Before a single grape was ever planted in Washington or Oregon, European immigrants were already growing them here. Louis Desol and Robert Schleicher from France, and Jacob Schaefer from Germany planted the first vines in Lewiston in 1864. By the 1870s, they were winning awards at competitions around the country. Idaho wine was on the up and up… and then Prohibition came along and brought the whole thing to a halt. It wasn’t until the 1970s that vineyards started up again, in the Snake River Valley and Northern Idaho.