Eagle Magazine

Romancing The Grape: The World Class Wines of Cinder

by Garry Scholz

It may surprise you to learn that one of the 10 hottest small brand wine labels in the United States is just a stone’s throw from Eagle. Wine Business Monthly recently gave this honor to Cinder Wines of Garden City. It’s well deserved for winemaker Melanie Krause and her husband, Joe Schnerr. “Cinder’s success is certainly the best signal to us that we are doing what we set out to do - create a world class wine from grapes grown in the Snake River Valley,” says Schnerr. For Krause, it’s all about the quality of the wines. “We’re going to keep pushing the envelop on quality,” she promises.

Krause is an exceptional winemaker who has trained with the best in the business. A native of Boise, she attended Washington State University, earning degrees in biology and Spanish. During her final year, she found romance when she met Schnerr. After graduating, she found romance of a different sort when she went to work for Chateau Ste. Michelle, Washington’s highly regarded winery company. She learned viticulture management practices working with vineyards in Horse Heaven Hills, one of Columbia Valley’s highest quality regions for growing wine grapes. By 2002 she was at the winery’s main operation in Woodinville working in the production room as an assistant winemaker for red wines, a position in which she learned the art of fine winemaking. It was the start of a love affair with grapes and wine that continues to this day.

She married Schnerr and moved back to Idaho. He believed in his wife’s potential, so he encouraged Krause to write a business plan for their own winery. He sums up his feelings at the time: “I knew if we could get her (into our own winery) that sparks would fly and she could be a trailblazer in Idaho.” That’s proven to be an understatement. Krause’s wines have garnered not only local recognition, but regional accolades as well.

It started in 2008 at the Idaho Wine Competition. Cinder’s first white wine, a Viognier, not only won a gold medal, but was also voted the People’s Choice award. Suddenly, local wine enthusiasts noticed that an exceptionally talented winemaker was on the scene. Then, in 2009, Krause her Rosé in the Northwest Wine Summit competition at Mt. Hood, the Northwest’s premier wine judging event involving more than 1500 wines. Cinder Rosé won gold as Best Rosé in the Northwest and was a finalist for Best Wine Northwest honors.

Krause’s fame was solidified. Her honors resulted in sold-out vintages as local wine enthusiasts, retail shops, and restaurants all vied for her product. Production increased rapidly from 400 cases in 2008, to 1200 in 2009, to 1700 planned in 2010. Cinder wines are available throughout Idaho, being carried year-round in the Treasure Valley as well as Sun Valley, Coeur d’Alene, and Idaho Falls. As much as it’s a passion, however, winemaking is also a business that seeks to be profitable. Krause is proud that her business is growing in the midst of a down economy. “We’re doing really, really well,” she says. “We’re achieving our sales goals.”

Krause sees the keys to Cinder’s success in several critical areas. First was the decision to make wine in Idaho. “We started the winery in Idaho where there were fewer brands,” she points out. It was a time, too, when the consumer’s attitude was changing.  “People are focusing on local products and foods. That’s worked in our favor.” Another factor was agricultural. “I came to Idaho and checked out the soil and climate conditions,” she recalls. “I decided I could make world class wines here.” Finally, the pricing structure was also key to the success of the Cinder label. “$40 a bottle wine doesn’t sell,” Krause points out. “We weren’t egotistical. We priced the wines at a point where we could succeed but no more than that.”

This philosophy of frugality has served Krause and Schnerr well. “Every move we make we carefully consider what to spend our money on,” Krause emphasizes. “That usually means the product. The building and equipment are secondary.” Indeed, the winery is a basic industrial building, but adapted perfectly for making fine wines. For two years Cinder Wines shared the space with two other labels, plus Krause did consulting. “These steps helped us to keep costs down and to overcome the need for a large amount of capital early on,” Scherr remembers.

Now, the challenge is on marketing and growing sales, even to the point of entering regional markets. Bringing Schnerr into the business was a major turning in the development of the business in Krause’s mind. “One thing we did that was scary at the time was hiring Joe as a full time sales person,” she recalls. “That was critical to our success.” Schnerr makes no bones about his marketing philosophy. “My number one focus is on our customers,” he states with conviction. “I love introducing people to our beautiful wines and am so proud of the work we’ve accomplished.” He adds, “The restaurants have also been a wonderful and a huge part of our success.”

With success come challenges. Krause is adamant that quality is, as they say, job one. “My goal as a winemaker is to preserve the character of the fruit by achieving the delicate balance of letting the fruit come through without introducing any elements that detract from that.” She sums it up succinctly: “Let the fruit shine through.”              And, if you succeed in that as a winemaker, you will discover, as Krause has, an elemental truth: “There will always be a market for well made wines.”

What of the future? Both Krause and Schnerr agree that a new winery building might be a goal in the next three to five years. Or, they may plant a new vineyard. Both are capital-intensive projects. The reputation and success that Cinder Wines is establishing, however, may make it possible to attract the type of investment partners who would fit with their goals and business philosophy. In any event, the future seems bright for Cinder Wines, a label that has come to stand for the very best wines made in the Pacific Northwest.