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I've spoken to a half-dozen winemaker in the past two days and asked each how the grapes were looking. I heard a lot of long sighs followed by concerns about when - or if - the grapes would ever ripen in the Northwest.
Ste. Michelle Wine Estates’ operating profit rose 30 percent to $14.8 million in the second quarter, according to a securities filing by its Connecticut-based parent company, UST.
While Anthony Maratea’s Chardonnay comes from Idaho, his wine is made in Oregon.
“That’s why the Idaho Wine Commission doesn’t know about me,” Maratea said.
There’s a good reason why the Ketchum wine distributor goes to Yamhill County to craft his Chardonnay. His best friend is Gary Andrus, former owner/winemaker of award-winning Archery Summit in Dayton.
“Most of the ‘Idaho’ wine-food people in the know believe this is the best Chardonnay produced from Idaho grapes,” said Scott Mason, executive chef and owner of The Ketchum Grill. “The Pinot Noirs are also excellent but come from Oregon grapes. Phantom Hill wines, like the place they were named after, sneak up on you, take you by surprise. And only then do you realize that these are really great wines.”
Maratea, 54, owner of Nouveaux Beverage in Ketchum, admits Phantom Hill is a winery without a winery and an expensive hobby his wife tolerates. He readily credits Andrus — his fishing and skiing buddy — and the grapes from Kirby Vickers in Caldwell, Idaho, for the 1997 and 1998 Chardonnay that warrants praise.
It was the Chardonnay — not the opulent Pinot Noir — that helped Maratea get his foot in the door of restaurants.
“I’d ask people if they knew that Idaho makes Chardonnay,” he said. “They wouldn’t believe me until they tasted it and they’d go, ‘Wow! This was from Idaho?’ ”
Some of his wine is available in the Sun Valley/Ketchum area, but most gets sipped up at restaurants in California and on the East Coast.
“I’m making about 800 cases, and we’re selling everything we’re making right now,” Maratea said.
He’s got a few cases left of the 1997 Chardonnay, and he plans to release his 1998 Chardonnay in March. He’s getting Pinot Noir from his own vines at Archery Summit, but low-yield years in 1999 and 2000 for Idaho meant no Vickers grapes for Phantom Hill.
“I was the third guy in line, and there were only enough grapes for the first two guys,” Maratea said.
So he’s looking to purchase a vineyard in Idaho for Chardonnay. He’s got an eye on the Sunnyslope area of Caldwell and farther down the Snake River around Glenns Ferry and Hagerman.
Phantom Hill wine is available outside of Idaho through Avalon of Oregon wine shop (www.avalonwine.com).
Nouveaux Beverage, 270 Northwood Way, Unit 15, Ketchum, Idaho. 208-726-0766.
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