By Shannon Porter
Independent Wine Consultant
Every
Spring we eagerly await one of our favorite Colorado events, the Grand
Valley Winery Association’s Spring Barrel Tasting event. Held
on the last weekend of April, eight wineries in the Grand Junction/Palisade
area participate in a weekend filled with wine tasting, food and fun.
The
Barrel Tasting weekend is a self-guided tour of eight participating
wineries: Canyon Wind Cellars, Carlson Vineyards, DeBeque Canyon Winery,
Garfield Estates Winery, Grande River Vineyards, Graystone Vineyards,
Plum Creek Cellars and Two Rivers Winery.
This
year we started at Canyon Wind Cellars, one of our personal favorites.
After receiving our complimentary tasting glass and wine “passport”
(which affords us a 15% discount on wine sales at the participating
wineries), we enjoyed a glass of Pinot Grigio on the lawn and admired
the view of the vineyards and the mesa. We then headed off for a tour
of the cellars. Canyon Wind is the only Colorado winery which actually
has a cellar where they age their wine. We tasted several of the reds
straight from the barrel so that we could compare these “about
to be bottled” wines with the bottled wines they were getting
ready to release for sale. Our group then headed upstairs for some gourmet
appetizers to accompany the bottled white and red wines they were releasing.
One of our favorites was the Petit Verdot, a dark rich red wine. These
vines were sent by accident from a grower and the winery had to have
them DNA tested to find out what varietal they actually were!
Our
next stop was DeBeque Canyon Winery, owned by a former oilman from Oklahoma,
Bennett Price. Bennett was instrumental in getting the wine industry
established in the Grand Junction area. The barrel tasting is held in
their warehouse in downtown Palisade, but they also have a very nice
tasting room on the east side of Palisade. Bennett gives a great educational
tour as part of his winery’s barrel tasting. DeBeque is known
for their flagship Claret wine and also make a “Red Fox Merlot”
which is a good, inexpensive, everyday red wine.
We
then proceeded to Carlson Vineyards, passing through miles of orchards
and driving by the Sunny Dale Nudist Colony (yes, they still exist.)
Carlson treated us to wonderful appetizers from one of the local Italian
restaurants. This winery offers a mix of both dry wines and sweet fruit
wines. Try their Tyrannasaurus Red Lemberger (a dry red) for something
different!
Our
last winery of the day was Garfield Estates, established in 2000 by
two former “Techies” from Denver. This winery always serves
fabulous food and produces a very tasty Syrah and a dry Rose. They are
the only winery on the tour who offers visitors the chance to buy “wine
futures” at a substantial discount on their soon to be released
wines.
Day
two of our weekend began at the most picturesque winery on the tour,
Two Rivers Winery. Situated outside of Grand Junction between the gateways
of the Colorado National Monument, Two Rivers looks like a French chateau
and includes an adjoining country inn. Two Rivers offered an elaborate
food pairing with their wines which showcased various cheeses, shrimp,
salmon and beef selections. Our personal favorite at this winery is
their French-style dry Riesling.
We
were then off to the Palisade area where we first stopped at Plum Creek
Cellars. Plum Creek is Colorado’s oldest winery still in existence
and also boasts one of Colorado’s woman winemakers, Jenne Baldwin.
Every year Plum Creek has offered fabulous food pairings with their
wines and this year was no exception. Be sure to try the green olives,
we look forward to them every year! This winery has a beautiful tasting
room and a nice patio/picnic area as well. Their Palisade Red table
wine is a great value and they have a very interesting Sangiovese dessert
wine.
Up
the road from Plum Creek is Grande River Vineyards. If you are interested
in buying a winery, this one’s for sale! Boasting sixty acres
of vineyards, this winery grows more grapes than any other in Colorado
and the farm not only supplies the Grande River Vineyards winery, but
half of the grapes used in Colorado's other wineries, and wineries in
eight other states as well. Try their Red Meritage (a French blend of
Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot) or their White Meritage
(a blend of dry, crisp Sauvignon Blanc and the sweeter Semillon.) Future
plans are for a boutique hotel to be built in the vineyards and it should
be open by Spring 2008.
Our
final stop of our tour was at Greystone Winery, a little hard to find,
but worth it! This winery is Colorado’s only Port House and they
never fail to please – even those who are not regular Port drinkers.
We always look forward to a glass of their red Port I accompanied by
Stilton blue cheese soaked in MORE Port and the candied walnuts. The
Lipizzan is a white port made from Pinot Gris and is served with cheesecake
and chocolate-covered strawberries. This winery is the perfect end to
the day, not only because of the great desserts but because the port
is stout and the pours generous! You’ll need a nap after this
stop.
If
you love wine or just want to learn more about wine; this event is the
perfect way to see what some of the best wineries in Colorado have to
offer. Plus you’ll get to talk directly to the winemakers and
learn more about the winemaking process. We think you’ll be pleasantly
surprised!
The
Spring Barrel Tasting Event is held every year, on the last weekend
of April. Tickets are generally $60 for the two day (Saturday/Sunday)
event and are limited to a certain number of people. Accommodations
are available in Grand Junction and at some B&Bs in Palisade. For
more information go to: http://www.grandvalleywine.com.
Shannon
Porter is an independent wine consultant for The Traveling Vineyard.
She has been interested in wines since the 1980s and began conducting
in-home wine tastings in 2003. She has been featured in 5280 magazine
and to date has conducted over 200 wine tastings. For more information
call 303.888.9283 or visit
www.myttv.com/shannon5290
