Everything about Grand Junction

Hi. I need to know everything about Grand Junction. About the wines available, best winemakers, who to talk with, about the winemaking climate, both governmental and weather related, about frosts and freezes, virtually all. Tom Hill, I know you have info. Anyone else, too. Real estate prices and home info and rents also important. Thanks in advance!

[Jenise]

Colorado, I take it?

Of course, Jenise. I almost was able to establish a place in AZ, but it fell through. I'm looking at different places that could make something interesting.

Hi. I need to know everything about Grand Junction. About the wines available, best winemakers, who to talk with, about the winemaking climate, both governmental and weather related, about frosts and freezes, virtually all. Tom Hill, I know you have info. Anyone else, too. Real estate prices and home info and rents also important. Thanks in advance!

Craig,
Below is my report from judging at the Governor's cup last year. In addition to the grand junction area, I've had some impressive
wines from further south on the West Slope down around Cortez.

I've a good friend, Kyle Schlachter you should contact:
Kyle Schlachter <kyleschlachter@gmail.com>
He works for the CO Dept of Agriculture in promoting CO wines. He's an incredible resource.
I just gave him a head's up about you.
He does a blog on CO wines:
http://www.coloradowinepress.com/

Sorry about the AZ falling thru. But I think CO will offer you much more possibility in making
the quality of wines you're seeking.
Please keep us updated.

Tom

I had the opportunity last weekend 5/16-17) to taste some Colorado wines:
48-5: Boulder Creek Riesling (12%; RS: 3.8%) 2013: Med.yellow color; quite attractive very R/floral slight mineral
very attractive/Germanic nose; soft/fat/lush very strong R/floral/pineapple slight mineral/stony somewhat ripe/
Germanic flavor; long pineapple/very strong R/floral/pineapple finish; lots of floral/R fruit w/ a bit of
a Germanic/Rheinpfalz character; would like a bit more acidity.
_____________
49-3: Guy DrewCllrs Sweet Riesling (11.7%; RS: 4.2%) 2012: Light gold color; lovely botrytis Germanic/Auslese-like
some floral/ripe/R some complex nose; bit soft some botrytis/Auslese-like some floral/R/peachy slight tangy/
metallic quite Germanic flavor; quite a lovely R w/ some Germanic/Auslese-like/botrytis character.
_____________
46-4: CarlsonVnyds LaughingCat Sweet GWT (7%; RS: 8.4%) 2014: Med.light gold color; very earthy/grapey/appley/cidery/
grapey/sugary/FrenchToast strange nose; tart/tangy/acidified very apple cider/FrenchToast/sugary slightly bitter
quite sweet flavor; shows absolutely no GWT that I could find and on the wierd side but kinda interesting.
_____________
27-1: CarlsonVnyds Tyrannosaurus Red Lemberger (14.5%) 2013: Dark color; strong Lemberger/BlauFrankisch plummy
some earthy/loamy/compost pile interesting nose; bit tart/tangy rather earthy/loamy quite plummy/BlauFrankisch
flavor w/ some hard/rustic tannins; as good as any Lemberger I've had from WashState and could stand up well
to most Austrian BlauFrankischs.
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34-4: SeptembreCllrs Syrah 2010: Very dark color; dreadful metallic/burning metal/ozone/reductive/fecal/
dirty diaper pail/very unclean/barnyardy complex nose; very unpleasant dirty diaper pail/fecal/burning metal/
reductive/ozone flavor w/ some hard tannins; smells & tastes like when you set a ball of steel wool afire;
I went back & retried the opened btl the next day and some of the stench had blown off, but it was still
nothing I could swallow. The next day, I saw a btl at the BoulderWineMerchant on the shelf, normally a store
w/ well-selected stock, but I just couldn't bring myself to try another btl.
_____________
35-4: Guy DrewCllrs Syrah (14.5%) 2012: Dark color; strong smokey/toasty/oak some blackberry/Syrah slight
roasted/Rhonish/earthy quite interesting nose; bit tart rather roasted/smoked meats/coffee/Rhonish some
spicy/blackberry/Syrah bit earthy/loamy/rustic flavor w/ modest/hard tannins; speaks quietly of Syrah fruit
but quite Rhonish in character; a bit like a rustic Cornas, if anything.
_____________
35-3: BoulderCreekCllrs Syrah (14.4%) 2012: Dark color; strong pure Syrah/blackberry/boysenberry/ripe some
charred/toasty/oak some complex nose; soft some charred/smokey/toasted/oak strong blackberry/Syrah/spicy/
blueberry slight peppery/spicy flavor w/ some soft/ripe tannins; very much like a good Jaffurs SBC Syrah.
_____________
42-3: Guy DrewCllrs Viognier (14.5%) 2009: Light yellow color; strong cotton candy/sweetish quite attractive pear/
Viog/peach slight spicy/cinammon nose; tart/tangy bright/pear/Viog/peach slight earthy bit spicy/nutmeg flavor;
an understated/varietally-correct quite interesting Viog like some from the EdenVlly or Oregon.
_____________
42-4: Brookcliff Viognier (14.8%) 2014: Light gold color; very strong blowsey/very ripe/Viog/peachy very perfumed/
Calif-like nose; soft/fat/lush ripe/Viog/ripe peachy/floral/blowsey slight earthy flavor; a big/ripe/blowsey
classic DollyParton/jiggly/silicone-laden Viognier that many in Calif would be proud of; not my style but speaks
loud & clear of Viognier.
_____________
21-3: CanyonWindCllrs PetiteVerdot (15.0%) 2013: Very dark color; very strong herbal/PV some peppery/spicy light
toasty/smokey/oak nose; bit tart/hard rather herbal/PV/thyme light peppery/spicy slight buttery/diacetyl/oak/
toasty flavor w/ modest/hard tannins; quite expressive of PV and the best one I tried.
_____________
34-1: TurquoiseMesa Syrah (50 cs; 13.5%) 2013: Very dark color; very strong ripe/boysenberry/Syrah/blackberry
rather Paso-like slight black pepper quite attractive nose; soft slight tangy/metallic ripe/Paso Syrah/
blackberry/boysenberry slight peppery/spicy/earthy flavor w/ modest/supple tannins; very much like a good
WestSide Paso Syrah.
_____________
35-6: CanyonWindCllrs Anemoi Lips Syrah (5 brls; 14.4%) 2013: Med.dark color; slight VA/fumey strong blackberry/
Syrah/blueberry rather peppery/Rhonish very interesting nose; bit tart/angular strong blackberry/Syrah/peppery
rather Rhonish/smokey/charred bit toasty/oak very interesting flavor; seems to have a strong whole-cluster
component that gives it a peppery/Rhonish character; my favorite of all the Syrahs, as good as it gets.
_____________
31-1: TurquoiseMesa PetiteSirah (50 cs; 13%) 2013: Very dark/near black color; rather earthy/loamy clunky/coarse/
PS slight peppery nose; tart/tangy rather earthy/loamy clunky/PS/coarse/rustic flavor w/ light tannins; rather
interesting PS that leans towards the earthy/loamy side but speaks of PS; reminds me of some PS I've had
from Baja Calif.
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7-2: CarlsonVnyds Peach Wine NV: Light yellow color; very fragrant peachy/clean slight earthy nose; soft rather
rich/lush clean peachy somewhat sweet light earthy flavor; long clean/peachy some sweet soft finish; sort of
like essence of peach or biting into a very ripe peach just picked off the tree.
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30-3: WhitewaterHill Sweetheart Red GrandVlly (42% CabSauv/25% BlackMuscat/22% Riesling/10% Chambourcin;
RS: 4.2%) 2014: Med. red color; strong grapey/boysenberry/chocolaty slight floral/muscatty very perfumed
nose; lightly sweet very grapey/boysenberry/ripe/black cherry cola/chocolaty slight muscatty quite fragrant
flavor; very long bit soft somewhat sweet very strong boysenberry/chocolaty slight floral/muscat finish;
some like a MoscatoRosso w/o the intense muscat character; just a very good drinking dessert wine.
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10-5: AspenPeakCllrs Mocha Zinsation American Port (16.5%; coffee+chocolate) NV: Med.dark red color; beautiful
chocolate/chocolate coverd cherries/cherry mash light mocha/espresso very intense nose; slightly sweet very
intense cherries/chocolate coverd cherries/choke cherry/Cherry Mash light mocha/espresso/smokey complex
flavor w/ little tannins; amazing Port that's not that sweet nor alcoholic; like drinking a CherryMash.
______________________________________________________
And not-so-profound blabberings from TheBloodyPulpit:
1. A few months ago, KyleSchlacter asked me if I would be interesting in coming up in May to judge in the
Governor'sCup Colorado Wine Competition. I normally don't accept such invitations..been there/done that...
but I decided it would be a great opportunity to get a good feel for the state of Colorado commercial
wines vis a vis NewMexico wines. The event was an absolute blast. Plus it gave me the chance to catch
up w/ WarrenWiniarski/Stag'sLeap, who I hadn't seen in some 10-12 yrs.
Things started off w/ Kyle/Warren, and me having lunch at Mercantile, in the UnionStation, a small
Italian deli/marketplace which brines their own pickles/vegetables (http://mercantiledenver.com/). This is
my kind of restaurant and I was quite impressed (grilled cheese samwich). I'll go back again.
That evening, the 15 judges had dinner at a nearby restaurant, Table 6 (http://www.table6denver.com/). Excellent
American food and a great way to meet each other. There was wine involved.
The judging was held at the Metropolitan State Univ Hospitality Learning Centre, on the Auraria campus.
Saturday morning, we were assigned to three 5-judge panels and given a set of flights to judge. The decision
was to award Gold/Silver/Bronze/none medals to each wine in the flight. Our panel was rather parsimonius and
awarded only five golds to 61 wines judged. The categories we judged were: Riesling/PinotGris/GWT/Merlot/
PetiteVerdot/MerlotBlends/MiscReds/Syrah.
The next day (Sunday morning), we reconvened as a combined panel to rejudge all the Golds and a few highly-
scored Silvers to confirm they were, indeed, Golds, and decide if any were worthy of a DoubleGold. Of the
24 candidates, 5 wines were upgraded to a DoubleGold. The previos weekend, another panel judged the meads/
ciders/perrys and ports and awarded 4 DoubleGolds. We then were tasked to choose a Best of Show sweepstakes
winner. Two wines were so close in quality (but different in style), that a tie was was chosen for BoS.
I was quite impressed by the job Doug & Kyle did on this event. Everything went amazingly smoothly (for
some 190 wines submitted to the judging). No sooner had we finished one flight, they were whisked away and the
next flighht was presented. The Sat event was completed in about 6 hrs. Furthermore, I was very impressed w/
the feeling of collegiality the panels showed. We all pretty much agreed on the awarding of the medals. It was
clear that there were not a lot of big-egos on the line, unlike some judgings I've participated. There were
no fisticuffs breaking, though that may be because we'd been admonished aforehand that no "raucous" behavior
was permitted.
_______________
2. I was quite impressed w/ the three dessert wines we had to finish up the tasting. They were easily confirmed
to be worthy of DoubleGolds. The Peach wine, not an easy wine to make w/o getting some oxidation, was
like eating a very ripe peach and having all the juicy juice dribble down your chin and onto your chest.
Easily, the best peach wine I've had. The Mocha Zinsation Port was amazing stuff. As a high-level wine
connoisseur, I would never (sniff/sniff) be caught drinking such stuff by my hoity-toity colleagues. This
is something I'd more than gladly have as an after-dinner tipple and drink w/ relish. And pretty much all
the other judges agreed.
As we tasted the Zinsation, Warren brought up an interesting philosophical point (he was once a Professor
of Philosophy at Univ of Chicago, afore he went to Denver to make wine at Ivancie). Does Colorado want
to be known for their unique terroir in their wines (vins d'terroir as Randall calls it) or for their
winemaking skills (vins d'effort). The question was never really answered. Given that Colorado has no real
inside corner on winemaking skills, I think the answer is obvious. But...man...was that Zinsation was
amazing stuff, even though iit did not come intirely from Colorado (if any) material.
_______________
3. So what's my take on Colorado wines from this limited sampling? My previoous exposure had been rather limited.
When I come up to Denver/Boulder, I would occasionally buy a CO wine to try, mostly Syrahs, on a hit-or-miss
basis. I'd not found much that had really rung my bell. A few yrs ago, Kyle had me over to try a few CO
reds, mostly CabSauv/CabFranc/Malbec. I found some that I thought were rather good. A yr ago, in Boulder,
I stopped in for a BoulderCreekWnry tasting and found a Riesling and Syrah that I thought were excellent.
Alas, I understand that BCW is closing it's doors. Over the last two yrs, I've tried a few of the Infinite
Monkey Theorem wines, mostly because of the cutsey name and the fact they have a cousin of mine on the label.
I had an IMT rose here in SantaFe a few weeks ago that I liked quite a bit, very Provence-like in character.
So my exposure to CO wines has been pretty slap-dash at best. I have no pretensions that this gave me
an accurate/comprehensive overview of CO wines. But what I saw left me w/ a very good impression. They seem
to be doing a better job, overall, w/ their wines than NM.
Of the 17 Rieslings we judged, it was hard to find much to get excited about. They were, by & large, on
the soft/flabby side and needed more acidity. That said, the two Rieslings above were very/very good and
ones I would certainly buy. The Pinot Gris/Grigio's left me pretty underwhelmed, as did the GWT's.
The Merlots and the MerlotBlends I did not care much for at all...but I'm not a fan Merlot from anywhere,
even if it says Ch.Paytrus on the label. And I'm not a big fan of CabSauv, but the one I tasted was pretty decent..
but just that. For the Bdx varieties, the PetiteVerdot and the Malbecs I liked. The one CabFranc I tried
was pretty bizarre.
But it was easily the CO Syrahs that most impressed me. There were some that were as good as any I've had
from anywhere. Not a lot of fruit-dominated Syrahs like you find in Calif. And they had a certain rusticity
and earthy character that I rather liked. Some seemed to have a bit of whole-cluster character that I found
most intriguing. I didn't find in any any of that cracked black pepper character that you get in cold-climate
Syrah. Probably a bit too warm on the WestSlope and truly cold-climate Syrah in CO has probably not been
tried because of the risks in ripening it.
One thing did strike me, though. Where were the PinotNoirs?? Don't think I tried one the whole weekend.
THey grow a fair amount of Pinot in NM...though I have to admit not much is very exciting.
So....my impression is that the CO wine industry is rather on the cautious side and sticking w/ varieties
that are easy to sell....Chard/Cabernet/Merlot. Clearly, there's probably not a lot of deep pockets behind
most of the CO wineries. I would like to see a bit more adventurous attitude, though. Speaking as a wine geek
and not someone who has to go out and sell the stuff. The slightly rustic/earthy character I found in many of
the reds would suggest that some of the Italian varieties would be worth pursuing. Some reminded me of
wines from the AltoAdige/Val d'Aosta/Friuli. That would be a place to look.
The Govenor'sCup judging did leave one very marked impression on me. And that is the degree of support the
CO wine industry receives from the CO Dept.of Agriculture. There appears that little expense is spared by
them to promote to CO wines. Very few States in the USofA are as fortunate in that aspect as CO, I would say.

So it was an absolute thrill to participate in this judging. I learned a great deal and made a lot of new
friends. I hope to be able to do so again in the future.

Tom