. Check with the winery for hours. Fraser Winery— 1004 La Pointe St Boise ID 83706 Phone: (208) 345-9607. 

Alan Minskoff is a writer and journalism prof. who lives in Boise. His neighbors keep two mean swans to establish a boundary he can’t cross.

VANTAGE POINT
Nice as a Vineyard Dog, Part II - Paul Hosefros

Astounding?  Yes, it can be quite astounding to suddenly realize how much a pet dog looks just like its owner. Or, yourself, if you happen to have a dog. Photographers seem amazed by this all the time. In contrast, it’s generally rare to find a cat look-alike, or cat-alike. Besides, cats don’t care how mangy you look; it’s all about them.  Llamas, like horses, occupy the once-in-a -while category, tending to reflect a curiously lugubrious visage reserved for hermits and commodities traders.

As for other pets, I suppose the occasional anaconda could match anybody with beady eyes; the white rat....perhaps “bailout” comes to mind?  Parakeets? It’s all in the beak. Aardvarks defy comprehension, let alone any known look-alike quality. It’s not surprising so few have graced the cover of Pet World. No, it’s all for the dogs: Winston Church, Bulldog; Pee Wee Herman, Chihuahua.

It’s not as if the dog can choose its owner.  We might kid ourselves and psychologically project the myth of an animal selecting us in a weak moment at the city pound. “Ooooh, that pit bull wants me!” Keep your fingers out of the cage. Instead, we choose the dog. That is not so much because it magically herds sheep, and/or chickens, equally well, or races mindlessly around a sandy track pursuing a mechanical rabbit, or actually understands the implications of the command “roll over.” It is because the dog looks a lot like us.  It is, I submit, a canine’s uncanny reflection of our own personality --vices and virtues.

So when I encountered Hailey the English Setter and master of her domain at Bill Fraser’s winery in Boise, I got to wondering. Bill and Hailey have that unmistakable look-alike aura. Hailey, exuberant and straining to be obedient, obviously chose Bill for his similarly flowing hair and gentle, cheery affability. Bill seems quite OK with this. Their evident bond led me to wonder whether in the winery the active companionship between dog and man might have an effect on the “personalities” or styles of the wines. Consider a description of the Setter: “body of medium length, deep chest” and so on. Sounds like a fine wine. Robust. Playful. The dog has an indirect effect, of course. Which also may account for the wide appearance at wineries and vineyards of another breed, the Black Lab—“trustworthy, obedient, and good-tempered with children.” I’ve not yet seen Hailey checking yeast levels or actually hand-pawing the labeler.  Perhaps a consult on the issue of blending....

But, Bill might take more than a little inspiriation from his Hailey.

Paul Hosefros is a Pulitzer-nominated photographer who lives in Boise. Slightly confused animals often show up on his doorstep.

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