At the foot of the Rockies, Canon City, Colorado
THE 2011 HARVEST
IS FINISHED
Karin and I and three volunteers pressed out 2200 pounds of fermented-on-the-skins Norton on Oct. 17, the last official act of the harvest season. Our tanks and barrels are all full and we're ready for the holiday sales season at our little boutique tasting room.
We will be open every Saturday from noon until 5 p.m. right through Christmas eve.
After Dec. 24 we will close until we begin releasing our new spring wines in early May.
People often ask us why we don't open more often. We are a small winery making fewer than 500 cases a year, mostly from the grapes we grow on our property and from a handful of contract growers in and around Canon City. We sell nearly all that wine on just Saturdays between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Indeed, many of our releases sell out in one day.
We strive to keep our wines affordable, and prices on 2010, 2011 and newly released 2012 wines will range from $9.95 to $14.95. Our most expensive wine is the 2008 Cab Franc at $22.95.
We hope you will come visit us, sign our guest book and add your email address to our mailing list so we can notify you of each coming release.
SCHEDULE:
We release a new wine almost every Saturday and while it is hard to look into the future we try to schedule those releases and keep all our regular customers
informed.
Saturday, Nov. 5, we release Barefoot Ruby, a delightful blend of Norton and Pino Grigio. Named for my mother - and the brilliant light red color - this rose wine is slightly sweet, smooth and easy to swill.
Coming Nov. 12 is a really BIG release for us: Our 2011 Escaped Riesling - a runaway from the vineyard at the Canon City prison farm.
Because few people ever get to see it, many people don't realize the prison not only has hundreds of acres of farm land and fruit orchards, it also has the largest vineyard on the Colorado Front range, tended and picked by inmates.
Their vineyard is only a couple miles from ours and has very similar soil and climate, but their Riesling crop this year faired better than ours and we were happy to get a ton and a half of excellent grapes from them, enough to make a single-vineyard wine. Escaped Riesling is semi-sweet and has notes of apple and pear. So that everyone can try this new local wine, we're releasing it at just $9.95, with prices likely to go up as supplies dwindle.
So don't wait and please stay in touch.
A great local gift Idea:
We have teamed up with internationally famous artist Dave Merrick, who lives and works a couple blocks from our vineyard, for a very special gift package:
Our 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2006 Pinot Gris with limited edition Dave Merrick labels, packaged together in a wood box with two loose labels suitable for framing and hand signed by Dave himself. Just $49.95 while supplies last.
Groups love to visit our winery & vineyard
We welcome the Dawson Ranch homeowners association in September and a number of other groups already booked for October and November.
While our winery is normally open only on Saturdays during the spring and fall, we are always happy to entertain groups for receptions, wine tastings and vineyard tours. Groups like the Canon City Coop, the Gadabouts, the Canon Zonta club and the Canon City Garden Club are regular visitors. Call us at 719-315-2075 to arrange your group visit.
We have more than 1900 vines in the ground. We grow 11 varieties of grapes and specialize in small batches of unique wines not commonly available from a Colorado winery.
In addition, we trade some grapes and wines with other Colorado wineries to expand our line and to offer unique Colorado blends.
All of our wines are 100% a "Product of Colorado."
Vinifera: Fine Hybrids:
Riesling Cayuga White
Cabernet Franc Chardonel
Malbec Traminette
Zweigelt Corot Noir
Norton Vignoles
Frontenac
CONTACT:
David@ColoradoGrapes.Com
1702 Willow, Canon City, CO 81212
719-315-2075
