Terra Madre Delegate Profile -
Rich Ostrogorsky, winemaker
Indian Creek (Stowe) Winery - Kuna, ID
www.indiancreekwinery.com

The nomination of Rich Ostrogorsky to attend Terra Madre would not have seemed remarkable except that he is a winemaker. A winemaker from Idaho? Yes, Virginia, there is a growing and vigorous wine industry in Idaho. A total of 18 wineries exist in Idaho, 16 of them located along the Snake River in the southern part of the state. While all of the present wineries have been established since 1970, the history of winemaking in what was to become Idaho began with the planting of a vineyard of Royal Muscatine cuttings in 1864. This venture led to a regional viticulture that survived all manner of adversity in the days of westerning pioneers. Winemaking continued through Indian wars, drought, severe winters, and insect invasions, but did not withstand the vine withering onslaught of Prohibition. Puritanism reared its ugly head early in Idaho and was the one catastrophe the vines could not survive. It was not until 1970 that wine grapes returned to the state in any significant numbers.

Bill and Mike Stowe, cofounders with Rich Ostrogorsky of Indian Creek (Stowe) Winery, trace a family lineage of fermenters to the Guinness beers and stouts. Bill's wife Mui is originally from China and came to this country by way of Thailand. Rich's personal history began in war torn Europe. His displaced Lithuanian parents were brought together in the labor camps of WWII and torn asunder by the same inhumane system. Rich was born in Germany. His mother came to Canada where she married Rich's stepfather Ostrogorsky, a man of Ukranian descent. The new family found its way to Boise, Idaho. Rich laments that Boise seemed unready for his first business venture-a small furniture manufacturing company featuring contemporary Scandinavian design, Italian plastics and track lighting. So he became a pie maker. Plush Pippin Pies occupied his time for 20 years.

Indian Creek (Stowe) Winery opened its doors in 1987. Not far from the banks of the Snake River and just a few miles from the small town of Kuna, Rich and the Stowe brothers cleaned out a loafing barn which had housed cattle for many years. After countless loads of manure and much scrubbing, the first building of Indian Creek Winery was ready for its new incarnation. The winery has grown around that structure and today the weathered wood façade of the old barn forms an interior wall and doorway to the aging room full of oak barrels.

Thanks to Rich, Bill, and Mike for helping create an Idaho where the potatoes are good-but the Pinot's even better. -Charles Evans, Slow Food Snake River