Great wines await in the Colorado countryside
By the Thirst Team
The varieties are endless. The colors vary greatly. The grapes come from all over the world. The only thing consistent about wine is that everyone has a strong opinion about its taste.
Dave Aschwanden of Chill Switch Wine says that Colorado’s wine scene suffered in the early days. As recently as 15 years ago, it was unlikely that a Colorado-produced wine would make the Thanksgiving dinner table. Generally, it just wasn’t that good.
But times have changed and the Western Slope has come into its own, bottling wine that is proudly served to guests for any occasion.
Adapting to Colorado’s climate is important to grape-growing success, especially when the fruit is known to have its own personalities. Thousands of wine grapes are grown around the world and new ones are developed each year using a variety of grafting techniques. While consumer tastes evolve rapidly, the wine industry, while acknowledging tradition, also has pushed beyond the basics to draw out new enthusiasts.
Thirst Colorado visited several wineries on the Western Slope in order to learn more about the progress and challenges the vintners face moving forward.
We started with Sauvage Spectrum, which is headed up by a local winegrower Kaibab Sauvage and winemaker Patric Matysiewski.
With roughly 60 acres of vineyard, the team grows 26 varietals and is constantly experimenting to produce a taste that is specific to the high-desert town of Palisade, which is part of the Grand Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA).
Matysiewski said the winery is proud of its Sparklet, a sparkling wine that is fruit-forward and affordable. Why wait until New Years to pop a cork when this dry bubbly -— made with proprietary grapes — is available year round?
Of course not all grapes are proprietary at Sauvage Spectrum. The winery is known to share its bounty, when plentiful, with other producers in the area.
Matysiewski said he and his peers in Colorado have fought the premise that “Colorado wines suck and they’re overpriced.” Although nothing happens overnight, Sauvage Spectrum and others are winning over wine drinkers who have been lucky enough to stumble onto the varieties coming out of the Western Slope.
The Palisade winery produces a wide variety of wine with an eye toward creativity rather than perfection. Although the staff is not “classically trained” in winemaking, it doesn’t slow down the creative process. With an eye toward reds, owner Scott Hamilton relishes making wines that are a bit out of character. He’s worked with breweries and he’s aged his products in multiple barrels to achieve something unique: “wines that move freely between tradition and invention,” according to one of their slogans.
As enthusiasts arrive at the winery and tasting room by horse carriage, bike or car, Hamilton explains that he has also focused on a variety of ciders. Yes, his award-winning merlot is the best seller, but variety is king at Red Fox.
A chile-roasted cider might please some looking for a tongue tingle. Or, an aperitif named Grapple Jack will warm up palates with an apple wine blended with grape spirits and aged in American oak barrels.
Demonstrating his eclectic taste, Hamilton said he enjoys a good beer as much as wine. A few of his current favorites are Denver’s Hogshead Brewery and Bierstadt Lagerhaus.
Entrepreneurs Brandon and Laura Black met while both were working in the housing industry. Later, while traveling in Argentina, they both fell in love with the local wines. They eventually purchased Mesa Park and doggedly pursued perfecting the Grand Valley taste that visitors enjoy. While the Blacks fight to keep up with demand, the tasting room and overall setting is calm, quiet and inviting.
The cabernet sauvignon is popular, as is the cabernet franc. The Finz Dessert Wine also attracts attention from tourists looking for something different.
“I’m so proud of some of these grapes,” Brandon says with a smile. Just getting the wine produced and into the hands of visitors is a thrill, he adds. “It blows your mind.”
They invite folks to stop by and say hi, and don’t forget to greet Daryl, their little bulldog, who seems to enjoy his laid-back, wine-country lifestyle.
Stone Cottage Cellars was launched by Brent and Karen Helleckson in 1994 after jumping from the corporate world into the grapes and blending world. They settled on the hillside above Paonia, which affords incredible views of nearby peaks.
The Hellecksons built the property one stone at a time with help from family and friends. The stone cottage, tasting room and wine cellar were built with rocks from the property and provide a scenic, gorgeous setting.
The never-ending battle to produce grapes with Mother Nature’s fickle touch has presented challenges but Brent says they’ve enjoyed working with the soil, the rocks, the grapevines and the end product. The winery sits at about 6,200 feet, and features one of the highest merlot vineyards in the northern hemisphere, Brent says.
Because of grape shortages, the Hellecksons have bought grapes from outside their vineyard to keep up with demand. But Brent is proud of the Colorado grapes he uses. He has planted merlot and chardonnay vineyards, and has a plot of gewurztraminer. The gewurztraminer wine is popular among visitors who can enjoy beautiful views of the valley.
The merlot, often featured at pairings held at the winery with local restaurants, is bold and rich. Brent said his family loves Italian food and finds the pairing with his merlot to be magical.
He suggests every wine should start with good grapes and then “keep it all clean,” he says of his process.
“We don’t try to make California wines out of Colorado grapes,” he points out.
Stoney Mesa’s story started in 1989 when the Neal family purchased a 50-acre farm in Cedaredge and began establishing vineyards. Gewurztraminer and merlot grapes were planted early. In 2010, the Neal’s planted 2.5 acres of pinot gris and an acre of zwiegelt and baco noir.
They first retailed wine in 1994, and with help from the family, much of which lives between Cedaredge and Grand Junction, the Neals have continued to produce award-winning wines. Bret Neal runs the operation and is considered the first second-generation winemaker in the area. He says his mom also has vineyards on her property, which isn’t too far from Cedaredge.
The cabernet franc and the malbec are two of the more popular wines that Stoney Mesa distributes. Like most wineries in the area, the tasting room is countryside pleasant, both inside and out. The greenery and hills make for a never-want-to-leave setting.
“We take risks and sometimes it turns out to be magic,” Dave Aschwanden says. “You never know.”
Those thoughts sum up many Colorado wineries that must stand out enough to be noticed and yet provide great tasting libations that meet high expectations.
Aschwanden opened Chill Switch Wines in Cedaredge in 2012. He has served on the Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology (CAVE) board. The organization hosts the Colorado Mountain Winefest in Palisade each September.
He and his wife, Christie, were living in Europe when he first caught the wine bug. He’s never looked back as he continues to make a variety of wines that cover the gamut from an excellent white zinfandel to a merlot, which Aschwanden describes as an “absolute fruit bomb.”
Additives are not part of the equation at Chill Switch – it’s all Colorado and all natural.
So, if it’s time to hit the chill switch, consider a peripatetic run around Colorado’s wine country and enjoy your favorites every afternoon.