Prepping for the Drink Local Wine Conference in Denver on Saturday. So exactly how does one prepare for a conference? Well, I looked at several hundred vineyard photos that I took a few years back while visiting wineries and vineyards in Colorado. Then another way to set your mind is to drink wine from the state. I searched the wine cellar and retrieved a bottle of a Balistreri 2007 Little Feet Merlot. The little feet name on the wine refers to a September festival at the Denver winery. Merlot grapes arrive from the Western Slope and during the festival children have an opportunity to press the grapes, thus the ”little feet.”

Another observation is the alcohol level of the wine. At 15% alcohol, one can surmise that red grapes do ripen in Colorado’s high altitude. Of course some Coloradans like to point out that they are closer to the sun. Some may be able to pick up some of the alcohol on the aroma. There is a bit but just a small bit of heat on the finish. The dark ruby wine offers dark fruits on the aroma with a touch of oak. Cherries and dark fruit predominates the taste however the fruit yields to wood characteristics on the finish. The wine has tannins and a hint of earthiness on the finish.

Previous perceptions of Colorados’ wines is that achieving 14.5% and higher alcohols is common. With some of those wines you can’t notice the alcohol. Colorado wines are very food friendly. We are enjoying the Little Feet Merlot with a pasta meal with a red sauce.

One way to prep for the upcoming conference is to drink a Colorado wine. Hopefully they will announce where the 2013 conference will take place so I can acquire some wine from that state.

Cheers,
Terry