Cottonwood Cellars at Kagan & Baron Gallery of Fine Art
by
Terry Sullivan
Summary: Main Street in historic downtown Montrose, Colorado offers an unusual location for a winery tasting room, located in an art gallery. Gallery owner, Danielle Breteau loves sharing art. Wine is always available in the gallery for visitors.
Do you want to taste wines while strolling among local and international works of art? The Kagan & Baron Gallery of Fine Art in Montrose, Colorado offers a relaxing environment to spend several hours. Whether you want to admire paintings, sculptures, and ceramics or just stop by and read the newspaper, you will receive a warm welcome from owner Danielle Breteau. The gallery was named after Danielle’s two dogs that recently passed away.
Danielle who has lived in several places throughout the world moved to Colorado from the Washington D.C. area. She wanted to provide an art gallery for Montrose. The gallery opened in November 2007 and sold 23 pieces during the slow winter months. The main room provides an array of different types of art from large sculptured wood pieces to small handmade glass beads. Local artists are encouraged to participate in the art gallery as well as international artists. Opened daily, the gallery draws an average of 35 visitors each day. The gallery holds several private events and social affairs throughout each month. There is music, educational classes and wine tastings. Many of the visitors take the opportunity to taste Cottonwood Cellars wines and browse the selection of art pieces.
Cottonwood Cellars is a family-run estate winery and vineyard that began operations in 1994. The vineyards are located on a mesa at 5600 feet altitude. Owner and winemaker Keith Read is quiet and prefers to let the wines speak for themselves. His wife, Diana is also an owner and is the force behind marketing Cottonwood Cellars. Currently the winery has 22.5 acres of grapes including Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Lemberger. The winery produces between 3700 and 4000 cases of wine.
We tasted several Cottonwood Cellars wines at the gallery and at a dinner at Garlic Mike’s restaurant in Montrose. The 2006 White Pinot Noir was fruity and sweet. The strawberry taste lingered with the sweet finish. The 2006 Gewürztraminer was fruity and became dry on the finish. The 2003 Merlot had a velvety mouth-feel and was fruit forward. It offered a crisp finish with soft tannins. Classic Blend 2005 is a blend of equal amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. This blend had a dark fruit nose and taste with a long aftertaste. The 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon was fruit forward and offered a crisp finish with bold tannins.
Dinner at Garlic Mike’s was a five-course meal with a Cottonwood Cellars wine paired with each course. The first course was an imported salmon Carpaccio with a lemon-dill aioli. The course was paired with the Cottonwood Cellars White Pinot Noir. The fruity and sweet wine was a bit too sweet for the salmon, however the crispness of the wine cleansed the palate. The second course was fresh mozzarella caprese with grilled eggplant. The Classic Blend paired nicely with this meal. The roasted pork roulade with Fontina cheese and Fuji apples paired with the 2004 Lemberger. Possibly the best pairing was the 2003 Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon and a pan seared sirloin of beef. For dessert we had a New York style cheesecake paired with a 2006 Gewürztraminer.
From pairing of food and wine to pairing of art and wine make sure to stop at Kagan & Baron Gallery of Fine Art and enjoy browsing the fine art and tasting Cottonwood Cellars wines.
Kagan & Baron Gallery of Fine Art
443 east Main Street
Montrose, Colorado
Cottonwood Cellars
5482 Highway 348
Olathe, Colorado 81425
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