Colorado wine refers to

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

made from

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non- climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of grapes began approximately 8,0 ...

s grown in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

state of

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

. Most of Colorado's vineyards are located on the western slope of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

, though an increasing number of wineries are located along the

Front Range The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado, and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encounter ...

Geography and climate

Colorado's grape-growing regions contain some of the highest

elevation The elevation of a geographic location (geography), ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational equipotenti ...

vineyard A vineyard ( , ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines. Many vineyards exist for winemaking; others for the production of raisins, table grapes, and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is kno ...

s in the world, with most

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

in the state practiced between and

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

. The

mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

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 where most of the state's vineyards are located: the Grand Valley AVA and the West Elks AVA. Approximately 150 commercial wineries operate in Colorado, and about are planted with grapevines. Other wine regions include: the Four Corners area near Cortez, near Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, and

Durango Durango, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Durango, is one of the 31 states which make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico, situated in the northwest portion of the country. With a population of 1,832,650 ...

;

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, ...

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in Colorado, specifically ...

Valley near Salida, Cañon City, and Manitou Springs; and the

between Fort Collins and Castle Rock, with some wineries located in the

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

metropolitan area.

History

Grapevines were first brought to

in the 19th century by miners in southern

. The first agricultural record of vineyards was when George A. Crawford, 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 row of closely placed, high vertical standing tree trunks or wooden or iron stakes used as a fence for enclosure or as a defensive wall. Palisades can form a stockade. Etymo ...

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

Prohibition in the United States The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...

virtually wiped out the Colorado wine industry in the early twentieth century only to have it resurrected again in the 1960s. In the 1930s, Carbone & Co. and Ambrose & Co. opened as the first licensed wineries in Colorado post-prohibition. Neither made wine from Colorado grapes, but bottled bulk wine from out of state. Ambrose closed in the 1950s and Carbone changed names several times and eventually closed in the 1970s. In 1968, Gerald Ivancie opened Ivancie Cellars in

using grapes from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, but was instrumental in working with fruit growers to develop experimental plantings of premium wine grapes in and around the Grand Valley. Ivancie's winemaker was Warren Winiarski, who was the first winemaker at Robert Mondavi Winery and rose to fame when he won the Judgement of Paris (wine) tasting in 1976 for his Stag's Leap Wine Cellars S.L.V Cabernet Sauvignon. Ivancie sold his winery in 1973 and then it closed a few years later. Ivancie Cellar's license was still listed in the 1978 federal registry but operations ceased sometime before that. in 1976, Franciscan Winery from California (owned by Justin Meyer) became bonded winery number 4 when it opened a tasting room in Denver before closing a year later. 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. This legislation spurred local home winemakers, Jim and Anne Seewald, who worked with Dr. Ivancie to open Colorado Mountain Vineyards; the first licensed Colorado winery to use Colorado grapes. 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 Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) as the state's first American Viticultural Area (AVA). In 2001, the West Elks was added as the second AVA. In 2010, there were approximately 115 commercial wineries in

. In 2024, there were approximately 180 wineries - including 21 hard cider producers, 14

mead Mead (), also called honey wine, and hydromel (particularly when low in alcohol content), is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey mixed with water, and sometimes with added ingredients such as fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alco ...

producers and one

sake Sake, , or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indeed any East Asi ...

producer. In 2021, Warren Winiarski 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. Best of Show winners: * 2010 - (TIED) Best Red: Alfred Eames Cellars ( Paonia) 2009 Sangre del Sol
Best White: Boulder Creek Winery (

Boulder In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In ...

) 2009 "Gen Y" Riesling * 2011 - (TIED) Best Red: Cottonwood Cellars ( Olathe) 2005 Classic Blend Estate Red
Best White: Whitewater Hill Vineyards ( Grand Junction) 2009 Riesling * 2012 - The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey ( Cañon City) 2009 Cabernet Franc Reserve * 2013 - Creekside Cellars (

Evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

) 2010 Cabernet Franc * 2014 - Canyon Wind Cellars (

) 2012 Petit Verdot * 2015 - (TIED) Canyon Wind Cellars (

) 2013 "Anemoi Lips" Syrah
Turquoise Mesa Winery ( Broomfield) 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 ( Paonia) 2016 Syrah * 2020 - No Competition * 2021 - Carboy Winery ( Littleton) 2019 Teroldego * 2022 - Carboy Winery ( Littleton) 2020 Teroldego * 2023 - Alfred Eames Cellars ( Paonia) 2019 Carmena * 2024 - The OBC Wine Project ( Fort Collins) 2023 Colorado Red Blend

Grapes

The most popular grapes grown in

are varieties in the species of European grape ''

Vitis vinifera ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, is a species of flowering plant, native to the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean region, Central Europe, and southwestern Asia, from Morocco and Portugal north to southern Germany and east to northern ...

''. 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 , the French name for the blackbird, probably a reference to the color ...

, Cabernet Sauvignon,

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 ...

, 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 (wine), Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone, as in the Loire (wine), Loire's C ...

. 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 France, but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand. For new a ...

Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...

, and

Viognier Viognier () is a white wine grape variety. It is the only permitted grape for the French wine Condrieu AOC, Condrieu in the Rhone Valley (wine), Rhône Valley.J. Robinson ''The Oxford Companion to Wine'', Third Edition, p. 754, Oxford Univers ...

. Cold-hardy varieties such as Chambourcin, Verona, La Crescent, Traminette, and Petite Pearl are becoming more popular as growers look to diversify vineyard acreage that can withstand the sometimes harsh cold events that damage, or kill, grapevines in Colorado.

Recognition

Several

wineries have been awarded scores of 90 points or above by '' Decanter (magazine)'', '' Wine Enthusiast Magazine'', and '' The Wine Advocate''. In 2017, Colorado Mountain Winefest in

was voted the nation's best wine festival by USA Today's "10Best." Also in 2017, Kyle Schlachter, outreach coordinator for the Colorado 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 Grand Valley one of the top ten wine travel destinations in the world. In 2024, the Grand Valley came in 10th in the

USA TODAY ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

10Best Readers’ Choice Top 10 Wine Regions.

References

External links

Colorado Wine

TTB AVA Map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colorado Wine