LOCAL FLAVORS
// behind the bar
Local Toast Skip the Champagne and salute 2022 with COLORADO’S NEW BUBBLIES
with your retailer for bubbly choices that offer a taste of high-altitude effervescence.
By John Lehndorff
COLORADO CELLARS TRINITY CHAMPAGNE Colorado Cellars Winery in Palisade has been making its semi-dry, oaky sparkling wine for so long it legally gets to call itself “champagne,” despite French objections. It tastes like Champagne, too. coloradocellars.com
YES, VIRGINIA, champagne really is bottled in Colorado, not to mention a toast-worthy lineup of sparkling wines. “Five years ago, there were only two or three wineries making sparkling wines. Now there are at least twenty and there’s a real demand for those wines,” says Kyle Schlachter, Marketing Coordinator for the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board which, represents the state’s wineries.
BUCKEL FAMILY WINE SPARKLING ROSÉ Using Palisade-grown Syrah grapes, the Buckel Family bottles a refreshing, naturally carbonated rosé. buckelfamilywine.com SAUVAGE SPECTRUM SPARKLET ROSÉ Grand Valley-based Sauvage Spectrum winery offers three varieties of Sparklet sparkling wines. Sparklet Rosé is balanced and approachable, Sparklet Extra Dry is dry and smooth and Sparklet Off Dry offers a fruitier taste. sauvagespectrum.com
Colorado’s wine star has been rising over the past decade, but its sparkling wines have flown under the radar.
“These wineries have just had a few vintages. I can foresee Colorado soon being known as a sparkling wine producing region,” Schlachter says. Start your tasting with the following bubblies but remember that these wineries—like most Colorado producers—bottle small quantities of their wines, especially the sparkling ones. Check
PHOTO: COURTESYPURGATORY CELLARS
It is just the beginning of a bubbly boom.
PURGATORY CELLARS INDULGENCE ROSÉ The winery’s lightly bubbly Indulgence Rosé is made with Colorado-grown Black Moscato grapes. Known for making some wines in amphora clay vessels, Purgatory Cellars hosts tasting rooms in Highlands Ranch and Castle Rock. purgatorycellarscolorado.com
More Colorado BUBBLIES Carboy Rosé La La La Sparkling Rosé Wine carboywinery.com Red Fox Cellars Freestone Sparkling Peach redfoxcellars.com
PHOTO: COURTESY BUCKEL FAMILY WINE
PHOTO: COURTESY SAUVAGE SPECTRUM
Kingman Wine Estates Red DemiSec Sparkling Wine kingmanwine.com 30
november 2021 // AvidLifestyle
