The Colorado State University School of Agriculture hosted their annual Grapes to Glass event at the winery last Wednesday July 21st!  Dean Craig Beyrouty and CSU President Dr. Tony Frank were both in attendance and spoke to the enthudiastic crowd!

With the warmer weather upon us, its time to start thinking about my favorite summer wine, Rose!  We have just released our 2009 Vin Rose, and in my humble opinion it is our best one yet.

Rose wines continue to be somewhat of an enigma to most Americans, we quickly associate them with cheap pink wines such at White Zinfandel and Mateus.  Sweet and not very food friendly.  But many Americans are starting to recognize that "real" Rose wines are some of the most interesting and food friendly wines you can find.

I tend to be somewhat obsessive about our Vin Rose, each year pushing to make this wine better and more interesting.  With the 2009 we added yet another new twist.  We started the same as past years with an early picking of our Syrah grapes, about 24 hours of skin contact followed by primary fermentation in stainless steel tank.  But new for this year we racked the wine into neutral oak barrels for about 2 months.  This allows the wine to "breathe" or in wine geek terms, "micro-oxygenate".  This allows the wine to become much richer and rounder, without the sharp edges of some wines that ferment in stainless steel.  I would love to take credit for this idea, but truth be told, I discovered it while wine touring in Oregon last year.  After trying some of the best Rose's I have ever had I asked the winemakers how they were achieving such big fruity round wines, and they all said "Neutral Barrels"!  So I was eager to give this a try, and the results speak for themselves!

Stop by the winery or our new tasting room in Denver and try the 2009 Vin Rose.  It the perfect summer wine.

Well last Saturday was the grand opening for our new Denver tasting room at Winery Row.  Wow!  What a huge success.  Thanks to all who came out to see this new venture, and there were a bunch of you!!  Not sure the final numbers but well over 500, maybe closer to 1000 came out on a beautiful spring Saturday to check out our tasting room.

We will be open Wednesday thru Sunday from 12-5.  There are a total of 4 wineries participating in the new Colorado Winery Row.  Each features locally produced, hand crafted fine wines and each tasting room features local artists works on display.  We will be hosting events monthly including some exciting events this summer featuring live music.  Check out our events calendar for updates.

You can also learn more at www.coloradowineryrow.com

Thanks again to all who came by!

After months planning and building, Colorado Winery Row is finally ready to swing open our doors to the thirsty Denver market.  I originally conceived the idea last summer while visiting my friend Paul Phillips, owner of Verso Cellars.  He had just opened his tasting room in Denver next to the Bonaquisti Wine Company.  It occurred to me that adding a few more wineries to this location and you really had an exciting attraction for Denverites and tourists alike!  Rather than driving all over to visit 3-4 wineries, we created a destination.  Winery Row offers tasting and sales for 4 highly regarded artisan Colorado wineries.  We also have incorporated art from many local artists so you can browse some fabulous art while sipping wine and chatting with friends and local winemakers!  All in all a pretty decent way to kill an Saturday afternoon if you asked me.  As we prepare for our Grand opening, Saturday March 20th, we have received some great local and national press for this new venture.

http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/shop_watch/2010/03/denver_openings_for_lowes_winery_row_windows_dressed_up.html

http://www.winesandvines.com/template.cfm?section=news&content=72285&htitle=Wineries%20Across%20U.S.%20Open%20for%20Tasting

We look forward to seeing everyone at this new venue!