It’s never easy to be the one , but a 3-year-old Littleton business has stepped up to the challenge in the space that used to house Denver’s Govnr’s Park Tavern.
Carboy Winery started in Littleton in 2016 and has since expanded into Breckenridge. Now the winery is making a grand entrance in Denver, on the corner of 7th Avenue and Logan Street, where Govnr’s Park Tavern closed last year.
In addition to a winery, the new Carboy brings a wine bar, bottle shop and Mediterranean restaurant, called Logan Street.
Out front, patio seating spans the conjoined spaces. A private dining room and backyard flanks one end. There’s even a “bubble barn” in the works out back (more on that later). And all of this adds to Carboy’s existing real estate in the neighborhood, including the brunch and lunch restaurant Ivy on 7th around the corner, and Angelo’s Taverna, down the street at Washington and 6th.
“I think people are happy to see the space(s) go to somebody that’s already part of the neighborhood,” said Jason Snopkoski, Carboy’s tasting room manager.
When construction began earlier this year on the corner buildings, Snopkoski said there was a question among his team on whether or not they should keep the neon green sign that reads “govnr’s park” and hangs outside.
“Hell yes,” he and most everyone involved said.
That “hell yes” attitude has carried over to the new spaces, where Snopkoski and the Carboy team are running four new bars around the corner from each other — a brunch bar, a taproom bar, a tasting room bar and the bar at Logan Street.
“We’re just making sure we always have enough wine for the people coming in the doors,” Snopkoski said.
To keep up with the growth, Carboy is harvesting around 150 tons of Colorado grapes this year, plus 100 tons from California and more juice from Washington and Oregon. Some of that is fermenting at the new Denver facility inside 10 350-gallon brite tanks which “feed the restaurants,” according to Snopkoski.
Chefs Rebecca Weitzman and Scott Hybbeneth (of Angelo’s) also feed the restaurants with a range of Mediterranean fare — handmade pastas, flatbreads, charcuterie boards and more seafood specials than meats.
While the taproom is already becoming a happy hour destination and the restaurant a neighborhood dinner spot, Carboy’s tasting room and bottle shop acts as the glue of the businesses and, of all the concepts, is perhaps the most unique for Denver. There, customers will “feel like you’re actually at a winery, too,” Snopkoski said.
As in Napa, Sonoma or any wine region, you’ll be able to walk up to the counter and sample Carboy’s grapes, from a Colorado Albariño to a Cabernet Franc. You can order them by the glass, bottle, case or refillable growler to-go.
Soon, you’ll also be able to try the first Carboy Denver Prosecco, which should be released early next year. Using the Italian Charmat method, it’s going to be fermented inside tanks located behind the restaurant in, you guessed it, the “bubble barn.” Let the countdown begin now for the start of bubble-tastings and barn tours.
400 E. 7th Ave., 720-617-9410, 2-10 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 2-11 p.m. Thursday and Friday, noon-11 p.m. Saturday, noon-10 p.m. Sunday and happy hour daily from 3-6 p.m. and 9 p.m.-“close,”