When you think of great wines, you think of California, France, Italy, Spain, and Colorado. Colorado? Indeed! We may not have the best Cabernets or Pinot Noirs, but we do have some lesser-known varietals that will rival the best in the world. Colorado Cabernet Franc is floral and herbaceous to the nose and loaded with notes of dark ripe plum with a toasty oak finish (typically found in the Loire of France), Colorado Merlot is wildly unique, the skins develop an intriguing array of spice from being at high altitude, and Teroldego (an Italian red variety) has a superb deep black cherry note. A few other grapes to keep an eye out for include Syrah, Petit Verdot, Bordeaux blends, Rieslings and Gewurztraminer.
The Centennial State is home to 150 licensed high-altitude wineries where you can try the best that we have to offer. Every year the Governor's Cup is held to determine who has the best wine in the state. Interestingly, 7 of the 13 recent winners came from just 3 wineries: Bookcliff Vineyards (Boulder), Colterris (Palisade), and Carlson Vineyard (Palisade). The remaining winners were from The Infinite Monkey Theorum (Denver), Monkshed Cellars (Minturn), Snowy Peak Winery (Estes Park), Whitewater Hill Vineyards (Grand Junction), Colorado Cellars (Palisade), and Red Fox Cellars (Palisade).
You don't need to go very far to sample some of our fine Colorado wines. There is likely a local winery near you! With over 150 options, you could spend weeks touring our fair state, enbibing on our local grape juice in some of the most beautiful settings in the world. Here is a list of the "can't miss" wineries across Colorado.
Bailey
Aspen Peak Cellars
aspenpeakcellars.com
Berthoud
Blue Mountain Vineyards -
coloradobluemountain.com
Boulder
Bookcliff Vineyards
bookcliffvineyards.com
Breckenridge
Continental Divide Winery
breckwinery.com
Broomfield
Turquoise Mesa Winery
turquoisemesawinery.com
Canon City
Winery At Holy Cross Abbey
abbeywinery.com
Cascade
The Winery at Pikes Peak
wineryatpikespeak.com
Castle Rock
Honnibrook Craft
honnibrook.com
Purgatory Cellars Winery
purgatorycellarscolorado.com
Centennial
Invintions
invintionswinery.com
Waters Edge Winery
watersedgewineries.com
Photo courtesy of coloradowine.com
Colorado Springs
Vino Colorado Winery at the Sweet Elephant
sweetelephant.co
Denver
Kingman Estate Winery
kingmanwine.com
Balistreri Vineyards
balistreriwine.com
Infinite Monkey Theorem
theinfinitemonkeytheorem.com
Spero Winery
sperowinery.biz
Winery Colorado
winerycolorado.com
Durango
Four Leaves Winery
fourleaveswinery.com
Estes Park
Snowy Peaks Winery
snowypeakswinery.com
Grand Junction
Whitewater Hill Vineyards
whitewaterhill.com
Highlands Ranch
Purgatory Cellars
purgatoryhr.com
Littleton
Carboy Winery
carboywinery.com
Loveland
Sweet Heart Winery
sweetheartwinery.com
Manitou Springs
D'Vine Wine
winerymsprings.com
Minturn
Monkshed Cellars
monkshoodcellars.com
Nederland
Augustina's Winery
augustinaswinery.com
Palisade
Colterris Winery
colterris.com
Colorado Cellars
coloradocellars.com
Carlson Vineyards Winery
carlsonvineyards.com
Red Fox Cellars
redfoxcellars.com
Paonia
Black Bridge Winery
orchardvalleyfarms.com
Want to find other wineries near you? Check out this handy dandy winery locator map.
Posted by Neil Walton on
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