The early temperance movement may have cut our wine culture back to the trunk, but there was no killing the roots. Over the past 25 years, Colorado viticulture has slowly grown back, its tender green tendrils winding their way through spots in orchards where peaches once ruled. Now, it's filling our glasses with sweet pinks, crisp whites, bold reds and lately, a tawny port or two.
The names alone tell something about Colorado wines - Canyon Wind, Mesa Grande, DeBeque Canyon and Grande River. These fanciful-sounding wineries with some solidly good wines are named for the unique geography that has made the Grand Valley a prime place for growing grapes.
Where fruit trees flourish, so often will wine grapes, and Colorado's orchard country around Palisade is no exception. With Mount Lincoln and Mount Garfield towering over the west end of the valley, retaining heat and reflecting it into the valley below, grapes are able to reach their full sugar and acid potential.
Colorado's commercial winemakers have been taking advantage of this for 25 years. But in truth, winemakers knew this back in the 1880s, when they dubbed the area the "Vinelands." In those days there were a large number of Italian immigrants in the area who craved the good, red homemade wine that was so much a part of life back home. They planted grapes, got together for their annual fall crushes and fermented wine in their cellars.
The Women's Christian Temperance Union put early skids to home winemaking in 1909 by pressuring Mesa County to go dry. Colorado's adoption of Prohibition four years later and national Prohibition in 1920 resulted in many grapevines being uprooted in the Grand Valley. Some surreptitious winemaking continued by farmers who were allowed to produce 40 gallons of grape juice annually. Colorado historian Abbot Fay writes in "The Story of Colorado Wines" that, with a bit of neglect and a touch of yeast, some of that juice still managed to ferment.
Colorado wine was reborn as an industry in 1980, when Colorado Mountain Vineyards - now Colorado Cellars - began selling wine made from Colorado-grown grapes. The idea caught on, and now Colorado has more than 40 wineries spread from the Denver area to McElmo Canyon, southwest of Cortez. The majority of the wineries are in the Grand Valley; the second-most wine-friendly area is the rich fruit country of Delta County.
An expanding variety of grapes and more experienced winemakers have started to make wine aficionados pick up a glass, swirl, sniff and take notice.
Many Colorado wines are now considered serious, grown-up wines. They have won major awards in prestigious competitions, including the San Francisco International Wine Competition, the Tasters Guild International, the American Wine Society and the International Eastern Wine Competition.
... Novel ways around wine country
BY LIMO | Drink in luxury
Tuck the maps away. Forget the designated driver. Taste to your heart's content. And leave the driving to one of the limousine companies that provide the popular limo tours through the Grand Valley wineries. Wine tasters can choose from quick tours of as little as two hours or ultimate tours that include lunch before the tour begins, a bottle of wine from each winery visited, and a dinner that evening.
Wineries work with the limousine companies to provide backroom education on the winemaking process if visitors are so inclined. Box lunches also can be requested and enjoyed in winery settings, like the parklike grass outside Grande River Vineyards or the charming vine-edged backyard at Carlson's Vineyards. Costs range from about $60 per hour for a basic tour to more than $100 per person for ultimate tours with meals included.
Tour companies include:
A Touch With Class Limousine, 970-245-5466
Absolute Prestige Limousine, 888-858-3904
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