Leroux Creek Vineyards: Going hybrid

The view from Leroux Creek Vineyards' backyard in Hotchkiss.

A funny thing happened on the way to starting a winery for Yvon Gros. The Frenchman found a way to be different, very different: By planting hybrids on his four-acre property that is home to Leroux Creek Vineyards in Hotchkiss on the western outskirts of the West Elks AVA. He started planting in 2004 and opened commercially with the 2006 vintage.

For the un-initiated, hybrids are grapes formed by crossing native American rootstock (that largely lack the premium wine flavors we love but tend to grow very well in the U.S.) and vinifera (the prestigious grapes from European lineage such as Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay).

Hybrids produce a different flavor profile than the wines most of us are normally used to, and Gros embraces that. It makes him stand out in a crowd.

His tasting room is filled with organic estate bottlings of wines such as Cayuga White and Chambourcin. Not exactly household names. The vines can withstand a harsh Colorado winter and the wines come out with higher acidic properties than many instate vintners are accustomed to.

Gros and his wife and business partner, Joanna, are also setting themselves apart from the pack by offering a culinary adventure at their inn. Small groups can spend a week at the quaint adobe inn, learning to cook farm-to-table classic French food, make cheese and wine, and bake bread, among other things. It’s like an adult summer camp for foodies.

Winemaker: Yvon Gros

Annual production: 1,000-plus cases

Award highlights:

• 2010 Rose de Leroux, Best of Fest at the 2010 Colorado Mountain Winefest
• NV Apres Vous port, silver at the 2010 Finger Lakes International Wine Competition

Tasting room:

Leroux Creek Vineyards, 31424 Highway 92, Hotchkiss, 970.872.4746. Hours: 11 a.m.–5 p.m. daily in the summer and fall (advanced phone call recommended)

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