Ste. Chapelle Winery

After being frequent attendees at these events last year we were very disappointed. First, we were told that there was no handicapped parking available. This was obviously not true when
we reached the lot. It appeared that the whole designated lot by the winery was not being allowed, for some unknown reason. In fairness, they offered to call and see if a golf cart was available but they didn’t know how long it would take.
Value: 20% increase in admission (up from10 to 12 dollars with no Senior Discount), 80+ % increase in the price of our preferred wine (all appear to be 20 to 80% higher). Overall value down from 4.5 to 3 to3.5.
The band didn’t seem to be playing with their usual enthusiasm. We had enjoyed two previous performances very much.
We will probably go back once or twice this summer but will be very selective depending on who’s playing. It’s a nice venue and is very family friendly.

$ 30 Hike for nothing. I agree with the previous review of Mother’s Day. Could not pre buy tickets by the time we decided weather would cooperate so we stood in line for ½ hour (they had 1 ticket seller!) hiked the long way up the hill with our picnic basket to find nowhere to sit and a mile long line to get a glass of wine. We were still in line when the band went on break. Probably a good idea to skip that drink anyways as the bathroom line was just as long. Decided to cut our losses at that point and head to Koenig which was lovely. Has the potential to be a great event if they limit the number instead of squeezing in as many as po$$ible, adding additional restrooms and staffing up. Poorly executed… not a Mother’s Day treat.

This is a review of Ste. Chapelle’s Mother’s Day Concert on May 8, 2016. The music by The Fabulous Chancellors was great (as usual) and a good time was had by all dancing in the sun. The scenery at the winery, as always, was beautiful; it’s a great outdoor venue for concerts. However, I feel the winery and staff were totally under-​prepared for this event and the crowds. They think approximately 2,000 people were there.
First, the ladies facilities consisted of a 3-​stall bathroom, one of which was out of order, and a handicap single toilet room — do the math, 1,000+ women and children using 3 toilets. The men also had one regular bathroom (I’m assuming with urinals and stalls) and a handicap single toilet. The ladies line was so long, all afternoon long, that some women conscripted the men’s handicap room (don’t let NC know).
Next, there wasn’t enough staff at the bar. The line for wine & beer was consistently long and slow moving almost all of the show. Plus, the pricing on display was incorrect early on so the $ 12 bottle of wine you thought you were getting was actually $ 22 when you got to the cashier. We just switched to another bottle but it took them a while to fix all the signs.
It would have been nice if there was someplace to refill water bottles without standing in line for 30 minutes such as a drinking fountain or even a stand alone concession selling water for $ 1 a bottle.
Also, because we got there early, we paid $ 12 a person for the show. Come to find out, guests that came a little later waited longer in line to get in but only paid $ 10 for the show because the winery ran out of $ 1 bills.
All in all, I’d say this was not Ste. Chapelle’s best effort and I’m hoping they learn a lot from this first show and make improvements for the rest of the summer.

Great location, great wine, but Mothers Day 2016. seriously?
30min standing in line to get in the gate.
55min standing in line to buy some wine.
You’ve got a great idea here, but completely understaffed and unprepared considering you brought in over 2000 people to your event.
Next year, come prepared.

Stopped in for a wine tasting. The standard tasting was $ 5.30. The tasting includes the glass to take home. We bought a few bottles. The view from there is great. But, a few minutes later we stopped at a local gas station and went into their convenience store and found the same bottles for a few dollars less per bottle! So at the winery you pay for the tasting and the glass and then overpay for the wine. Great way to attract new customers.

Our family deeply enjoyed the park venue that we rented for our daughter’s wedding. It was a sizzling 100 degree day, but the towering tree canopy gave us the shade we needed that late afternoon. There was plenty of parking and it was an easy drive and pleasure for our guests to find. Every picture taken was lovely due to the beautiful setting. It was dreamy! Ste Chapelle cheerily accommodated our every need. We so appreciate all they did to make this important day a sweet memory!!! Loved it!

This was the first winery we visited in our day long Caldwell winery trip and I must say, I was very impressed. The winery itself was beautiful with a cute patio with stunning views. You could sit out on the patio with umbrellas and just soak up the sun and amazing wine! Everyone working there was so nice and knowledgeable and I thought that $ 5 for 5 tastings was very reasonable (I am from Southern California originally where everything is SO expensive!) And the wine itself was very good and they gave you several options for the tastings. My mom likes sweet wines and they had several options for her. I like pretty much anything and felt like the selection was great. I ended up getting two bottles of Sauvignon Blanc for only $ 17 total. What a deal! And it was the only winery we visited that day that let you keep the tasting glasses, and they gave you two different options to choose from. I also liked that they had a lot of food offerings to pair with the wine, including cheese, hummus, etc. I didn’t order any of the food — will have to do so next time — but appreciated them having the option.

So nice and friendly and reasonably priced! Beautiful vineyard! Great pictures! Would go back! Thank you!

Quelle surprise! Ste. Chapelle makes some pretty darned good «schoonight» wines at super reasonable prices! We left the tasting room with our wino, ummm… oneophile, noses lowered from their previous «in the air» position of disdain regarding Ste. Chapelle.
Prior to our stop in at the tasting room we hadn’t had Ste. Chapelle wine in probably a decade and remembered them, both the red and the white, as one dimensional and leaning to sweet. Unmemorable. But we had extra time on in our schedule and Ste. Chapelle was in the area of a couple of artisan wineries we wanted to try. So in we went with low expectations. Imagine our surprise to find ourselves walking out with four bottles.
These aren’t wines you’re likely to put on the table for a special dinner or when your wine snob friends are stopping by. But some of these are very drinkable everyday bottles at budget friendly prices. After this tasting experience we would even be tempted to order certain Ste. Chapelle options off a by the glass menu at a restaurant. Seriously.
TASTING DRILL
Tasting fee was $ 5 and refunded with any wine purchase. We were also given the wine glass in which our tastes were poured. I don’t know if that is SOP here or if the free glass was a function of the Sunnyslope Passport Winery Weekend that we just happened to synch up with. We were able to select from our choice of several wines and tasted about six. Again not sure if that is SOP or whether that was a tasting protocol associated with this event. The two tasting room hostesses did a good job of keeping up, even when a big group arrived. One of the two knew very little about the wine.
TASTING ROOM
A distinctive shape, the tasting room sits up on a rise allowing for nice views out the windows. In addition to the tasting bar there are wine related gift items for sale. There were a couple of comfy looking chairs by one of the windows where folks were sitting sit to recharge.
ACCESSIBILITY
Also worth a round of applause for Ste. Chapelle, the walkway to the elevated tasting room is a solid concrete ramp and they have installed an cement apron for accessible parking right alongside. (See photo for sign near same.) Good for them! Although this tasting room was built in 1979 and the ADA didn’t pass until 1990, this is still exactly the kind of ‘readily achievable’ access modifications required of all buildings regardless of age to get everyone equally in the door.
THE WINES
One of the happiest finds for us was that Ste. Chapelle makes a sparkler and in the Charmat style. (Think how Italian Prosecco is made.) A Brut bottling for only $ 10, this would work really well for casual parties or just to pop the cork for no event in particular. I’m surprised they can make this very drinkable Chardonnay based sparkler for such a modest price and it was good to learn all grapes are sourced within 20 miles of the winery. Bottles sold at the tasting room only I think. If you live in the area, worth the trip to pick some up… the holidays are coming!
We tasted several reds that ranged in price from $ 12 to $ 15 a bottle and a Moscato for $ 10. The latter was pleasant enough but lacked finish and didn’t make it on our «to buy» list. Of the reds we were most fond of the 2011 Treasure Valley Reserve ($ 15) that was cherry and dark berries on the palate with soft tannins and the 2012 Gem State ($ 12) that was newly released and a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ blend of Syrah and Merlot.
Ste. Chapelle’s best known wines might be their Soft Red and Soft White bottlings. Those are the wines we remember as not so great from our experience in days past with this winery. That they still bottle them suggests there is a market for this style of wine but our recommendation is pass them by.
Our recommendation also is visit this tasting room and enjoy some of the other wines for sale!
THIS N THAT:
1) OLD TIMER /​BIG SIZE: One of the oldest if not the oldest Idaho wineries, Ste. Chapelle produced their first wine in 1976. One of the biggest if not the biggest of all, producing 130,000 cases of wine annually. It was family owned until very recently but in size alone this is no «mom and pop shop».
2) HOURS: Tasting room open 7 days. Mon — Sat /​10a — 5p. Sunday noon — 5p.
3) PARKING: Gravel lot downhill from the tasting room.
4) EVENTS: The winery seems to be active in hosting public community events, like occasional music concerts. Also available for private events, like weddings.

My friend got married there this last weekend. The park-​like area where she got married was beautiful, private, clean, with incredible views. We had to park in a dirt parking lot so that took away a bit of the charm of the whole place. They served the wine from a concession like area, which reminded me of a concession stand at a football game. They could class that up a bit too. Overall the green grass, vineyards, and views overpowered some of those not so charming elements.

Wine tasting mediocre. The wine a bit cheap.

Visited the Winery for both Mothers and Fathers day. The wine and music selection have been incredible. Family friendly and beautiful venue.

There are sooooo many better wineries in the area than St. Chapelle. In my opinion they are way overated. The wines are not the best by far, especially their reds. Their Cabernet is boring, it falls flat. If you like ice wines that would probably be my only kudos to them. The majority of the staff have their noses so far in the air that its amazing they can see the customers. If you want to experience far better wines go to one of the many other wineries within a 5 mile radius of St. Chapelle.

We loved all of the wines at Ste Chapelle, and with such good prices, it was hard to pick just two to take home!
The one annoying aspect of Ste Chapelle is that you have to pay for a mere five tastings. The majority of the other wineries in the Boise area offer free, unlimited tastings. I know, I know, it’s only five bucks and you get a glass, but it’s still annoying when Ste Chapelle makes so many wines and you are only allowed to taste five. Perhaps even more annoying is that I’m fairly certain that they didn’t waive the tasting fee even though we bought two bottles.

One of my best friends is having her wedding at this venue, so I was very excited when she drove me ALLLLLL the way out here from Eagle. It is a little bit of a trip!
BUT, as soon as you pull in the little lane, it’s worth it! There is lots of parking. You walk into the little building which is decorated nicely. It is very spacious in the upstairs, and the windows/​view is great.
We got a little spoiled because the ladies knew my friend was having her wedding there, so they gave us unlimited wines to taste for free! They were very nice, and we had a lot of fun. We walked off our wine, by looking down in the grassy area, where her wedding will be held. It is very pretty.
Plus, the soft white wine is AMAZING :)

The wine is by far some of the best I’ve ever had. Its worth the trip. And for 5 dollars (plus you take home the glass) how can you beat that.

I agree with the previous reviewer, best winery ever! All offerings are delicious and the wine tasting for $ 5 is a bargain, you even get a wine glass to take with you! My husband usually hates wine but this is one wine tasting in which he doesn’t mind partaking! I am usually a Riesling lover (because I am a wine sissy and love sweet wines) but all the other selections are so good that I don’t even usually waste my time with the Riesling (although it is a good Riesling). The soft white, red and pink wines that they offer are so smooth and delicious that it is easy to drink more than you probably should because they just so easy to drink… I love Ste. Chapelle winery. If you ever visit the Boise area be sure to take a stop in Caldwell and visit the beautiful Ste. Chapelle winery.

BEST WINE EVER!!! And I live next to Wine Country in San Diego, CA. Temecula is miles and miles of grapes… but nothing beats Ste Chapelle!

How fantastic is it that there’s a winery a short drive from my dad’s house? If you like wine, and are visiting my dad, pretty fantastic. I missed out on taking a full tour as the tours are mainly done on the weekend, and we went on a Tuesday. We did spend some quality wine tasting some wonderful wines in the tasting room, which was just as much fun as a few glasses. I really enjoyed the sparking wine the most, and then the reisling, which has won some awards recently, and the reds I tried were not really my favorite reds. The ice wines and late harvest dessert wines were really fun, and I enjoyed the late harvest wine a lot. The wine was the perfect balance of sweet and slippery without being too over the top sugary.
A tasting equals tasting five different wines (we were given six) and a glass to take home. All for $ 5. That’s cheaper than a glass of crappy wine at a pizza place! Can’t beat it.
The winery itself was beautiful, and just celebrated its thirtieth anniversary. The winery offers evening of music and wines (and some dinners) and I’ll definitely be hounding my dad to come back here again, and also check out some of the other Idaho wineries.

When I was living in Idaho, back in my Jr. High– High School days, I’d been to Ste Chapelle a few times. We sat on the lawn listening to concerts and it was the nice spot to have an outdoor wedding in the area. Of course I had only been there in the warm months when the grapes were growing and the view of the river was a lot more appealing.
I went back, last week, on my visit to Boise. It was cold and the view definitely wasn’t as great as I’d remembered it. There was still some nice things to see, when I could stand to be outside. My closest friend and I decided to do a wine tasting, and for $ 5, how could you go wrong? It included a tour of the small winery, showing and explaining how things work. Everyone we talked to was very friendly, knew their product well, and were very happy to help us.
I’m really not a big drinker, nor a huge wine fan. I’m learning to appreciate wine more than I have in the past and since I was traveling, I was more interested in tasting their specialties and the varietals I don’t often see at home. They’re famous for their Rieslings and their Soft Red seems to be a regional favorite. I loved the ice wines and the Special Harvest Riesling. It’ll be hard for me to not order some when the bottles I brought back to L.A. run out.
This is definitely a boutique winery. There is no gourmet restaurant attached, like you’d find in Napa. But, the prices aren’t Napa prices, either. I’m talking $ 7 for a good bottle up to $ 20 for the winery’s best. Definitely a cool experience, something fun to do on an otherwise boring day. The prices and quality of the wine make for a great gift to give to non-​Idaho people, but it turns out I’m too selfish to share.