Recapping a staff trip through Palisade, Grand Junction, Hotchkiss and Paonia

Photos and text by the Thirst Team

Team Thirst took a whirlwind trip through Colorado Wine Country last week, visiting old friends and making new friends in Palisade, Grand Junction, Hotchkiss and Paonia.

MAISON LA BELLE VIE

Our first stop was Maison La Belle Vie for a wine flight and a wine slushie flight, along with the first of several charcuterie boards on the trip. After the drive from Westminster, we also enjoyed the chance to stretch our legs on their shaded patio with a great view of the Book Cliffs.

SAUVAGE SPECTRUM

On the Team Thirst Colorado Wine Country tour, our education began in earnest at Sauvage Spectrum, where level 2 sommelier John Calacino helped us craft a growler of custom red blend. Assistant winemaker Hannah Parnell toured us around the winery and showed us some of their new industrial tools for making and packaging their award-winning wines.

Sauvage Spectrum is helmed by grower Kaibab Sauvage and winemaker Patric Matysiewski, two names we heard all over the valley. Plenty of wineries have purchased their grapes or leaned on their extensive knowledge.

CLIFF DWELLER WINE CO

Also on our Colorado Wine Country tour, Team Thirst made a quick pit stop to share a wine flight at Cliff Dweller Wine Co., a boutique Palisade winery we profiled in our current summer issue.

COLTERRIS COLLECTIONS

On Sunday night, we got to crash the opening night party at Colterris Collections, where Scott High curated a museum-quality display of selections from his 18,000 pieces of wine memorabilia. Bottles, artifacts, pop culture items and many, many corkscrews fill the brightly lit display cases in a spacious room. Stay tuned for more about the collection on our website.

Scott and his wife Theresa also run an award-winning estate winery with three Palisade locations, and more to come.

TWP

That’s Team Thirst after a wonderful night’s stay at the TWP Winery and Farmhouse. Left to right are editor Joe Ross, digital manager Steve Graham, publisher Paul Johnson and advertising specialist Rebel Becker.

The TWP Plaas Huis is a spacious and luxurious South African-inspired guest house with a lake, pickleball court, peacocks and more. Our hosts Shari Cahill and Edwin Mocke shared their wines (and some more charcuterie) with us in the morning. We’ll introduce them properly soon at ThirstColorado.com.

BOOKCLIFF VINEYARDS

At the next stop on our Colorado Wine Country tour, Team Thirst took in the views, vines and wines at Bookcliff Vineyards. It has been a landmark overlooking Palisade since 1996, with 37 acres of vines planted with 14 varieties at the mouth of the DeBeque Valley. Their bestselling wines include the surprisingly budget-friendly and delicious Tectonic White blend and Tectonic Red blend. They also produce the only Graciano, a Spanish red wine, in the Grand Valley.

PEACHFORK

Team Thirst hit Peachfork Orchards & Vineyards for an always-enjoyable visit with owner and winemaker Phil Patton. It’s not just peaches that make this winery and venue a fun stop. There are also apples, pears, plums and wine grapes growing on the property that Patton and his wife Susan operate. Sarge’s Sweet Red Blend, named after their dog, is a must-try, and we got to sample a bit of tasty port that Phil had blended. Listening to his Kentucky accent is as calming as the port itself.

PALISADE BREWING COMPANY

Brett Zahrte hooked up with Palisade Brewing Co. early this year to lead the brewery’s sales efforts. The winding road to that position also has taken him to several other Colorado craft breweries and a stint at the Coors facility in Golden. He toasted a pint with the Thirst crew and discussed PBC’s plans to ramp up distribution efforts and form new bonds in the industry in order to deliver more beer to craft enthusiasts. Meanwhile, the PBC standards, such as the Dirty Hippie Dark Wheat and Soul Shakin’ Imperial Red Ale, have been joined by a few seasonal standouts like the Mount Garfield Views DDH NE IPA.

CLARK AND CO’S DISTILLING

Arriving at Clark and Co’s with a paddle board or a fishing pole would seem wholly appropriate because the distillery sits on the hill just above a slow bend in the Colorado River. More appropriately, it’s simply a great place to slow down with a cocktail and something to eat. The patio offers views of the river and a shaded escape from the sun. Offerings include brandy, bourbon, gin, vodka, infused moonshines and more.

MAFIA PRINCESS

Team Thirst was delighted to hop into the Grand Junction area to catch up with Hillary Eales and the sheep, chickens, dogs, kids and lion-tailed cat she tried to wrangle at Mafia Princess Wines. She is hosting events this summer and recently launched a line of vermouth wine infused with spices and botanicals. She also is struggling to recover from a hailstorm that wiped out much of her grape crop. Stay tuned to our website for details on an upcoming October fundraiser for both a local nonprofit and her own recovery fund.

SHIRAS WINERY

Another Grand Junction stop was probably the best-smelling winery in the Grand Valley. The Zesty Moose artisanal food marketplace shares a space with Shiras Winery, also named for a moose (Colorado’s dominant subspecies is the Shiras moose). So the scents of olive oils, herbs, coffee, spice blend and more mix with the expected grape aromas. Diana and Brian Tap own both businesses, which have become a fixture of downtown Grand Junction.

HERMOSA VINEYARDS

We took an impromptu crash course in Colorado agriculture from Kenn Dunn in his cozy and rustic tasting room at Hermosa Vineyards in the foothills above Palisade. He planted vineyards in 1994 and sold his grapes, then opened his own winery in 2001. The tasting room opened in 2005, after years of self-distribution. He mostly sells his wine in the tasting room, and sells out his cabernet franc and merlot batches quickly every year.

THE BLUE BERYL WINERY

Hermosa’s Kenn Dunn also inspired Courtney Kiel to open Blue Beryl Winery. The winery is named after a stone closely related and closely resembling aquamarine, Colorado’s state gemstone, and Kiel brings deep veins of Colorado history to the boutique winery. The tasting room is custom-built near downtown Palisade with a wall of windows that look out on Mount Garfield and the defunct coal mine where her ancestors worked.

TALON WINES AT THE MEADERY

Team Thirst was lucky to catch Glenn Foster and his merlin falcon. In addition to operating an award-winning winery with three brands offering grape wine, fruit wine and mead, Foster also is an accomplished falconer. We sampled their best-selling libation, a lavender wine infused with riesling, and other Talon and St. Kathryn-branded wines.

Glenn Foster’s father co-founded Ravenswood Winery in California, and Glenn has been involved in several Colorado wine ventures.

FALLEN MOUNTAIN

You likely haven’t heard much about Fallen Mountain Wines, but you almost certainly will. The winery is still in its infancy, but is open by appointment outside Hotchkiss. A California winemaking family with an incredible backstory is busy assembling an expert team, establishing vineyards and orchards, raising animals and planning a venture that could further cement Colorado’s growing reputation for great wine. Check back next week for a feature story on the business.

QUTORI WINES

Owner Julie Bennett treated Team Thirst to charcuterie (of course) and estate-grown pinot wines, as well as other varieties crafted at her winery outside Paonia. The boutique winery is a family affair, and Julie’s son Kyle is the winemaker, who won best in show at the Colorado Governor’s Cup competition when the winery was just two years old. The tasting room and cafe are in a former gas station building amid their 35 acres of vineyards. The property also includes two tiny home vacation rentals.

THE STORM CELLAR

We couldn’t leave the Western Slope without cruising the switchbacks up to visit The Storm Cellar Winery and Vineyard. Owners Jayme Henderson and Steve Steese are former Denver sommeliers who translated a passion for tasting and pouring wine into the intense and laborious process of growing vines and making wine. We appreciate them taking a few moments from their hectic farming schedule to share their wines and their stories. They also just notched another feather in their caps when The Storm Cellar’s dry riesling was added to the wine list at the acclaimed Element 47 in Aspen.

COLORADO CELLARS

A definite highlight of the Colorado Wine Country tour for Team Thirst was a sunset champagne toast with locally-made chocolate truffles at Colorado Cellars. The winery opened in 1978, and operates under the state’s oldest continuously used winery license. It is also the only Colorado winery legally allowed to use the term champagne for its signature sparkling wine, so we were eager to drink some.

Left to right are editor Joe Ross, advertising specialist Rebel Becker, Colorado Cellars owners Padte and Rick Turley, and digital manager Steve Graham.

Check our Facebook and Instagram feeds for more photos and details from our trip.