By Ray Spaziani
Wine Talk
Ray Spaziani
Over the past several years the wine industry in Connecticut has grown by leaps and bounds. We now have 34 wineries in the state, and the quality of the wines is constantly improving.
This is true of our surrounding states also. The wine industry in New York and Long Island, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Virginia, Maine and other surrounding areas has grown precipitously. The quality of wines is improving constantly.
One of the big up-and-coming wine areas, however, is Colorado.
Colorado has great difficulty with climate but has had a long heritage of winemaking. Unfortunately, this heritage was wiped out by prohibition. Colorado was slow to recover.
In 1968, a dentist named Gerald Ivancie decided that wine should be made again in Colorado. He planted some vineyards and opened Ivancie Cellars. He looked for a talented winemaker and found Warren Winiarski. He quickly convinced Ivancie to plant the first classic vines in the state. He made the first couple of vintages of Ivancie’s wines. He went on to purchase a prune orchard in California that he turned into Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars.
Things did not explode for wines in Colorado. By 1990 there were only five wineries making commercial wines in the state. Winiarski’s work set the Colorado wine industry on a path to produce high-quality wines. He only stayed for a couple of years before he went off to buy a prune farm in California. He turned that farm into Stags Leap Winery, where some of the finest wines in the world are produced.
Today there are 150 commercial wineries making wine in Colorado. They are farming close to 800 acres of vineyards. There are two established American viticultural areas. They are Grand Valley and West Elks. There are high desert micro-climates which provide diverse daytime and nighttime temperatures that make for excellent grape growing. There are great challenges associated with Colorado grape growing, however, such as winter freezes and early and late frosts.
Colorado Cabernet Franc is a big fruity wine. For years it was in the top wines in the Governor’s Cup wine competition, which is held every September. Syrah has taken over as the state’s top wine due to its hardiness. Cab Franc can be difficult to grow if the climate does not cooperate. Merlot has a spicy aftertaste that makes it unique. Some say it is because of the high altitude. Bordeaux blends are popular as well as Petit Verdot. The climate and growing areas make it a great place to grow Gewürztraminer and Rieslings. There is an Italian red called Teroldego that is popular as well.
The Governor’s Cup wine competition has been a big help in improving the quality of the wines produced in Colorado. It gives the winemakers feedback on their wines and thus helps them work toward improvement.
If you get an opportunity, try some of these great wines from Colorado. It is the next big up-and-coming wine location.
Ray Spaziani is the chapter director of the New Haven chapter of the American Wine Society. He is on the tasting panels of Winemaker Magazine and Amate del Vino and is a certified wine educator and award-winning home winemaker. Email Ray with your wine questions or activities at realestatepro1000@gmail.com.