Slow Food Denver Shines a Light on Colorado Wine

Feb 196 min read

The minerality of the Rockies shines in the West Slope’s biodynamic orchards.

By SFD Board Member Lee Lee

There is nothing quite like descending into the warm, late afternoon autumn glow of sun ripened orchards tucked in valleys that meander through the gentle folds of the Western slope of the Rockies. The crisp air adds sweetness to the last of the peaches and apple season is in full swing. Grapes are being harvested and with a bit of alchemy, commencing the transformation into wine.

Last year, I had the opportunity to join a group of Slow Food enthusiasts as Logan Silbert of Few & Far Wines guided us through a tasting of Colorado wines, a fun and informative event that will be repeated on March 8th in Denver. Logan paired a West slope selection alongside a matched set of wines from iconic regions in which the same varietals are traditionally grown. A German Riesling was blind tasted beside a Palisade Riesling or a Malbec from Mendoza alongside one from the West Elks AVA. The blind approach of tasting the same grape variety produced in different regions allowed us to understand the mineral taste profiles of wines produced here in the West. As described by the Aquila Cellars, Colorado is “not known for making any particular variety, so we can make whatever we want…and show what it tastes like from here.” You can’t nail down a certain varietal association with this area, which offers a chance to encounter the landscape itself in the way it imparts a unique, crisp flavor into the glass. As we proceeded through Logan’s selection of both AVA regions, the palate of the high desert landscape from which these grapes were cultivated became increasingly clear. I fell in love with these wines because I could literally taste the beloved mountains I call home.

Fine wine is not often associated with Colorado. Growing up here, it was easy to love the small but intensely flavorful stone-fruits, but it took into my mid-life to fully appreciate the potential of making good wine here. To be fair, it takes some time to develop a taste for wine and understand how particular landscapes shape the flavor palette of a finished bottle. With age, we develop a better understanding of complex flavors and I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it is indeed possible to savor the crisp landscape of the Rocky Mountains from vines cultivated with care by people who truly understand the nature of this arid steppe landscape.

Like many Americans, I felt the long-standing European winemaking customs were generally better than those in the US. While there are, of course, amazing wines produced in ways that express deep love of tradition and landscape, it is also shocking to witness the un-sustainable industrial practices occurring. As with any agriculture that is scaled up to vast monocrop production, the ecologic impacts are profound. We had a close look at water use in La Huerta during creative residencies at AADK in Blanca, Spain and explored water scarcity with ecologist Pascal Medard in France’s largest wine producing region of the Herault in the southwest. As part of a larger project investigating agricultural water use in steppe ecologies, we carried this work as delegates to Slow Food International’s Terra Madre conference in Turin, Italy last fall. Confrontations around water use are familiar coming from the west, and we recognized with frustration these regions are literally being pumped dry. La Huerta is operating at 200% of their water capacity, and the Herault has aquifers with water levels at 10% normal these days. We cringed at the depleted soils within industrialized vineyards due to liberal use of herbicides and questioned the health implications of surprisingly high usage of pesticides by farmers who have been told these chemicals are necessary for high yield. There are indeed artisans in these regions who are producing in harmony with their local environment and it became clear why we should always seek out the *bio label for wines from the EU and organic here in the US. Upon realizing the extent of extractive growing practices abroad, coupled with the cost of transport both literally and as tolled on the climate, I turned towards exploring the range of terroirs that span the western states here at home.

With looming tariffs, it’s well worth the time spent seeking out American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) which are federally-designated regions where wine grapes are grown in the US. That each region is unique to a geographic location, we can deepen our understanding of the landscape by tasting the terroir within a well-produced wine. For a bottle of wine to carry an AVA designation, at least 85% of the grapes used must be grown in that particular region. Colorado has two AVAs, both located on the Western Slope. The West Elks AVA is located in the Paonia/Hotchkiss Valley and the Grand Valley AVA is in the Palisade valley down to Grand Junction. Beyond simply seeking out organic, I became very interested in growers who are practicing a deep care for the landscape through biodynamic farming, so that we may continue being nourished by it for generations to come. Jack Rabbit Hill Farm (https://www.jackrabbithill.com) in the West Elks AVA describes their biodynamic process as “made by fermenting/composting different plant and animal materials together, the 9 biodynamic preparations help summon and coordinate all the partners that a healthy, resilient plant depends on to thrive. Fungi, soil critters, moon, bacteria, carbon, stars, other plants, nitrogen, rocks, sun, water, light, you name it! They're all partners in the crop's support system, and the biodynamic preps help foster this support system!” The process of farming the grapes that will ultimately be used to craft these fine wines opens the opportunity for the land to fully express itself through the care growers are taking in transforming the fruit into wine.

Terroir is the flavor of the land. It is defined as the complete natural environment in which a particular wine is produced, including factors such as the soil, topography, and climate. Colorado’s unique climate includes harsh winters with waves of crystallized snowstorms and unpredictable warm spells, intense sun throughout the year and dry heat with spotted monsoons in the summers. Practicing deep connection with the land through holistic approaches to cultivating it draws from the mineral rich soil to impart the crisp flavor that is definitive of Colorado wine, and indeed of Colorado itself. Jayme & Steve of Storm Cellar Wine (https://stormcellarwine.com) came to farming as sommeliers and have discovered ways to connect the character of the land to the glass in an aromatic assortment of crisp white and rose wines.

Not to say that every wine produced in Colorado is great. What it comes down to is the way the wine is crafted. Those who are taking the greatest care, from tending the soil through a gentle harvest to the refinement of processing the fruit into wine, seem to be producing the best wines of the region. Getting to know the land can be transformational, as it was for the team who started Bookcliff Vineyards in Palisade of the Grand Valley AVA. https://bookcliffvineyards.com They went from conventional farming to a very mindful way of tending the vineyard, by using green mulch, micro sprinklers and closing the loop of the Mesa County organic waste system in sourcing community compost. Their approach is working as they continue producing top award-winning wines that capture the essence of the Grand Valley.

Slow Food Denver is teaming up again with Logan Sibert on March 8th in Denver to host another CO Wine Workshop, which is a great opportunity to get to know the crisp aromatic terroir of our locally produced wine. Tickets are offered at two tiers; a VIP guided tasting of local wines then a larger reception for general admission where each vineyard shares their wine and stories of how they are crafted. Both components are fun and each provides valuable insight to Colorado Wines. Personally, I loved the elevated, in depth tasting provided by the VIP experience and the opportunity to uniquely meet the flavors imparted by the Rocky Mountains, but one cannot leave any part of this Slow Food Denver FED Workshop feeling anything other than exuberant about this state's wines. More information and tickets may be found https://www.slowfooddenver.org/