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 the West Elk Mountains, with a still pond below and long stretches of vineyards and orchards fading into the distance. It feels less like something tucked into the hills above Paonia and more like a scene borrowed from the verdant slopes of the Italian Alps.

For the past few years, that view has sat quietly as Azura closed following the retirement of longtime owners Ty and Helen Gillespie. Now, after much anticipation, the property is coming alive again under new ownership, with a clear sense of purpose guiding its return.

Tom Murphy and Gail Paxton did not come looking to reinvent the place. In fact, they didn’t come to the Western Slope with the intention of buying a business at all, but the views were all it took. And from the beginning, the goal has been to honor what was already here, to preserve Azura’s character, and to bring it back in a way that feels familiar to the people who have known it for years.