I’m embracing a Colorado wine encore, cultivating grapevines, and crafting wine.
I’m sharing my wine encore journey from city life winemaking to country vineyard grower, hoping to inspire those with similar dreams or offer a vicarious escape for others.
Marshall's Wine Encore is Multi-Faceted
Marshall’s Wine Encore is geared toward wine-growing, winemaking, and the world of wine. While the content is written for casual wine enthusiasts, it delves into detail across multiple subjects.
For example, the site’s Vineyard and Winemaker pages detail growing wine grapes and winemaking. After the topic summaries and highlights, there is a series of curated topic blocks by subject matter experts who make it happen.
If you’d like to learn “with a side of humor” from my personal experiences, immerse yourself in my blogs, which cover rural valley living, planting and maintaining a vineyard, and my musings on current events in the world of wine.
You can also keep up-to-date on the Colorado wine scene, and news.
You Can Find Marshall's Wine Encore on Substack, Flipboard, and Next Avenue
I’m using Substack to write a book about my wine encore. To receive chapters when published, follow this link to sign up for a free subscription.
Find Flipboard Magazines created by Marshall’s Wine Encore covering wine news, growing, creating, and enjoying wine, and climate change in viticulture.
Next Avenue, a national publication geared to Life Encores, wrote an article featuring Marshall’s Wine Encore’s viticultural experiences.
Winter and Spring – 2026 Edition
“An exercise of extremes”, well encapsulates this past winter and spring in my vineyard and its location in Colorado’s North Fork Valley. The winter began innocently enough. While the vines quietly slumbered, December’s weather was reasonably normal. This was about to change, with record breaking results. You’ll find data to support this assertion, along with learning about new and surprising vineyard challenges.
Water is Everything
Many of us live privileged lives in which water is an afterthought. At times, we’ll dwell on it when reading about occurrences of water scarcity in different parts of the world, reflecting on the ongoing drought in the Southwestern U.S., or when turning on the tap for a cool glass of water on a hot summer day. For me, it’s scarcity that hits close to home, akin to a kick in the gut, when my water solar pump fails.
What Role Does Acid Have in Wine?
Acid plays an elemental role in wine. There are two types of acid: fixed and volatile. Fixed acids give a wine structure, texture, and zing, while volatile compounds are picked up aromatically. About the same time I came across a wine glossary beginning with the term acid, I was assessing two of my wines, asking the all-important question whether they required “tweaking” before bottling.
Is Drinking Wine Hazardous to Your Health?
“Young doctors nearly killed me, because in their phrasing, I use alcohol.” This is a quote from wine writer W. Blake Gray in the publication Wine-Searcher, titled “Alcohol Caught Between Science and Ideology.” In summary, the article recounts a harrowing eight-day hospital stay where Gray felt his life was endangered by the biases of younger medical professionals.
What Role Does Grafted Rootstock Play in the World of Wine?
Grafted rootstock is a plant propagation method that combines a resilient root system with a desirable fruit-bearing vine, allowing growers to produce hardy, disease-resistant plants with consistent quality. In winemaking, it is especially important to protect Vitis vinifera varieties from phylloxera, a destructive root pest.
2025 Vineyard Lessons Learned
“In the vault”, is a common retort of mine—usually good for a chuckle—aimed at my wife, Janine, when she reminds me of something I must remember. But you can’t rely on “the vault” when you’re learning and managing new experiences—especially something as complex as tending a vineyard.
Counterclaims Allowed to Proceed in Lawsuit Over ‘Polluted’ Wine (Capital Press)
A federal judge is allowing a Washington winemaker to proceed with allegations that a Colorado winery has raised claims of unsanitary practices to evade its contractual obligations. Last year, a complaint filed by Carboy Winery of Colo., alleged that it’d
Cañon City’s Winery at Holy Cross Abbey could close this September after 25 years (Cañon City Daily Record)
Opened to the public in June 2002, The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey is celebrating 25 years of winemaking this summer, though this summer may also be its last. After operating the winery for the past 21 years, owner Larry
Drought Worries Tormenting Hotchkiss Vineyard Owners (The Daily Sentinel)
The Storm Cellar is hoping to weather another storm this summer. After the vineyard survived the spring heat and one wicked night of freezing temperatures, the work is now focused on making sure an additional 8 acres of vines will
Wine Importers in Edwards Try to Get their Tariff Money Back (CPR)
It might feel like things have gone quiet on the tariff front since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled many of the Trump administration’s tariffs illegal in February. But Colorado’s small businesses are still trying to make sense of the administration’s
Head to Colorado’s ‘wine country’ this Summer to Find more Than 30 Wineries (the Gazette)
Although wine might not be the first thing that comes to mind when Colorado is mentioned, the Centennial State has some great vineyards with the Western Slope town of Palisade being a great hub for lovers of wine to explore.
Back on the Block: Azura Wine Cellars Returns to the North Fork (High Country Spotlight)
There are a few places in the North Fork where the views can stop you in your tracks, even if you’ve seen them before. Azura Wine Cellars is one of the best. From the terrace, the valley opens wide beneath