Colorado wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Colorado. Most of Colorado's vineyards are located on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains, though an increasing number of wineries are located along the Front Range.

Geography and climate

Colorado's grape growing regions contain some of the highest elevation vineyards in the world, with most viticulture in the state practiced between and feet

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as ''orthometric heights''. The comb ...

. The mountain climate ensures warm summer days and cool nights. Colorado is home to two designated

American Viticultural Area An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...

s of the

Grand Valley AVA The Grand Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Mesa County, Colorado, primarily in Grand Junction and Palisade. It is located roughly 200 miles West-Southwest of Denver. The high-desert AVA - with an average elevation of be ...

and the

West Elks AVA The West Elks AVA is an American Viticultural Area located in Delta County, Colorado in and around the towns of Cedaredge, Hotchkiss and Paonia. It is one of two AVA's in the state. Some of the highest altitude vineyards in the northern hemi ...

, where most of the vineyards in the state are located. Approximately 100 commercial wineries operate in Colorado and about are planted to grapevines. Other wine regions include: the

Four Corners The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...

area near Cortez, near Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and

Durango Durango (), officially named Estado Libre y Soberano de Durango ( en, Free and Sovereign State of Durango; Tepehuán: ''Korian''; Nahuatl: ''Tepēhuahcān''), is one of the 31 states which make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in ...

; Pikes Peak/ Arkansas River Valley near Salida, Cañon City, and Manitou Springs; and the Front Range between Fort Collins and Castle Rock, with many wineries located in the Denver metropolitan area.

History

Grapevines ''Vitis'' (grapevine) is a genus of 79 accepted species of vining plants in the flowering plant family Vitaceae. The genus is made up of species predominantly from the Northern Hemisphere. It is economically important as the source of grapes, b ...

were first brought to Colorado in the 19th century by miners in southern Colorado. The first agricultural record of vineyards was when Governor

George A. Crawford George Addison Crawford (July 27, 1827 – January 26, 1891) was an American politician, lawyer and journalist. Crawford was born in Clinton County, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Jefferson College (now Washington & Jefferson College) in 1847. C ...

, founder of Grand Junction planted 60 acres of grapes and other fruit near

Palisade A palisade, sometimes called a stakewall or a paling, is typically a fence or defensive wall made from iron or wooden stakes, or tree trunks, and used as a defensive structure or enclosure. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymology ''Palisade' ...

. Homegrown wine was once a part of life in Colorado as it was throughout America. Like in other areas

Prohibition in the United States In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a Constitution of the United States, nationwide constitutional law prohibition, prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtai ...

virtually wiped out the Colorado wine industry in the early twentieth century only to have it resurrected again in the 1960s. In 1968, Gerald Ivancie opened Ivancie Winery in Denver using grapes from California, but was instrumental in developing experimental plantings of premium wine grapes in and around the Grand Valley. Ivancie's winemaker was

Warren Winiarski Warren Winiarski (born 1928) is a Napa Valley winemaker and the founder and former proprietor of Stag's Leap Wine Cellars. Winiarski owns and operates Arcadia Vineyards in the Coombsville AVA of Napa Valley, which produces Chardonnay, Cabernet S ...

, who was the first winemaker at Robert Mondavi Winery and rose to fame when he won the

Judgement of Paris (wine) The Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, was a wine competition organized in Paris on 24 May 1976 by Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant and his colleague, Patricia Gallagher, in which French judges carried out t ...

tasting in 1976 for his

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a winery founded by Warren Winiarski in 1970 and based in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California. The winery achieved significant international recognition in 1976, four years after its establishment ...

S.L.V Cabernet Sauvignon. Colorado's Limited Farm Winery Act was passed in 1977. A decade later, Colorado was one of the first states to respond to California's offer to establish free trade among wineries and consumers through the Reciprocal Shipping Law, helping the re-emerging Colorado grape growing and winemaking industry. In 1990, with five operating wineries, the Colorado General Assembly created the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board (CWIDB). In 1991, the Grand Valley area near Palisade, Colorado, was recognized by the federal government as an American Viticultural Area (AVA). In 2001, the

was added as the second AVA. In 2010, there were approximately 115 commercial wineries in Colorado. In 2019, there are approximately 165 wineries - including 21 hard cider producers, 13

mead Mead () is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content ranges from about 3.5% ABV to more than 20%. The defining character ...

producers and 1 sake producer. In 2021,

invested in the Colorado wine and grape industry through a $150,000 grant from the Winiarski Family Foundation, the charitable foundation established by Winiarski and his wife, Barbara. The grant benefits the Western Colorado Community College Viticulture and Enology program.

Governor's Cup Competition

Every year, the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board hosts the Governor's Cup Competition; which is the only competition exclusively for Colorado wineries. Each year, the CWIDB invites licensed Colorado wineries to submit samples for evaluation by a panel of esteemed wine professionals from around the United States. The top wines from the competition comprise the Governor's Cup Collection which is used to showcase the industry to the public and the wine industry. The winners are honored at public event called Colorado UnCorked and the Best of Show is announced at the event. Governor's Cup Best of Show winners: 2014 - Canyon Wind Cellars 2012 Petit Verdot 2015 - Canyon Wind Cellars 2013 "Anemoi Lips" Syrah AND Turquoise Mesa Winery 2013 Syrah 2016 - BookCliff Vineyards 2013 "Ensemble" Red Blend 2017 - Creekside Cellars 2014 Cabernet Franc 2018 - BookCliff Vineyards 2015 Cabernet Franc Reserve 2019 - Qutori Wines 2017 Syrah 2020 - No Competition 2021 - Announced on Nov. 5, 2021

Grapes

The most popular grapes grown in Colorado are varieties in the species of European grape Vitis vinifera. The most popular red varieties are

Merlot Merlot is a dark blue–colored wine grape variety, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name ''Merlot'' is thought to be a diminutive of ''merle'', the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the ...

Cabernet Sauvignon Cabernet Sauvignon () is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Australia and British Columbia, Canada to Lebanon' ...

Syrah Syrah (), also known as Shiraz, is a dark-skinned grape variety grown throughout the world and used primarily to produce red wine. In 1999, Syrah was found to be the offspring of two obscure grapes from southeastern France, Dureza and Mondeuse B ...

, and

Cabernet Franc Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire's Chinon. In addition to being us ...

. The most popular white varieties are

Chardonnay Chardonnay (, , ) is a green-skinned grape variety used in the production of white wine. The variety originated in the Burgundy wine region of eastern French wine, France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from English wine, Englan ...

, Riesling, and

Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu in the Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''"The Oxford Companion to Wine"'' Third Edition pg 754 Oxford University Press 2006 Outside of the Rhôn ...

Recognition

Several Colorado wineries have been awarded scores of 90 points or above by Wine Enthusiast Magazine and

The Wine Advocate ''The Wine Advocate'', fully known as ''Robert Parker's Wine Advocate'' and informally abbreviated ''TWA'' or ''WA ''or more recently as ''RP'', is a bimonthly wine publication based in the United States featuring the consumer advice of wine criti ...

. In 2017, Colorado Mountain Winefest was voted the best wine festival in the U.S. by USA Today's "10Best". Also in 2017, Kyle Schlachter (Outreach Coordinator for the CO Wine Industry Development Board) was named one of Wine Enthusiast Magazine's 40 Under 40 Tastemakers because his efforts reflect the diversity and uniqueness of wine in the U.S. In 2018, Wine Enthusiast Magazine named Colorado's

one of the Top Ten wine travel destinations in the world.

References

External links

Colorado Wine

TTB AVA Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado Wine Wine regions of the United States by state