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Put Some Altitude in Your Glass
2: Colorado: Wine Enthusiast Top 10 Wine Getaways
Feb 15, 2018
2: Colorado: Wine Enthusiast Top 10 Wine Getaways
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FULL TRANSCRIPT
0:00
[singing] Ooh, don't we look good together? Denver Wine Radio with Paul Bonacquisty and Cha Cha Chavez, presented by Bonacquisty Wine Company and Cha's Back in the Day Cafe.
0:15
[singing] I'm gonna show you up. I'm gonna walk it with ya. I'm gonna walk it with ya. I watch the whole room shake. I watch the whole room shake. Baby, that's what you do. Baby, that's what you do.
0:26
No, I ain't been no fake. No, baby, you're my cup of taste. You got your tickets to Bruno Mars, Doug? No, I'm sorry. I missed out on that one. [laughs] But, but I'm groovin' out here. This is- All right. Yeah...
0:38
next best thing. We love Bruno Mars. This is Denver Wine Radio. I'm Paul Bonacquisty. My co-host, uh, should be here any minute, is Cha Cha Chavez, the one and only.
0:46
And then our guest in studio, Doug Caskey, uh, executive director from the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. And, um, we're talking about Colorado wine. And, um,
0:57
so, uh, just before the break, 10- the 10 best wine getaways in the world. Um, and let me just throw a couple at you. And this is according to Wine Enthusiast. All right? Yeah, they know. They oughta know.
1:08
So this- and this is the- yeah, they should know something. This is the current issue of Wine Enthusiast, and, uh, we're right up there with Tuscany. You've heard of Tuscany.
1:16
Melbourne, uh, Corsica, Hong Kong, Cape Town, and more. So that's us. We're and more. But we'll take it. That's us. The only other US destination was, uh, San Luis Obispo in California. Wow, that's awesome.
1:30
So we are, we, we are way up there and, and, uh, so thrilled and honored to be included. This is just- Yeah... it's really cool.
1:35
I mean, uh, Grand Valley, and, uh, there's an awesome picture of the Grand Valley in, uh, in this magazine. And, um, and places, you know, where to stay, where to, where to visit, some budget tips.
1:46
And, um- It- Was everybody jumping up and down when this hit? Oh, oh my gosh, yes. Yes.
1:52
Although [laughs] there were, there were a couple of wineries who had somehow missed the email, and so when the, uh, Grand Junction Sentinel called them, they were like, "Hmm? What?"
2:01
[laughs] But they were, they were thrilled. That's cool. So, um, so yeah, how did this come about? You know, the Wine Enthusiast, um, I- well, first off, I think they are a great magazine for seeking out new regions.
2:16
You know, they're not tied to Napa and Sonoma and- Yeah... and Bordeaux and the, and the old standard, standards, which are great places, but they're willing to seek out new areas. So they've been here a couple of times.
2:27
Um, they visited Colorado Mountain Winefest, which by the way USA Today named as the top wine festival for 2017. Um, and that happens the third weekend of every September over in Palisade. Yeah. So they were there
2:41
last year or the year before, and they've been back, uh, doing some exploring on their own, uh, once or twice since then.
2:48
They've just been thrilled by what they saw, and that picture I think is, is one of the indicators that they were just, uh, dumbfounded by the beauty that's here in Colorado. Yeah.
2:57
And, oh look, there's grapes in there, too. So, um, yeah, they, they've, um, uh, been following Colorado wine more closely. That's good. And we're, we're just thrilled to death. As we all should. Yes, we should.
3:10
Especially, uh, all of us Coloradans. Um, I mean, just you would have to look to our backyard for a phenomenal, uh, place to vacay and, and drink some fantastic world-class wines. Absolutely.
3:22
You know, I, I mean, I've been in the business here in Colorado for, well, longer than I'd like to talk about, but [laughs] uh, y- we are I think an extremely fortunate state because of Aspen and Vail and Telluride.
3:34
Our wine market here has more selection and more depth and more interesting things than a wine market of a similar size state that doesn't have those resort destinations. So I, I think our consumers,
3:47
I don't wanna say we're spoiled here, but we're a little more skeptical because we've tasted wine from all the great wine regions around the world.
3:55
And so you say, "Yeah, we're growing wine over in Palisade and it's really good." Mm-hmm. People kind of look at you like you, you must be insane 'cause you can't grow grapes here in Colorado.
4:04
As somebody told me once, you can't grow grapes in Colorado 'cause the soil's frozen 12 months out of the year. Oh, is that right? [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] My, my garden is not aware of that. Um,
4:15
but, you know, once people try the wines, they're amazed and thrilled and excited and, um, the- it, it, it blows them away that, yeah, we can grow grapes here in Colorado.
4:24
We can grow really, really good grapes here in Colorado. We can, we can and we do. And, um, and for me as a, as a wine maker, I don't, I don't grow any grapes, but I, I buy grapes from, uh, from different growers.
4:35
And, um, you know, uh, there's a lot of mom and pops, what I like to call- [laughs] Yeah... vineyards.
4:40
So, um, in fact, the, um, my Sangiovese guy, uh, who I just hooked up with, uh, last year for the, actually for the 2016 harvest, and, uh, he, he's a, a retired guy with a four-acre vineyard of Sangiovese.
4:57
That's- And it's a, it's a 10, 11-year-old vineyard. Oh, that's great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. And four acres is about the average size across the state.
5:05
I mean, there's a lot of growers who have 20, almost 30 acres, but by and large the average is right around four acres, and it's people who wanted to get away from the city, find a great place in the country over in the Western Slope, and, uh, plant some grapes.
5:20
Yeah. And, um, so yeah, so you know what?
5:24
And I, uh, [laughs] just thinking of, thinking of my guy, uh, yeah, Ed Cusall, he, um, uh, it, it reminds me of, of people who, who want to retire and then ru- start a vineyard/winery and- Yeah...
5:36
[laughs] Yeah, well, I [laughs] And it's fun to get his perspective now on it 'cause that's what he did. He retired and, uh, he started working this vineyard and, um, uh, he's never worked so hard in his life.
5:45
[laughs] I, I hear that all the time. Uh, it, yes, having a vineyard or a winery, you know, people think, "Oh, that's a romantic, wonderful thing. I wanna do that when I retire."
5:54
But it's a lot of work and a lot of stress, as you know. Oh, man. Uh, you know, you're waiting for the wine to ferment. What's gonna happen to it? Is it gonna be good? Is it gonna- blow up in the tank.
6:04
Um, a- a- and so you just never know, and with a vineyard you're always looking at the weather and- Oh, yeah... how, how cold's it gonna get, how hot is it, is it gonna rain?
6:13
Um, so I, I don't know how you guys deal with the stress, so it's- I don't, I don't either. [laughs] Yeah. [laughs] So we, um, yeah, I guess we, we drink our product. We drink our medicine.
6:22
But the, um, you know, when I, uh... So I've been, I'm coming up on, uh, like alm- 12 years- Wow...
6:29
in, uh, we haven't, the doors have been open 11 and a half, but, um, but those first couple of years in I thought, "Oh yeah, you know, a, a vineyard looks good- [laughs]... somewhere down the line." Yeah.
6:40
And then, uh, a couple of, uh, winery owners, uh, here in the state, uh, at different times mentioned to me that, that they do have vineyards as well, and they said, "Paul, you're doing it right" [laughs] Because of the, uh, the Mother Nature stress.
6:53
Mm-hmm. I mean, you've already got the, uh, you know, the stresses of the winery, uh, just, you know, keeping product correct- Yeah... and, um, and the things you deal with, and of course just business in general.
7:03
But, um- A- and I think it's important to focus on what you do best. Um, not that you can't, people can't do both.
7:10
They do, but, you know, making wine is a lot of hard work and, and requires attention to detail, as does growing grapes, as does all the, all the work that goes into the vineyard.
7:20
You don't just sit there and wait for the grapes to harvest, or to, to ripen and then pull them off the vines. You've got to do a lot of work- Yeah... leading up to that. You sure do.
7:28
It's not the, um, I mean, the, the image we all have, uh, [laughs] From worldwide marketing is, uh, you know, strolling the vineyard with a glass- Yeah...
7:37
and looking up at the sky and- No, you're, you're strolling the vineyard with your, uh, your, your frost protection device- [laughs]...
7:44
which is, you know, basically a fire on wheels that you're hauling up and down to keep it warm enough so that your vines don't die- Yeah... in December.
7:52
Um, yeah, all kinds of things like that, and fertilizing and pesticides and, uh... And actually, you know, I, I, I mentioned pesticides, but we're real lucky in Colorado.
8:00
Because it's so dry here, we have a, a much lower pest and disease pressure than, say, well, other states and other areas in the world.
8:10
So our growers have, have to use far fewer chemical inputs to protect the vines than they would if they were growing somewhere else, and that's, that's a real plus. Yeah, that is. That's a big plus.
8:21
And, um, yeah, our altitude, we, we, we, we got it going on. We do. You know, altitude supposedly, uh, the scientists tell me, makes for more, um, uh, oh, now I'm blanking on the word.
8:34
The good stuff, the, uh, the- Oh, yeah... the dark stuff. [laughs] The, the, the things that give wine its color, the red wine its color, and that's, that's what's really good for- The polyphenols Polyphenols. Yes.
8:43
Thank you, thank you. Yeah. Um, a- and that also is one of the health benefits for wine, and so with the high altitude here we tend to get more of those than we would if we were growing grapes, uh, down at sea level.
8:56
Well, that's good. Yeah, and we definitely get more, um, I mean, I mean style-wise, uh, Colorado wines, uh, and at least in my experience, have been, uh, uh, bigger.
9:05
The reds are bigger, um, uh, i- meaning, and, in alcohol as well. So, uh, I would just say on average. There's been years, I mean, um, so let's just say 14% alcohol is not uncommon- Yeah... 14 and a half.
9:21
Uh, but there has been some years, even a couple years ago, where, uh, the climate, uh, just everything ripened up, uh, maybe it was 2015, ripened up, uh, real evenly and I had some 13% red wines.
9:33
12, I had one that was 12, uh, 12 and a half, and, uh, it was just incredible, uh, uh, just- '15 was the first year after a string of really bad vintages.
9:44
Uh, a- and so I think the vines were kind of stretching their legs and, uh, getting back into the groove and, and created some wonderful grapes in '15.
9:53
And actually '15, '16, '17 have all been outstanding vintages for us here in Colorado. Yeah. Yeah, maybe we'll, uh, yeah, we'll get into some more of that coming up and, um, and also, uh,
10:05
uh, um, Cha Cha Chavez will be here, I promise you- [laughs] 'Cause we're gonna talk some old school and, um, do what we're supposed to be doing, which is wine and music here on Denver Wine Radio.
10:18
We're on Mile High Sports. [upbeat jazz music]
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