Building a Cult Winery in Colorado

Blake Eliasson of Settembre Cellars is building Colorado's first cult winery.

Cult wineries have waitlists for wine club memberships longer than a row of Cabernet vines. They have the esteem of critics, a cadre of loyal drinkers willing to pony up a mortgage for a case, and enough cache to fill a few dozen French oak barrels. Look at Napa’s Screaming Eagle (partially owned by Denver billionaire Stan Kroenke) and Grace Family Vineyards. Each produces just a few hundred cases annually — and it could take a few years before your name comes off the wait list.  To put that in perspective, a Robert Mondavi reserve release might total 20,000 cases, while the popular Australian brand YellowTail churns out an amazing 11 million cases annually.

So if you produce just 600 cases of stellar Oregon Pinot or California Cabernet, bet on a cult-like loyalty forming. We haven’t seen this feverish following in Colorado just yet, but one of the state’s newest wineries is taking this super, small-time approach to a level that makes home winemaking seem big time.

Settembre Cellars could be Colorado’s first cult winery in the making. And it’s all happening out of a home in central Boulder. Settembre, which first started releasing wines with the 2007 vintage, defines small-batch.

Take the 80304 wine, which is named after the winery’s zip code and is a blend of two French hybrids called Leon Millot and Foch that are grown in winemaker Blake Eliasson’s Boulder backyard. The 2010 release totaled a whopping two cases. There’s only one way to get one of those 24 homegrown bottles: Join what is undoubtedly the most limited wine club in the state, Settembre’s Community Supported Wine.

To become a member you have to either pick up the wine at a local farm (the club is a take off of Community Supported Agriculture) or live within delivery distance of the winery. Settembre also has a standard wine club that ships, and a full lineup of Italian-inspired wines totaling a mere 500 cases a year. “I’m not looking to get a whole lot bigger. I want to have my nose on every barrel,” Blake says. To hammer the point, he and wife Tracy individually label bottles by number as if each were a limited edition piece of artwork.

The 2008 Syrah in my collection (a classic Rhône take with stinky, earthy aromas, subtle fruits, and a long finish, $28) is labeled 442 of 583, and the ‘09 Riesling (a super dry example with peach, nectarine, and dried apricot flavors, $25) is 340 of 462. The latter figure would be a tiny number even if it referred to the number of cases produced, but in Settembre’s case it’s the total number of bottles for the vintage.

But there’s more to cult brands than production size. The wine has to be damn good to achieve demand.  That’s where Settembre sets itself up nicely. Blake hand sorts every grape that goes into the wines. “The attention these grapes are getting is absurd,” he says. In addition, he macerates (the process of letting the stems, seeds, and skins soak in the juice) about 30 days longer than most other winemakers, and ages his wines in barrel and bottle until he is satisfied.

Blake further defines his brand by tapping into the local and sustainable movement in teaming with Boulder’s 63rd St. Farm, setting up wine tastings and wine club pick ups on Thursday evenings from June through the end of the growing season. “There’s definitely a huge local thing here,” he says. “Wine is just on the cusp of being part of that.”

He’ll also deliver wine to your door by bicycle for free — assuming you place your order before the limited supply dries up.

Join the Community Supported Wine:
Shares are $170 (6 bottles) or $300 (12 bottles) a year, including the 80304 (until sold out)