Winemaking in Colorado is happening all over the place. Literally. Estate vineyard/wineries are located in Palisade, Grand Junction, Olathe, Paonia, Cortez and more. Here, winemakers watch over the harvest and can offer a product that was grown, made and bottled on the same piece of land. There’s also a movement that’s in stark contrast, with dozens of wineries setting up shop in the mountains and along the Front Range, far from Colorado’s vineyards. These urban wineries use technology to rush grapes from the Western Slope to their doorsteps during harvest, completing the winemaking process much closer to a city than an agricultural wonderland.
In perspective, though, Colorado enology is not that different than everywhere else in the world. Enology is the science and study of all aspects of wine and winemaking — except the grapegrowing and harvesting. So state enologist Dr. Steve Menke is pressed with helping understand how different winemaking techniques might affect the wines made from Colorado’s unique terrior, and to help pass that information along to the more than 100 registered wineries in Colorado.