With 85 percent of the grapes grown in Colorado’s Western Slope, where are the urban wineries in the Front Range purchasing their grapes? For the majority of these urban wineries, the grapes are sourced from the Western Slope.  The Western Slope has the high altitudes and the right number of degree days to grow excellent grapes for producing Colorado wines.

So you may be wondering, how are the wines? In our visit to 22 wineries in the Front Range and Western Slope, we have discovered many good wines. There really is a wine for everyone’s taste. We have encountered wineries that focus on the traditional, classic wines. While other wineries include slightly sweeter wines and fruit wines hoping to have a wine for everyone who visits their tasting room. Wines we discovered worth trying included Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Riesling and several choices of fruit wines. No matter what kind of wine you enjoy, we believe you will discover that Colorado wines deserve national recognition.

Today we’ll mention just a few of our favorites from Front Range Wineries. The 2006 Ciatano’s Wineries Vino Rosso Cambiani is and excellent blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. The aroma and taste is very fruity and the bold tannins give way to fruit on the finish. Balistreri Winery’s Colorado Little Feet Merlot, named Little Feet because children stomped the grapes, had a dark purple color. The aroma was of dark red fruit and the taste was creamy and fruity. The finish was balanced, not hot despite the alcohol level being 15 percent. Tannins were very noticeable on the finish. This wine was simply delicious.

Trail Ridge Winerie’s Gewurztraminer 2007 offered a very aromatic and floral aroma. The taste had apple pie spices including ginger, cloves and there were apple nuances. The finish was crisp, spicy and dry.  Bookcliff Vineyard’s Allegretto, produced from American orange Muscat, had an aroma with orange nuances. The taste was smooth with orange and a slight sweetness. Allegretto dried on the aftertaste.

Augustina’s Winery makes a cherry wine made with 100 percent organic Montmorency cherries. It was an outstanding cherry wine. The cherries are fermented with cold fermentation and the pits and skins of the cherries add additional character to the wine. The finish of this wine was light and fruity. 

These are just a few of the great wines from Colorado’s Front Range wineries. Tomorrow I’ll look at some of the favorite Grand Valley wines.