Colorado: American Winemaking's Latest Frontier

Winemaker Guy Drew's eyes sparkle as he moves into the barrel barn at his winery outside the sleepy town of Cortez, Colorado. I can't decide whether his animation flows from the joy he gets talking about the wine he makes, or is inspired by the leisurely tasting process we are enjoying.

"What we have here exhibits a lot of the area's attributes - a lot of cedar, piñon, mint," Guy says.

Guy and his wife, Ruth, belong to an eclectic group of Colorado winemakers who grow their grapes in the highest elevations of the business, between 4,000 and 7,000 feet. Although Coloradoans raised grapes as early as 1890, the state's neophyte industry - the fastest-growing agricultural segment in Colorado - is a recent phenomenon. While still dwarfed by the more well-known U.S. wine states, there are about 120 grape growers and 750 acres of planted vineyards here, according to the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board, and the wine industry has averaged a 20 percent increase in production during the past 14 years.

"In 1993, there were six wineries; now there are more than 70," Drew explains. "When it was six or eight or 10, you could find a good wine but availability was few and far between. That has changed, and the Colorado Wine Board has been working very hard to get the word out that the wines from here have improved."

The Front Range, Delta and Montrose Counties, Rocky Mountains, Grand Valley and the Four Corners areas comprise Colorado's five distinct wine regions. Ninety percent of the state's wine grapes come from two federally designated American Viticultural Areas: the Grand Valley along the Colorado River between Palisade and Grand Junction and the West Elks along the North Fork of the Gunnison River between Paonia and Hotchkiss. Merlot is the most widely planted varietal, accounting for 22 percent of the state's acreage.

"Our growth is not only quantitative, but qualitative as well," says Doug Caskey, executive director for the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. "Many Colorado wines are winning international wine competition awards and earning critical kudos, while our industry focuses on the best varietals within each micro-climate and region."

Even people familiar with Colorado wines associate them with the Western Slope or the Grand Junction area, the latter of which has more than 20 wineries. That will change, Guy predicts.

"In my opinion, the future of Colorado grape growing is here," he says. "Grand Junction ground is now $30,000 to $50,000 an acre, and going up all the time. Here you're looking at $5,000 to $7,000 an acre."

Although the state is emphasizing the wine industry in a current agritourism push, the Cortez area does not yet have the number of sizable wineries or tasting rooms to demand widespread visitor attention. Not far from the Drews, the Sutcliffe Vineyards, which produces Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Gewürztraminer, Riesling, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay, and Viognier offerings, hosts tastings by appointment only.

"Quite frankly, the whole area of Grand Junction benefited more from the wineries than the wineries did," Guys says. "It has become an attraction to draw people to the region; it gives people something to do there. Obviously, Mesa Verde National Park is the principal tourism draw at this point. We may be able to entertain wine enthusiasts for an hour but then there's nothing else for them. We need more quality wineries, with tasting rooms, to develop."