Announcing! One of the Best Kept Secrets in the World of Wine...
Do you remember hearing that the best wines are now coming from
California?
Forget everything you've heard about California wine and listen,
on my summer vacation I discovered one of the best wine growing
areas in the United States. And it's not on the West Coast.
As it happens, my daughter asked me to take a trip with her to
look at a piece of property on the Western Slope of Colorado
that she and her husband were interested in. She needed my
expertise with evaluating the condition of the business that
accompanied the house and land.
"Just what is this business?" I asked her. She replied that it
was a vineyard. I had to think of that for a moment. I have my
college degree in horticulture and a vineyard has always been my
dream. But I would have never expected this of my daughter.
She knew that I have planted grapes wherever I've lived. A few
grapevines in the backyard, one or two growing up the side of
the house, or a couple hundred to experiment with when I've had
the land to do it.
Now, I was being told that she wanted to live my dream come
true. I questioned her as we drove across the Rocky Mountains
towards her new dream. Things like, "Do you know what this is
going to take?" "Have you seen me struggle to get my grapes to
grow under the Colorado Front Range conditions?"
As we came down in altitude, entering the Western Slope fruit
growing area, I began to understand her desire to own a vineyard
and expand it to support a small winery.
This area is truly a fruit growing delight. Vineyards and
orchards flowing over the mesas of the Colorado Western Slope
region. Cherries, peaches, apples, and of course grapes.
Unlike the eastern side of Colorado, the Western Slope has a
climate that is conducive to growing all sorts of fruit crops.
The noble European grape, V. vinifera, is well adapted to this
fruit growing region.
Tags: colorado - wine - vineyard - grape
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