The dining room in the house where the Sutcliffes host guests throughout the year. The blue doors lead to the arbor covered patio.
W
hen it comes to fine wines, most aficionados will speak volumes of the wines from Europe or California. The states of Washington and New York have their fine wines. Australia and some countries such as Chile and Argentina in South America have also entered the fray with some decent wines of their own. Yet, ask a wine snob from Napa what their favorite Colorado wine is and you’ll likely get some quizzical head-scratching followed by a bewildered harrumph. But tucked into an edge-of-the-wilderness road in McElmo Canyon west of Cortez, and literally a stone’s throw from the entrance to the Canyon of the Ancients, you will discover the epicenter of sublime winemaking: Sutcliffe Vineyards. This is not hyperbole. These wines are the real deal. In less than two hours drive, depending on your starting point, John Sutcliffe's vineyards thrive in what would appear to be a most inhospitable area of extraordinary canyons, buttes and rock formations. Amidst this sagebrush and reddish earth with its winters of snow and ice, and hot summers, these vines are thriving. And since 75% of a wine’s success is based on the quality of the grapes on the vines, Sutcliffe effusively credits much of the success to his vineyard manager, Jesus Pancho Castillo for producing the extraordinary grapes that meet the stringent requirements set by Sutcliffe and his winemaker, Joe Buckles. March 28, 2010 - Durango Living Spring Edition 13