The early temperance movement may have cut our wine culture back to the trunk, but there was no killing the roots. Over the past 25 years, Colorado viticulture has slowly grown back, its tender green tendrils winding their way through spots in orchards where peaches once ruled. Now, it’s filling our glasses with sweet pinks, crisp whites, bold reds and lately, a tawny port or two.
The names alone tell something about Colorado wines – Canyon Wind, Mesa Grande, DeBeque Canyon and Grande River. These fanciful-sounding wineries with some solidly good wines are named for the unique geography that has made the Grand Valley a prime place for growing grapes.
Where fruit trees flourish, so often will wine grapes, and Colorado’s orchard country around Palisade is no exception. With Mount Lincoln and Mount Garfield towering over the west end of the valley, retaining heat and reflecting it into the valley below, grapes are able to reach their full sugar and acid potential.
Colorado’s commercial winemakers have been taking advantage of this for 25 years. But in truth, winemakers knew this back in the 1880s, when they dubbed the area the “Vinelands.” In those days there were a large number of Italian immigrants in the area who craved the good, red homemade wine that was so much a part of life back home. They planted grapes, got together for their annual fall crushes and fermented wine in their cellars.
The Women’s Christian Temperance Union put early skids to home winemaking in 1909 by pressuring Mesa County to go dry. Colorado’s adoption of Prohibition four years later and national Prohibition in 1920 resulted in many grapevines being uprooted in the Grand Valley. Some surreptitious winemaking continued by farmers who were allowed to produce 40 gallons of grape juice annually. Colorado historian Abbot Fay writes in “The Story of Colorado Wines” that, with a bit of neglect and a touch of yeast, some of that juice still managed to ferment.
Colorado wine was reborn as an industry in 1980, when Colorado Mountain Vineyards – now Colorado Cellars – began selling wine made from Colorado-grown grapes. The idea caught on, and now Colorado has more than 40 wineries spread from the Denver area to McElmo Canyon, southwest of Cortez. The majority of the wineries are in the Grand Valley; the second-most wine-friendly area is the rich fruit country of Delta County.
An expanding variety of grapes and more experienced winemakers have started to make wine aficionados pick up a glass, swirl, sniff and take notice.
Many Colorado wines are now considered serious, grown-up wines. They have won major awards in prestigious competitions, including the San Francisco International Wine Competition, the Tasters Guild International, the American Wine Society and the International Eastern Wine Competition.
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Novel ways around wine country
BY LIMO | Drink in luxury
Tuck the maps away. Forget the designated driver. Taste to your heart’s content. And leave the driving to one of the limousine companies that provide the popular limo tours through the Grand Valley wineries. Wine tasters can choose from quick tours of as little as two hours or ultimate tours that include lunch before the tour begins, a bottle of wine from each winery visited, and a dinner that evening.
Wineries work with the limousine companies to provide backroom education on the winemaking process if visitors are so inclined. Box lunches also can be requested and enjoyed in winery settings, like the parklike grass outside Grande River Vineyards or the charming vine-edged backyard at Carlson’s Vineyards. Costs range from about $60 per hour for a basic tour to more than $100 per person for ultimate tours with meals included.
Tour companies include:
A Touch With Class Limousine, 970-245-5466
Absolute Prestige Limousine, 888-858-3904
American Spirit Shuttle, 888-226-5031
Bell’s Royale Limousine Service, 970-250-6663
Valley Limousine Inc., 970-243-6339
BY BIKE | Cycle for sauvignon
Locals fondly call the riverside stretch east of Palisade and the roller-coaster hills through the East Orchard Mesa wineries “the fruit loop” because it winds through orchards and vineyards. The 25-mile bike ride on paved roads is a perfect way for the athletically inclined to taste wine and burn off the calories, too. The ride lets visitors smell the grapes and fruit growing roadside and have plenty of time to ogle the Bookcliffs rising in giant red sandstone folds above the vineyards.
For 13 years, Mike Heaston has been organizing the Tour of the Vineyards to coincide with the Colorado Mountain Winefest, next scheduled for Sept. 16, 2006. About 1,200 riders tackle the gentle route that has only one daunting hill but winds past nearly 10 wineries and has a lunch waiting at Grande River Vineyards at the end. Though the official ride is a year away, cyclists can still take the loop on their own. Heaston recommends finding a friend to drive a sag wagon or riding the wineries and then coming back later in a vehicle to taste and purchase wine.
A map of the route is available on Heaston’s website at emgcolorado.com/race_tourvine_map.html.
BY TRAIN | The wineville line
Wine tasters are finding the rails can be a posh and relaxing new way to visit Colorado’s busiest wine country. The Grand Junction Visitor and Convention Bureau, AAA Colorado and jazz radio station KJCD 104.3-FM have teamed up to offer fall wine outings on Amtrak.
The bad news is that the last radio-station sanctioned tour – Nov. 11-13 – is sold out. But wine aficionados can start planning for next year. The wine train begins with a continental breakfast at Denver’s Union Station before you board a private Amtrak wine car. Onboard, wine travelers will enjoy lunch, live musical entertainment, a seminar on wine tasting and some actual wine tasting.
The next day, wine travelers will have a guided tour of eight Grand Valley wineries, including gourmet food-and-wine pairings. The return to Denver for satiated wine fans will be on a luxury motor coach. The entire wine train package includes two nights of hotel stays, ground transportation, complimentary hotel breakfasts, the guided tour and the train and bus ride as well as all wine activities on the train.
For those who can already taste the fun they’ll have next year and want to plan ahead, call AAA Colorado at 877-244-9790 or the Grand Junction Visitors and Convention Bureau at 800-962-2547.
Until the official wine train pulls out of the station next year, tasters traveling in parties of at least four can book a Rail, Wine and Dine trip through RMA Travel and Tours.
The trip runs from Denver’s Union Station and includes two nights in a Grand Junction hotel, a half-day guided winery tour and a show at Cabaret Dinner Theater. The tour company packages have add-on options such as skiing at Powderhorn or a two-day stay at Two Rivers Winery and Chateau that includes a tour of the Colorado National Monument. For information call 303-759-4600 or visit rmatours.com/grandjunction.htm.
