The View from Colorado Wine Country (Thirst Colorado)
Thirst Team
July 1, 2025
Recapping a staff trip through Palisade, Grand Junction, Hotchkiss and Paonia
Team Thirst took a whirlwind trip through Colorado Wine Country last week, visiting old friends and making new friends in Palisade, Grand Junction, Hotchkiss and Paonia.
MAISON LA BELLE VIE
Our first stop was Maison La Belle Vie for a wine flight and a wine slushie flight, along with the first of several charcuterie boards on the trip. After the drive from Westminster, we also enjoyed the chance to stretch our legs on their shaded patio with a great view of the Book Cliffs.
SAUVAGE SPECTRUM
On the Team Thirst Colorado Wine Country tour, our education began in earnest at Sauvage Spectrum, where level 2 sommelier John Calacino helped us craft a growler of custom red blend. Assistant winemaker Hannah Parnell toured us around the winery and showed us some of their new industrial tools for making and packaging their award-winning wines.
Sauvage Spectrum is helmed by grower Kaibab Sauvage and winemaker Patric Matysiewski, two names we heard all over the valley. Plenty of wineries have purchased their grapes or leaned on their extensive knowledge.
CLIFF DWELLER WINE CO
Also on our Colorado Wine Country tour, Team Thirst made a quick pit stop to share a wine flight at Cliff Dweller Wine Co., a boutique Palisade winery we profiled in our current summer issue.
QUTORI WINES
Owner Julie Bennett treated Team Thirst to charcuterie (of course) and estate-grown pinot wines, as well as other varieties crafted at her winery outside Paonia. The boutique winery is a family affair, and Julie’s son Kyle is the winemaker, who won best in show at the Colorado Governor’s Cup competition when the winery was just two years old. The tasting room and cafe are in a former gas station building amid their 35 acres of vineyards. The property also includes two tiny home vacation rentals.
THE STORM CELLAR
We couldn’t leave the Western Slope without cruising the switchbacks up to visit The Storm Cellar Winery and Vineyard. Owners Jayme Henderson and Steve Steese are former Denver sommeliers who translated a passion for tasting and pouring wine into the intense and laborious process of growing vines and making wine. We appreciate them taking a few moments from their hectic farming schedule to share their wines and their stories. They also just notched another feather in their caps when The Storm Cellar’s dry riesling was added to the wine list at the acclaimed Element 47 in Aspen.