Q&A
Jenne Baldwin, 35, has been a winemaker at Plum Creek Winery in Palisade for 11 years. Baldwin, an avid hunter, angler and rafter and a former health-club trainer, has won 23 gold medals, 43 silver medals and 87 bronze medals for her wines, including a recent Best of the Fest double gold at the Colorado Mountain Winefest for her 2004 Riesling. The Colorado wine industry has grown from 10 wineries to more than 55 during her time at Plum Creek.
Q: How did a California exercise physiologist end up making wine in Colorado?
A: In 1993, I moved to Grand Junction to work as a trainer in a health club after graduating from Chico State University. I had graduated with a minor in chemistry and really missed that aspect of my studies, so I sought out a job that would use my chemistry skills. There were no breweries in the area at the time, so I spoke to various winemakers. Plum Creek, the largest of the wineries, hired me as a lab technician. I worked closely with winemaker Erik Bruner for several years and also took classes (at the University of California at Davis) and went to wine conferences and seminars. When Erik Bruner retired in 1999, I became head winemaker.
Q: What are the biggest challenges of being a Colorado winemaker?
A: Mother Nature and the fact that we are such a young industry. It is not easy to grow grapes in Colorado with the freezing temperatures, early spring and fall frosts, the occasional hailstorms and 100-degree days. We are still learning what grapes grow best in Colorado and how to bring out the best varietal characteristics of our grapes. We have to sort of figure it out through lots of trial and error because this area is not like any other winemaking area. This is where the scientist in me comes out. Every year, we learn ways to grow better grapes, improve our quality and strive to make the best possible Colorado wine.
Q: What made your 2004 Riesling rise above hundreds of other wines to be honored as Best of the Fest at the recent Colorado Mountain Winefest?
A: That’s a better question for all the winemakers who tasted my wine and gave it the double golds. Half the grapes came from East Orchard Mesa, where the wines produce Riesling that is less acidic and has more peach and apricot qualities. The other half came from the Hotchkiss area, where the fruit is more acid and produces a Riesling with more floral and citrusy qualities. I fermented each of these lots separately with different yeast to add complexity to the wine.
Q: How is this year’s grape harvest shaping up?
A: This year’s harvest is really looking good. This summer wasn’t quite as hot as last year, and except for a few rainy days and one hailstorm, this fall has been very warm. We are running about two weeks behind last year’s harvest and probably won’t have all the fruit in until late October or early November.
– Staff writer Nancy Lofholm
REGIONAL NOTES
LAKEWOOD
30th annual harvest festival on tap
The 30th annual Cider Days Harvest Festival on Saturday and Sunday celebrates the season with an apple bake-off, cider pressing, children’s activities, traditional craft demonstrations, a vintage tractor pull, food and entertainment.
Events run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily at Lakewood’s Heritage Center, 801 S. Yarrow St. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children 12 and younger. All proceeds support educational programs at the Heritage Center. For more information, call 303-987-7850.
AURORA
Conservation center seeking aides
The Plains Conservation Center, in southeast Aurora, is seeking citizen scientists to help collect data and volunteers to track rattlesnakes, tend to the habitat garden or be a Saturday assistant.
The center needs citizen scientists on the first Saturday of each month to collect data on the critters and plants at the center. Training is available.
For more information or to volunteer to be a citizen scientist, call Fran at 303-693-3621.
Volunteers also are needed to help at the center on Saturdays, do curatorial work such as data entry or develop specimen lists. Assistants are needed to help track prairie rattlesnakes in the field. Heirloom or habitat garden assistants are needed to help plant, turn and water and weed the garden. For more information, call Mary Ann at 303-693-3621.
DENVER POST STAFF REPORTS
