Colorado Mountain Wine Fest

Hi there!

This week I wanted to tell you about the Colorado Mountain Wine Fest that is held each year in the fall over on the western slope. This year’s event will be held September 15th through the 18th in Palisade, Colorado. Saturday is the day that they hold the Wine Festival in Riverbend Park in Palisade from 10:30am to 5:00pm. For me this is the main event, this is where the majority of the wine drinking happens. You can also give grape stomping a try and taste some very yummy food from the many chefs that come to the event. There is also live music and chef demonstrations and you can also be a wine tasting judge!

Here is the official video of the Colorado Mountain Wine Fest!

This event is a celebration of wine and food, with over 56 wineries and winemakers in attendance. Tickets for the Saturday Wine Festival in the Park start at $43 for wine drinkers and $23 for non-wine drinkers. The weekend also includes a bike tour, tours of the local vineyards, wine competitions, seminars and tastings, chocolate and wine tasting, and chef demos.

The bike tour is the 18th annual Tour of the Vineyards. It is a 25 mile bicycle tour through wine country and the orchards of the Palisade area. There are also two wine competition events, one for professional vintners and one for amateur winemakers. There are also a couple of chances for folks to experience some wonderful food prepared by some great chefs and paired with some excellent wine- and the best part about it is that the wines are the star of the show and the food is paired with whichever of the Colorado wines the chefs have chosen.

I am very excited to attend this event. It will be my first time and I will be going with a great wine-loving friend of mine! We are going to go and maybe get in some camping and definitely a lot of wine tasting!

Maybe we will see you there!

Cheers!

D’Vine Wine

Unfortunately, I did not have time to visit a local winery this week. But, I stopped by my local liquor store and picked up a bottle of Skinny Bitch wine from D’Vine Wine in Denver. As I stood in the Colorado wine aisle trying to decide from the many choices of wine which one I wanted to try, the name Skinny Bitch caught my eye. D’Vine Wine in Denver is a boutique winery. They import their grapes and make the wine right in front of you. They have several locations throughout Colorado and they can also help you learn how to make your very own wine.

As for the wine, I did not love it. The taste was just not my cup of tea, which was sad since I loved the name so much. Oh well! You wine some you lose some. (Did you get my little joke there?!)

Next, I want to post a very fun and helpful (helpful if you want to sip wine like a connoisseur) video of how to properly taste wine. There were many videos on the subject, but this one was quite simple and very informative. I still get sad though when it comes to the part where you are supposed to smell the wine because I do not have a sense of smell anymore. It is sad to miss out on the smell of fruitiness and spiciness, but at least I can still taste it. That is the most important part anyway according to me!

Now, go out and properly taste some delicious Colorado wine!  Cheers!

Dancing Pines Distillery

DP's Spiced Rum

Kristian & the Still

This week I am going to veer off in another direction, instead of talking about a Colorado winery I am going to tell you about a very local distillery called Dancing Pines. Dancing Pines Distillery is located in Loveland, Colorado. Opening in Loveland a little over a year ago the distillery was started by a husband and wife team, Kristian and Kimberly who had tried their hand at home brewing, but soon realized that their true passion was for the hard stuff. The story behind the name of their distillery goes back to when Kristian and Kimberly were renovating the small mountain cabin they were living in. After making it through a winter of record-setting snowfall, the two were finishing up renovations and listening to music when they looked out their window and began to notice how the pine trees outside their cabin looked as though they were dancing as they swayed back and forth in the wind. Those dancing pines held a special place in their hearts as the couple decided to move their family back to the Front Range to set up the distillery and hence the name for their business! Currently, their distillery makes rum and liqueur. Plus, they just recently released small batches of a Bourbon Mash, which by the way my husband thinks is fantastic! As for their rum, they make a traditional rum, a spiced rum, and cask rum that is put in a charred oak barrel after the distilling process. They also make two liqueurs, a chai liqueur and an espresso liqueur. I have tasted each of their products and they are all very tasty. I especially like their spiced rum, it has a great spiced flavor that makes you think of fall and Thanksgiving.  You too can visit their distillery and taste their offerings. Kristian and Kimberly are extremely nice and will even give you a tour of the place and tell you about the distilling process. You can also sign up for a scheduled tour through their website. During the hours that they are open for visitors they sell cocktails that are made with their very own spirits. They recently expanded the distillery making more room for people to sit and sip some of the yummy cocktails.

Their tasting room hours are Wednesday & Thursday 12 to 7 and Friday & Saturday 12 to 8. To get to the tasting room once in Loveland head east on Highway 34 (Eisenhower Blvd.) and then turn right onto Boise Avenue and then the third right will be Taurus Court. They are located in an industrial type building on the right.

So, if you are ever in Loveland, Colorado Wednesday through Saturday, you definitely need to stop by Dancing Pines Distillery and try some of the good, hard stuff!

But, if you are a lightweight drinker, like myself, make sure you have eaten before tasting their products or make sure you have time to sit for a spell in order to get your senses back before driving away! It is hard liquor after all, but it sure is worth it!

Here’s to the hard stuff! Cheers.

Oh, and they have a great little logo too: “Half full or half empty, it should be distilled”.

Boulder Creek Winery

Last weekend I visited Boulder Creek Winery in Boulder, Colorado with a fellow co-worker and friend. The winery is located just outside of Boulder off of the Diagonal Highway, 119 in an industrial park very close to Celestial Seasonings Tea Company.

This winery was started in 2003 by Mike and Jackie Thompson and their son Will after being inspired by the re-birth of Colorado’s vineyards. Jackie is the principle winemaker, who received a bachelor’s degree in plant and soil science with a focus on wine grapes. From their website I learned that winemaking in Colorado began over a century ago, but with the advent of Prohibition in the 1920′s, the vineyards were replaced with orchards. I’m not sure how many vineyards were around in Colorado before Prohibition, but in the whole country there were around 1500 and sadly after Prohibition only about 30 remained nationwide. The same thing happened with craft breweries in this country and both are back on the rise, which is extremely awesome! What a great time to live and drink alcohol! Whoo hoo!

My friend and I started our Saturday in Boulder visiting BookCliff Vineyards, which I have already talked about a few blogs ago. My friend loves wine, but had never been to a winery before. BookCliff Vineyards is so far one of my favorite Colorado wineries, they consistently have great tasting wines. Upon this visit I purchased two bottles of wine, their Touch of Red and their Black Muscat dessert wine. On a side note, my husband and I opened and finished the bottle of Black Muscat last night at a friend’s house. It paired nicely with the turtle cheesecake we had for dessert.

After tasting the wonderful wines at BookCliff Vineyards we headed over to Boulder Creek Winery. The tasting room is open Thursday through Sunday 1 pm to 5:30 pm year round. They offer wine samples for $3 and free self-guided tours of the winery. With the $3 dollar samples you get to sample not just one wine for $3, but I think that I sampled close to 8 or 9 different wines for the low, low price of $3! I don’t remember the exact number of wines sampled simply because I was pretty tipsy by sample number 3 since this was the second winery of the day. Suffice it to say that we sat in my car for quite a while and chatted until I was able to drive again.

Their wines were good, but my favorite winery is still BookCliff Vineyards. However, I did buy one bottle of Boulder Creek’s wine, their White Merlot, which is pretty tasty and costs under $20, priced at just $15. So, the next time you are in Boulder I  highly recommend you visit both Boulder Creek Winery and definitely BookCliff Vineyards.

Here’s to great Boulder, Colorado wine! Cheers!

Colterris Wine

This week I am tasting some Cabernet Sauvignon from Colterris Wines in Palisade, Colorado. My husband bought this wine for me a few weeks ago because he knows that Cabernet is my favorite type of wine and to help me have something to blog about. When I visited Colterris’ website, there was not much information about the winery itself. But, that may just be because they are a relatively new winery and are just getting started. Here is a video from 2010′s Colorado’s Mountain Winefest in Palisade, Colorado where Theresa High, the owner of Colterris Wines, talks about her winery.

Colterris’ Cabernet is wonderful. It has a great taste and is full of flavor. It is a beautiful deep burgundy red color and is quite smooth on the way down.

Now, that video was taken at Colorado’s Mountain Winefest, which is held each year in September in Colorado’s wine country on the western slope. The festival is 4 days long with many activities to participate in. Saturday is the wine tasting day where you can sip on wine and listen to music and maybe even try your hand at stomping grapes with your bare feet! They also have chef demonstrations and food and wine pairing demonstrations and wine competitions. The festival also brings in cheese makers, peach growers, ice carvers, painters, and food and art vendors. On Sunday folks can take guided tours of the area vineyards where they can watch the art of cheese making and enjoy some live entertainment, indulge in some appetizers and sip some great wine!

This year’s festival is September 15th through the 18th and tickets start at $43 for a general admission to Saturday’s wine tasting. I am definitely going to go to this event this year.

What a great place to try as many Colorado wines that I can handle!

Maybe I’ll see you there. Cheers!

 

Wines under $20

So, at the beginning of this week I received a comment asking if I could give some suggestions on some good wines that are under $20. Let me start with the first winery that I reviewed, which was Blue Mountain Vineyards in Berthoud, Colorado. The wine that I bought from them was a Cabernet Sauvignon and a bottle costs around $14.

When I visited the Winter Park Winery in Fraser, Colorado I tasted six different wines. I did end up purchasing one bottle though, their 2008 Merlot. I paid around $12 and it is one of the best tasting Merlots that I have had. I actually just finished off the bottle last night!

From the Canyon Wind Cellars in Georgetown, Colorado I again tasted six different wines. And again, I didn’t leave without purchasing a bottle of their 2007 Chardonnay at $16.

And from my spring break adventure to the BookCliff Vineyards in Boulder, Colorado I tasted five different wines, but did not purchase any that particular day. However, my mom who was visiting that week did purchase the Barrel Aged Black Muscat, which cost her around $18. This may be a little costly for some, especially for a dessert wine, but it is well worth the price!

One of the nice things about wine is that you can always find a really good tasting wine for not too much money. And the majority of the Colorado wines that I have looked at in my local liquor store are all priced very reasonably and most are under $20. And a lot of liquor stores separate Colorado wines from the rest of the bunch. World Beverage located off of Highway 287 in Loveland, Colorado has a section dedicated to Colorado wines as well as wines from Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and Australia. I love going into this store to explore all the different wines and the staff is also very knowledgeable and will help you make a selection. Plus, every Friday from 3:30 to 6:30 World Beverage offers tastings of different wines and beers in order for people to try some new things before making a decision to purchase a whole bottle.

I also wanted to include a neat little video from Winter Park Winery showcasing how vinter, Jon Brickner, makes his wine!

Now, get out there and buy a bottle of Colorado wine for under $20!  Cheers!

BookCliff Vineyards

BookCliff Vineyards

Spring break at Colorado State University was last week. And during this nice break from school I visited BookCliff Vineyards located in Boulder, Colorado. My mom was visiting from Ohio at the time and she and my husband accompanied me on my trip. It was a beautiful sunny and warm Sunday and we had just left Oscar Blues brewery/restaurant in Longmont after downing a very yummy shrimp po’boy sandwich and listening to some mighty fine bluegrass, we headed to Boulder. All of their wine is made from 100% Colorado grown grapes that come from their vineyard in Palisade. BookCliff Vineyards is actually in a great location, right off of Highway 36 as you are heading out-of-town towards Lyons and Estes Park. Their winery and tasting room is located in Boulder while their vineyard is located in Palisade over on the western slope. The tasting room is open year round, mainly Friday through Sunday from 1 pm to 6 pm. The tasting room is very nice. It has a bar where you can sit and buy single glasses of wine or a sampler to taste 5 different wines for $5.

The man behind the bar, Chuck, was extremely knowledgeable about wine and was very talkative to not only us, but to everyone that came in. My mom and I got the $5 wine sampler. Chuck asked us what kind of wines we usually drink and what we didn’t like about wine in order to give us samples that we would hopefully enjoy. I started off with their Lucky Twenty, which is a dry white blend of Chardonnay, Viognier, and Muscat Blanc. I liked it, it was not too dry and it had a pleasing taste. My next venture was their 2008 Chardonnay, which was equally good and pleasing in taste. Next, I moved onto the reds, which I’ve learned is recommended when tasting wine, to start with the whites, then move onto the reds, and then finish with the dessert wines. So, I tried their 2009 Tempranillo. I had tried a Tempranillo at Canyon Wind Cellars in Georgetown and absolutely loved it and this was almost as good as that one. It is a medium bodied red wine that is sweet, but not too sweet. It had a great fruity flavor and was actually quite smooth going down. My second red was their 2009 Petit Sirah. I was not a fan of this wine. It was too dry for my liking.

I finished my tasting with a dessert wine. My mom and I both tried their Barrel Aged Black Muscat. This is the best dessert wine I have ever tasted. It was like drinking a caramel sauce. You could definitely pour this over some vanilla ice cream and be in heaven. And an added bonus is that it has quite a high alcohol content coming in at 18%! Plus the wine glass that it was served in was quite unique as you can see in the photo to the right. My mom liked it so much that she bought a bottle of it. However, she did not take it with her on the plane back to Ohio, so it is sitting on my dining room table. I am supposed to save it for when she and my dad come out for graduation in May. I don’t know if I can resist not opening it. I may just have to buy her another bottle because I might break down any day now to have another taste!

I totally suggest that you all take a drive to Boulder and visit BookCliff Vineyards tasting room. Even if you don’t like wine, you will most likely enjoy their dessert wine offerings. Come on, who doesn’t like dessert?!

So, until next week – Cheers!