WTN: Rediscovering Idaho Wines: Colter's Creek

Yet another lovely discovery from the relative obscurity of Idaho's Snake River Valley.

So….Colter’s Creek Koos-Koos-Kia is likely difficult to find and a bit pricy for a punt. Should you make the effort, or just let it go?

Make the effort.

Call it the joy of discovery. Call it supporting the beleaguered boutique winemaker. Call it the unending search for the elusive wine. Call it looking for love in all the right places (even if obscure to many of us).

Make the effort because Koos-Koos-Kia is worth it. It is a medium-bodied, superbly balanced (leaning new world, yes; with a ripeness that is carefully held in check by the winemaker) wine artfully blended and managed by Sanborn. Koos-Koos-Kia is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petite Verdot. And a gorgeously blended blend at that.

If this wine came from Napa Valley, you'd rave about what a great value it was.

And why would a blend be potentially better than a single variety? Sanborn balances out the varieties and their attributes to create a harmonious whole. No empty spaces or rough edges here.

Despite the high scores and gold medals, this isn’t one of those over-manipulated monstrosities. It is not a blockbuster or a bombshell of a wine. It’s not “spoofulated” in the slightest, simply an exquisitely made small-batch wine that will charm everyone at the table. It’s rich (but restrained), elegant, smooth and perfectly balanced.

So, what’s with the name, you might ask? “Koos-Koos-Kia” is from the Nez Perce name for the Clearwater River; it means ‘transparent waters’.

While camping and fishing in Idaho many years ago I always stopped in Boise at the Ch. Ste. Chappelle (sp.) outlet for a few cases of their dry, semi-dry and sparkling Rieslings, all well under $10. They all seemed to have a distinctive apple flavor.

While camping and fishing in Idaho many years ago I always stopped in Boise at the Ch. Ste. Chappelle (sp.) outlet for a few cases of their dry, semi-dry and sparkling Rieslings, all well under $10. They all seemed to have a distinctive apple flavor.

They did, Jim. In all, fairly simple, but the price was right. Their red wines, under a winemaker person whose name I forgot--she came from California though---were developing fairly nicely, but then I stopped following them when I moved out of the NW.

Sadly, the only bottle of CSC I have is a Late Harvest Riesling. They have made some good ones over the years---albeit very much new world/WA/CA style. Good, hearty, but somewhat lacking in delicacy of flavor.

Most of what I sold in the Seattle market for CSC (over 25 years ago) was the sparkling and what I called "the Rooty Tooty Fresh n Fruity----low priced fruit-driven, slightly sweet wines----because that 's what all the WA/ID wineries were doing volume in. The best of the bunch---then---was Covey Run---Riesling, Chenin Blanc, Something Else, and Muller-Thurgau (!), which was very popular in WA at the time.

While camping and fishing in Idaho many years ago I always stopped in Boise at the Ch. Ste. Chappelle (sp.) outlet for a few cases of their dry, semi-dry and sparkling Rieslings, all well under $10. They all seemed to have a distinctive apple flavor.

Just so happens that while I was in living in South Dakota, one of the grocery stores carried a Ch. Ste. Chappelle Riesling - it's one of the most compelling domestic Rieslings I've had.