Canyon Wind Cellars is one of the mainstays in the Colorado wine industry, having produced solid, Old World-style Bordeaux-style estate wines since 1996. Fifteen years later marked the time for a new guard of family grapes. Proprietors Jay and Jennifer Christianson released the first wine of the family’s second wine brand, Anemoi, in September 2011. The [...]
Category: "Grand Valley area"
Canyon Wind Cellars
There are two aspects that make Canyon Wind Cellars unique in Colorado. First, its birthday is in 1991, making it one of the oldest vineyards in the state. It is also an estate winery, meaning that all growing, winemaking and bottling are done on site at the Palisade vineyard. It appears Canyon Wind is the [...]
Carlson Vineyards
Twenty-two years in the business makes Carlson Vineyards one of Colorado’s most mature vineyards. It’s fitting it’s located in Palisade, which has been the pulse of the local industry for decades. After planting their first grapes in 1981 on East Orchard Mesa, Parker and Mary Carlson established the vineyard in 1988 out of a vintage [...]
Colorado Cellars Winery
There’s something to be said about being the first. In 1978, Colorado Cellars became the first commercial winery in the state to produce wine from Western Slope grapes, making its production the original Colorado product. Today, it remains the state’s longest continuously operating winery in Colorado, and also the largest with more than 20,000 cases [...]
Colterris Wines
Not long before producing its first wine, this vineyard had some pretty special guests: First Lady Michelle Obama and her kids. They were visiting for the main attraction, however, the High Country Orchards peach trees. Maybe if they swing through during a campaign stop in a few years, they’ll pack a case of Colterris wines [...]
Confre Cellars
Confre Cellars, a producer of fruit wines, was sold and transitioned into the Talon Wine Brands label owned by Glenn Foster. Talon is in the process phasing this label out. Confre Cellars, 455 Kokopelli Blvd, Unit A, Fruita, 970.464.1300
DeBeque Canyon Winery
Founded by local wine legend Bennett Price, DeBeque Canyon Winery opened in 1997 but has truly been in the works since the early 1980s. Price, the owner and winemaker, is credited with helping plant most of the early acerage of Colorado vineyards, including helping Steve Rhodes get his notable S. Rhodes label off the ground [...]
Desert Sun Vineyards: Redefining small batch
When you hear a winery owner say something like, “We bought our small acreage, and after witnessing the growth of the wine industry in Colorado, decided to join in the fun.” The date stamp is usually circa 2011. The bandwagon has been getting more full in the local wine industry with new vintners and entrepreneurs [...]
Garfield Estates Vineyard & Cellars
Jeff Carr seems to always be ahead of the Colorado winemaking rush. He started Garfield Estates Vineyard and Cellars more than a decade ago with the idea that the 11 acres (which has since expanded to 17) of grapes planted on the vineyard could prove, once and for all, that Colorado had the soil, weather [...]
Grande River Vineyards
Owned by Stephen and Naomi Smith, Grande River Vineyards is perhaps the most visible Colorado winery in the state. Heading west along I-70 at the entrance to Palisade means a pass by of its giant sign just a few yards from the highway. It’s one of the busiest tasting rooms for that reason alone. It [...]
Hermosa Vineyards
Hermosa Vineyards, 3269 3/4C Road, Palisade, 970 434.8766 More: Reviews News and mentions
Kahil Winery
Fly fishing and wine. At first thought, these two don’t seem like typical partners. So it may seem a little counterintuitive to see a chail dry fly adorned to the bottles of one of the state’s newest wineries Kahil Winery. Winemaker Tyrel Lawson needs just one sentence to make the marriage of ideas seem as [...]
Maison La Belle Vie
The heart of Colorado’s wine country features myriad personalities. There are farmers, retirees, outdoor enthusiasts and at least one colorful Frenchman. John Barbier is nothing without his heritage. Speaking with a heavy accent, he talks food, wine, life and more at the drop of a hat. He also happens to be a Palisade winemaker, producing [...]
Meadery of the Rockies
Founded in 1995, Meadery of the Rockies is a honey wine producer in the heart of Palisade. It was originally named the Rocky Mountain Meadery, and Glenn Foster of Talon Wine Brands bought the winery in 2008 and folded it into his comprehensive wine portfolio that also includes Talon Wines and St. Kathyrn Cellars. Winemaker: [...]
Mesa Park Vineyards
The story of Mesa Park Vineyards is one that seems to become more prevalent in the region. Family visits the Western Slope from the Metro Area, falls in love with the mesas, weather and small-town living, then buys a vineyard. Okay, this doesn’t happen all that often, but that’s the tale Brooke Webb will tell [...]
Reeder Mesa Vineyards
Reeder Mesa Vineyards has an endearing Colorado quality about it. The vineyard atop its namesake mesa has a one-dog welcoming committee that makes you feel at home as soon as you pull up to the tasting room. When parking your car, Trooper will sprint the hundred yards down the dirt driveway from the family house [...]
St. Kathryn Cellars
Fred Strothman decided he wanted to build a winery that, in party, would serve as a memorial for his mother, Kathryn. So he along with wife Connie planted grapes atop East Orchard Mesa in 1995, setting the stage for St. Kathryn Cellars, a winery that features still and fruit offerings. While they waited for the [...]
Talon Wine Brands
The name begins to tell the story: Talon Wine Brands. The last word being the operative descriptor. This Colorado wine producer is a conglomeration of four separate Colorado labels brought under one roof by Glenn Foster. It’s a mega brand, by local standards. Seems kind of California-like to house so many labels folded into one [...]
Two Rivers Winery & Chateau
It’s a simple task, finding something unique about Two Rivers Vineyard & Chateau. The name gives that away. This property on the eastern edge of Grand Junction, a good 20 minutes or so away from the heart of Palisade and most of the state’s vineyards, showcases a gorgeous chateau nestled against a backdrop of Colorado [...]
Varaison Vineyards
Just a few blocks from the central downtown of Palisade stands a century-old Victorian home with rows of seemingly unkempt vines in its backyard. Welcome to Varaison Vineyards, where abnormal to the local wine industry is normal. Ron West, winemaker, owner and science geek, has been operating the family winery since planting the first part [...]
Whitewater Hill Vineyards & Winery
Nancy Janes and John Behrs have split up their spousal duties pretty well. Behrs tends the grape vines. Janes takes the grapes and makes the wine for Whitewater Hill Vineyard. The result is a popular Grand Junction operation that took root in 1998 (literally) with the winery starting in 2004. With 37 acres spread across [...]