C E O N M I W I N O G D O A F R A O GE L O C How Carboy Winery is changing the narrative By Monica Parpal Stockbridge
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t’s been over 100 years since Colorado voted for Prohibition in 1916, four years before the rest of the country followed suit. At first glance, you’d hardly know it. Colorado ranks third in the country for most breweries per capita and almost 100 distilleries call Colorado home. But when it comes to wine, it’s taken a little longer to recover from the Prohibition-era slump. “Most people would be surprised to learn that in the early 19th century, wine flourished in Colorado,” says Kevin Webber, Carboy Winery’s director of winery operations and sales. He’s also a sommelier and a fourthgeneration Colorado native, and like many of us, he’s been rooting for the Colorado wine industry for years.
26 ThirstColorado.com
May-June 2019
“Some of California’s biggest names in wine started in Colorado before moving to Napa Valley,” he adds, before the time when thousands of vines were ripped out during Prohibition. “So in some ways, the California wine industry wouldn’t be where it is today without those humble Colorado beginnings.” While the Colorado wine industry has come a long way in the last 100 years, the saga of Colorado’s wine potential is still being written. And that’s where Carboy Winery comes in. Located just off Brewery Lane in Littleton, Carboy Winery is a three-year-old Colorado winery that works hands-on with growers, vineyards and winemakers from around the country, vinting, blending and aging Carboy