Two years ago, the prestigious Food & Wine magazine heralded Colorado’s Grand Valley as “the new Sonoma.” The region around Palisade and Fruita is dotted with respected wineries. But those glass-swirling wine experts are likely to check in on the Front Range on their next Colorado excursion. That’s because the urban corridor also produces top-quality wines alongside our world-famous craft beers and solid spirits.

Most wineries don’t have an exorcism or an accountant in their history. The Winery at Holy Cross Abbey in Cañon City has both. As the story goes, a monk from the historic Holy Cross Abbey performed an exorcism on an allegedly haunted winery in Palisade in 2000. That sparked an idea: Why not make wine at the monastery? The monks, who numbered about 20 at the time, recruited a winemaker and opened the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey in 2002.

The term “natural wine” has gained a good amount of traction in recent years, and in Denver, bars like Noble Riot and Yacht Club have helped popularize the trend. Because there are no designated guidelines for natural wines like there are with organic wine, what the term means can vary by producer. In many cases, natural wines are produced with minimal intervention and are made with little or no additives. Often, they are described as bright, funky and hazy.

Shawn Kauffman wanted to grow Malbec grapes at his Bugling Elk Vineyards & Winery in Penrose, CO. Badly. He planted more than 1,400 vines in 2018 to grow grapes for wine that would rival the finest Argentinian Malbec. Then he added more. Five years later, Kauffman is “done with Malbec.”

When searching for the perfect wine in Colorado, a trip to Palisade is likely in order. Known for delicious fresh fruits, it’s no wonder that in Palisade and western Colorado one can find a wine or beverage for almost any palate.

Colorado-based Mom Juice celebrates three years of transformative wine culture. When KT Winery launched its flagship brand, Mom Juice, owners Kristin Taylor and Macie Mincey had a clear vision. “We wanted to shift wine culture and community,” says Taylor. On Aug. 13, the duo celebrated their company’s third anniversary, during which time it grew from a largely online operation to selling in nearly 300 stores. Most are in Colorado, with another 20 or so in Charlotte, North Carolina, “the places where we’ve both lived,” Taylor explains. While Mom Juice is based in Denver, the wines are produced by veteran winemaker Brian Kosi out in Napa.

Susan Patton’s mom loved the red cabernet sauvignon grapes that grow in front of the family home in Palisade, Colorado. She loved them so much, in fact, that in 1992 she convinced Susan and her husband Phil to buy adjacent land to plant acres of grapes, as well as the region’s famed peaches, apples and pears. They sold fruit under the name Peachfork Orchards & Vineyards.

Last week was a banner one for Colorado’s Mesa County. The 32nd annual Colorado Mountain WineFest was held Saturday. By all accounts it was a glowing success. The official figures are impressive: more than 5,000 attendees from 40 states and five countries, sampling the wares of more than 50 Colorado wineries, and in the process injecting somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.1 million into the local economy.