Taking local to a whole new level

Colorado wineries are small. Even the big ones are small. The biggest wineries in the state produce about 20,000 cases annually. In fact, the entire state produces about 115,000 cases each year (much of it from Colorado-grown grapes). One winery takes the small and local approach to a whole new level. Settembre Cellars is perhaps the smallest winery in the state. Blake and Tracy Eliasson founded the tiny endeavor in their Boulder home in 2007. They made wines in lots as small as 4 and 5 cases. Today, their biggest lot is still a miniscule 84.2 cases and they have just recently crossed the 500 case annual production threshold.

VinCO comes into its own in 2013

Last week in Grand Junction, CO the Colorado wine industry gathered for the third annual VinCO conference. The Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology (CAVE) hosts the three-day event in concurrently with the Western Colorado Horticultural Society’s Annual Convention. VinCO brings together wine producers, winemakers, winery suppliers, industry leaders and expert speakers for a dynamic three-day wine industry forum that offers information, tools and networking opportunities vital to the success of the Colorado wine industry. In just three short years the conference has shown just much the industry has improved.

Meet the Winemaker: Blake Eliasson (Settembre Cellars)

Small and boutique is how one might describe all of Colorado's wineries, but Settembre Cellars is the epitome of small and boutique. Founded in 2007 by Blake and Tracy Eliasson, Settembre produces just a few hundred cases annually. They sell almost all of their wine from the winery and even offer a bicycle delivery service to local wine lovers in Boulder. In addition to recently starting one of the hottest wineries in the state, Blake and Tracy welcomed their first child, Oliver, into the Settembre family a few months ago. Having a recent addition of my own, I am especially appreciative that Blake took the time to be my guest for this week's winemaker interview.

Colorado Wine Week: Highlights and Lessons Learned

The 2011 Colorado Cup Winemaking Competition and the events of the first-ever Colorado Wine Week are now in the rearview mirror. Both were undeniably successful in raising the bar of the wine industry in the the Centennial State, but both could be room for improvement. The Colorado Winefest at Northfield Stapleton was without a doubt a great first-time event, and almost all of the guests and winery representatives that I spoke with were pleased with the outcome. Even though there were a few hiccups, the event should only get better as the organizers learn from experience. The most notable adjustment needs to be a better location for the winery booths. Some were stuck at the ends and did not get as many visitors as they should have and others were next to popular food vendors and were difficult to access. Also, a map, list of the attendees and schedule of events would be helpful for finding booths and seminars. Overall, good, but small improvements will make it great.

The competition also provided well-deserved recognition for our hard-working winemakers despite a few issues. For starters, not really a complaint of this competition per se, but when panels of people judge wines most of the wines stay stuck in the middle. When Robert Parker, Jr. likes a wine he gives it a 95-point score and proclaims it so. He doesn't have four other people's opinions changing his proclamation. On a judging panel, it only takes one or two judges to make a gold-medal wine into a silver or even a bronze. If a bronze medal is 11-14, silver 14-17 and gold 17-20, these hypothetical scores show how a wine could get gypped out of its rightful hardware. Judge 1 = 17.5, Judge 2 = 17, Judge 3 = 17, Judge 4 = 16.5 and Judge 5 = 13.5. The mean score is 16.3, or silver, but the median is 17, or gold. This distributions of scores is quite common at competitions and most outcomes land in the bronze and silver categories. Just as with pundit proclamations, take competition results with a grain of salt. Taste the wines for yourself and drink what you like!

Also, only 33 of the approximate 100 wineries entered the Colorado Cup, which means some pretty big names in the world of Colorado Wine were notably absent. To me, competitions are not much more than a measuring stick, but if the wineries of our great square state really want to measure up against each other, every single winery needs to be a part of the process. Perhaps like cult Napa Valley wineries that do not allow critic tastings outside the confines of their ivory towers, some wineries may be afraid of being compared on a level playing field. Sometimes there are other reasons for not entering wine (like a new baby!), but media and consumer darlings like The Infinite Monkey Theorem, Sutcliffe Vineyards, Jack Rabbit Hill, Colterris, Alfred Eames Cellars and Settembre Cellars need to enter every year for this event to accurately reflect the state of Colorado wine.

Most importantly, all of the events of Colorado Wine Week garnered unprecedented media coverage for Colorado wines. The Grand Junction press plastered Governor Hickenlooper's face and comments over their airwaves and websites, one Denver television station aired two segments on the Denver events, the Denver Post put Colorado wine on the front page of the food section and countless other blogs posted multiple stories on the festivities. While all of this was just a blip on the radar screen compared to political sexting scandals, it is a start to bigger and better media attention in the years to come. Cheers to Colorado Wine!

You're the expert on what you like...

All too often consumers depend on scores given by The Wine Advocate, The Wine Spectator or The Wine Enthusiast for choosing which wines they purchase. How often do these consumers know if their palates match those of the reviewers? How often do high scores and even higher prices create an unconscious (or even conscious) bias in the consumers' evaluation of wine? Many people, including myself, often fall to the peer pressure of thinking a wine that is more expensive or from a more highly-regarded region is better than the wine they actually like best. Critics often argue that this bias is removed when tasting wines blind. In some ways this is true. But the palate of Robert Parker is quite different from that of John Doe. Wine critics are experts at tasting the potential of what wines may achieve in 20 years time. They too have excellent memories and can pick out certain wines in tastings that they know ought to receive high scores solely based on their geography and price point. Well, how do "regular" wine consumers compare to the experts? Which wines do normal people prefer?

To investigate this question, I assembled 13 friends, family and colleagues to taste two flights of wine. Each flight consisted of a few local Colorado Wines and two top international wines. I joined in on the tasting, but offered minimal input and did not score or formally review the wines. The first flight consisted of two Colorado Rieslings plus one from Germany and one from Australia. The second flight consisted of three Colorado Cabernet Francs, one from Italy and a Cabernet Franc-dominated blend from Bordeaux. Participants were each asked to taste, compare, discuss and rank individual preferences for each flight. Each person was asked to rank the wines (1-4 for Riesling and 1-5 for Cabernet Franc) and the rankings were summed. The wine with the lowest total score (highest average ranking) was determined the best in category.

In the Riesling flight, the tasters clearly preferred a little sweetness in their Rieslings. This is not surprising as most everyday drinkers of Riesling expect to find some residual sugar. The results for the Riesling flight are as follows:

1. Loosen Bros., Dr. L Riesling 2008, Mosel, Germany
2. Boulder Creek Winery, Gen Y Rielsing 2009, Grand Valley, Colorado
3. Settembre Cellars, Riesling 2009, Grand Valley, Colorado
4. Grosset, Polish Hill Riesling 2008, Clare Valley, Australia

The participants identified the balance of the sweetness and acidity as positives and the marked acidity and petrol characteristics as negatives. In a what many wine enthusiasts would consider a surprise, the Grosset, one of Australia's finest Rieslings, came in last and was only deemed the favorite Riesling by one taster.

On to the Cabernet Francs, the "judges" had their choice of four 100% Cabernet Francs and one 58% Cabernet Franc/42% Merlot blend. As a varietal that most participants were not used to drinking, the earthy flavors were new to a few drinkers. The results for the Cabernet Franc flight are as follow:

1. Creekside Cellars, 2007 Cabernet Franc, Grand Valley AVA, Colorado
2. Canyon Wind Cellars, 2007 Cabernet Franc, Grand Valley AVA, Colorado
3. Dithyramb Winery, 2008 Cabernet Franc, Grand Valley AVA, Colorado
4. Château Angélus, 2003, Saint-Émilion Premier grand cru classé B, France
5. Blason, 2008 Cabernet Franc, Friuli Isonzo DOC, Italy


In an exceptional surprise, the Colorado offerings took the top three places and beat out one of the top Right Bank Bordeaux from a very good year! Perhaps the Angélus and the Grosset need a few more years before their potential is met. But the average consumer is not going to buy a bottle and let it sit for 10 years before drinking. With the wines that are on the shelf and ready to drink right now, Colorado holds its own with some of the best wines and wine regions in the world. Let this be a lesson to the casual wine drinker; price and region may not be as important as you thought. Follow your palate and you might be pleasantly surprised at where you end up! You are the expert on what you like. Drink what you like and give Colorado Wine a try!

For what it is worth, my own favorites of the night were Boulder Creek's Gen Y (followed by the Polish Hill) and the Château Angélus (followed closely by the Creekside Cellars and Canyon Wind Cellars).

A (almost) 100% local meal

With Regional Wine Week upon those in the know, I thought "what better way to contribute than to have a (almost) 100% meal." Settembre Cellars' slogan is, "Colorado Grapes, Boulder Wine. Crafting Old-World Style Wines, Locally." Started in 2007 by Blake and Tracy Eliasson, Settembre has produced less than 400 cases of single-vineyard designated wine. This small sustainably-minded family winery sells its wine via bicycle delivery, local wine festivals and the 63rd Street Farm in Boulder, CO. Settembre really is the epitome of local wine.

In honor of Settembre's extreme localness, I decided to enjoy their 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon (Valley) with a meal from local ingredients. Just as the 63rd Street Farm offers a CSA share, Settembre offers a CSW (community-supported wine share). My wife and I receive most of our fresh fruit and vegetables locally from Door to Door Organics. Also, my wife's school has a large garden from which faculty and staff can take a small bounty. Using a refrigerator full of fresh, locally-grown vegetables, I made a red risotto with beets, chard, spinach, green beans, red onion, zucchini, yellow cherry tomatoes, and broccoli. Only the rice (Spain), olive oil (Italy), Italian cheese blend (generic Kraft blend) and Gorgonzola cheese (Wisconsin) were not sourced locally! Not only did the risotto taste exceptionally fresh, paired with the locally-sourced and locally-produced wine the meal was exceptionally environmentally friendly. Drinking and eating locally doesn't only feel great, it tastes great!

Colorado Cabernet Sauvignon (Valley), Settembre Cellars, Grand Valley AVA, Colorado

Only 642 bottles of this Cabernet Sauvignon were made. The fruit for this wine was sourced from the valley of the Grand Valley AVA on the western slope of Colorado. The wine was fermented in stainless steel, aged in French oak barrels and bottled unfiltered and unfined. Much lighter in color than most Cabernets, this wine has a red core bleeding into a purple-red rim. When I put my nose in the glass, I smell aromas of indistinct red fruits combined with cedar, eucalyptus and intense mint. After just smelling this wine for a few minutes, I slowly take a sip. The light tannins are met with a good amount of acidity. Flavors of darker fruit, mainly plum, dark chocolate and tobacco fill my mouth. Flavors of cocoa and mint linger on the palate for quite some time after swallowing the wine. This wine has a smooth yet long finish reminiscent of an old-world style Cabernet without the big jammy flavors of the ever more prevalent modern style. 13.7% abv Purchased $28. Very Good (tasted 10/11/10)