Meet Trevor Treller, one of Idaho’s few credentialed sommeliers.

Trevor is a veteran of top restaurants, curated wine country tours and fine wine retail operations. He applies abstraction and philosophy in his approach to wine, whether in presentation, description, or education. This eccentric approach is meant to instill enthusiasm and a more contextualized appreciation in his client base that one may be hard pressed to find elsewhere in a boutique bottle shop. His “put me to the test” methodology of winning trust is predicated on capturing first-time customers with adroit suggestions based on their drinking history, seeking always to put the perfect bottle into their hands. He and his wife Janine and their three daughters are proud to call Kootenai County home.

Visit terroircda.com for more about Trevor and his business, Terroir Fine Wine and Club, 4025 N. Government Way, Ste. 6, Coeur d'Alene.

1) Why wine?
Wine first enchanted me decades ago when I was transitioning from the casual to the fine dining industry. When I tasted my first truly fine wine I was enthralled by its balance, nuance and layered profundity. There is no other deeply complex beverage in this world.

2) What are your favorite wines and why, and which do you recommend for new wine appreciators?

My own favorite wine, generally, is Bordeaux. This region of France is arguably the gold standard of wine on the planet. Anyone who’s ever loved a cabernet sauvignon, a merlot or a blend predicated upon either variety, from anywhere in the world, has been enjoying a Bordeaux-style wine. For new wine lovers, something big, and either sweet or jammy, usually does the trick. The subtlety of great wine is often lost on the novice; something easy to apprehend and appreciate, like the toddler always prefers fruit to vegetables, is in order. German riesling or Lodi zinfandel speak loudly enough for beginners to hear — and love. 

3) What are a few wine myths, tales or yarns you can share with us?
The biggest one is that wine ages and improves indefinitely. Most wine isn’t meant to age beyond 10 years; only the finest wines can continue to improve for decades. Another is that wine is entirely subjective. It isn’t. A newbie is no more qualified to pronounce judgment upon a fine wine than a teenager is equipped to opine on the finer points of Shakespeare. 

4) What is something people would be surprised to know about you?
That both poetry and travel are dearer to me than wine — even though the three are inextricably entwined. I’ve penned over 500 poems and been fortunate enough to trek upon six continents numerous times. 

5) What is the best way to drink wine, and what do you pair with it?

The best way to consume wine is to be cognizant of its provenance, its terroir, the stylistic hallmark stamped on it by its mother soil and native microclimate. Each wine reflects these things, and can and does figuratively transport the drinker through time and space. Other than that, swirl the wine in glass, a good glass mind you; it very much affects the flavor of the wine. Release the aromatics, breathe deeply of it. It’s alive, figuratively if not literally. 

Pair fatty meats with tannic wines like cabernet or nebbiolo. Pair oily fishes with high-acid whites like sauvignon blanc; pair spicy fare with sweet wines, particularly German riesling. A good starting point for these is the lower the alcohol by volume the better (it is a metric by which to determine its relative residual sugar and, therefore, sweetness).