Cajun French: le vin (lu vain) – wine
Sunny Sunday afternoon and we were ready to sip wine. Being in Boise, ID, the Snake River Valley Wine Region was very near, but after a week of family wedding festivities we wanted to relax and not drive. In researching we found that Cinder Wines has a tasting room just down the street from the RV Park where we are staying.
Cinder sources their grapes from various vineyards in the Snake River Valley. These include Williamson, Sawtooth, Skyline, Rocky Fence, Arena Valley, Symms, and Martin Brothers Vineyards. Martin Brothers is an Oregon vineyard but is also in the Snake River Valley of Oregon.
The name Cinder comes from the volcanic activity millions of years ago which erupted under the waters of Lake Idaho. Thick deposits of sediment from the area waters were left behind during the region’s geologic past. These sediments have mingled with the volcanic cinder and lava flows and are now home to the region’s vineyards.
Enough history, now what about the wine? The Sunday we visited there were five wines available for tasting. The tasting is $5.00 per person and the fee is waived if you purchase wines.
Reserve Viognier: The first wine tasted and we were told could not be purchased unless we were wine club members. We judged they wanted new members so this particular wine tasting was a lure.
The other tastings were Chardonnay, Dry Viognier, Off Dry Viognier, and Laissez Faire, and Syrah.
We wanted to like Laissez Faire because of the name, but it was a young drinking red wine with a lighter body. We found the wine a little too acidic with a musty taste. After it sat it mellowed out a bit. Still it was not for our taste.
Our picks were the Off Dry Viognier and Syrah and we left with a bottle each along with a Laissez Faire T-Shirt for Laurie.
When you visit the Cinder Tasting Room allow at least an hour for the wine tasting. That way you get to enjoy and truly taste the individual wines.
