Father’s Day is coming up! And if anything is true about Fathers, it’s that they love good wine, food and whiskey (especially when it involves American Oak). Luckily, we have a plan involving all three of these! Don’t miss out on our special Father’s Day Gift Pack and special wine releases including our Reserve Petit Verdot and Port aged in a Stranahan Whiskey Barrel ! For details and ordering, keep reading below.
TASTING ROOM Update
At the current time, our tasting room remains closed to the public. However, we are still doing curbside pickup for Wine Club, take-out and wine sales. Check out our website to order and have your wine / food ready for easy curbside pickup.
From our Family to yours, we wish you a Happy Father’s Day.
Father’s Day Gift Pack
$30 + your choice of wine!
Looking for a special gift for Dad? Check out our new gift pack which includes your choice of Wine. We recommend Petite Verdot or Stranahan Barrel aged Port along with local handmade Salumi from Il Porcellino in Denver, Nita Crisps from Fort Collins and a cows milk cheese, Wall Street Gold, from Haystack Mountain in Longmont.
The perfect 100% local gift that’s sure to make Dad happy!
All packed in a box for shipping or Gift Bag for curbside pickup, including a special note from you to Dad.
2017 Colorado Petit Verdot
Reserve Barrel: 2 years in American Oak
We’ve been working with Petit Verdot for over 8 years and it always surprises. Every vintage, it reveals a new trick or flavor, ranging from spicy/peppery to lush/fruit forward. It’s been an interesting grape to look back on, with some of the older vintages showing amazing development in the cellar. With this potential in mind, we decided to reserve the 2017 vintage in the barrel. Most of our wines are only in the barrel for one year, but this 2017 spent twice that time in our best American Oak. We weren’t sure how it would turn out, but this extended barrel aging turned out to be the best choice for this vintage of Petit Verdot!
We’ve been working with Petit Verdot for over 8 years and it always surprises. Every vintage, it reveals a new trick or flavor…
Originating from Bordeaux France, Petit Verdot was traditionally blended with Cabernet to add tannin and structure. In good vintages, it was highly regarded for its power and intensity but sometimes struggled to ripen… In fact, Petit Verdot translates to “Little Green”, a nod to this unfortunate tendency. Most French producers gave up on the grape, replacing it with easier ripening varietals.
Luckily, some vines were transplanted to warmer regions capable of coaxing the full potential out of this stubborn varietal. Indeed, nowadays you are most likely to find Petit Verdot in warm climates like Australia, South Africa. and yes, even here in Colorado! We sourced these grapes from Colorado Vineyard Specialties in Palisade thus the CVS Vineyard designation on the back label.
The 2017 vintage is the perfect marriage of varietal character and American oak temperament. This is truly a combination of elegance and power…
Still, even when grown in warm climates it is rare to see Petit Verdot bottled on its own. The tannins are often just too stern and unforgiving, especially when the wine is young. However, an extra year in our American Oak has afforded this wine the time to develop and mature without compromise. This is truly a combination of elegance and power with classic flavors, unbelievable aromatics, and fine detail. On the nose is an amazing display of fresh herbal notes (sage, fresh dill, dried violets), but without any hint of bitterness. Magnificently dark in color, this wine has incredible depth with notes of vanilla, black raspberry and subtle spice. The 2017 vintage is the perfect marriage of varietal character and American Oak temperament.
Without a doubt, this 2017 Petit Verdot is one of our most impressive offerings in recent memory. I cannot think of a better wine to pair on Father’s Day. It’s going to impress with everything from grilled lamb to barbecue ribs or even just regular beef burgers. That said, don’t feel pressure to open this now. Grab an extra bottle or two as it can easily age 10+ years in the bottle! If you are looking for a powerful yet sophisticated bottle for Father’s Day, this is the one.
American Port | Stranahan Barrel Aged
Our best port yet!
In addition to the excellent Petit Verdot, we have another wine deeply influenced by the oak barrel aging. Welcome our newly bottled Stranahan Barrel American Port! It wouldn’t be Father’s Day unless whiskey is involved right?
For several years now, we have collaborated with acclaimed local whiskey producer Stranahans. Each vintage, we “swap” a few barrels for secondary aging. In the past, they have used our barrels for their acclaimed Snow Flake series; whereas we usually reserve their whiskey barrels for our dessert wines. For father’s day, we recently bottled the new vintage of our Stranahan barrel aged Port. This is particularly exciting because not only does it have the added complexity from the whiskey, but it’s one of our best vintages of Port ever.
Port is short for “Porto” the city along the beautiful Douro River where this style of wine originates. What makes Port different than a regular wine is that it is “fortified”, meaning that high proof alcohol is actually added to the wine in addition to what is naturally produced by the fermentation. This process of fortification is what makes collaborating with Stranahans so interesting as small amounts of whiskey trapped in the tight grain of the oak slowly flow back into the finished wine. This adds a completely new dimension to the port, making it truly unique.
This fortification is what makes collaborating with Stranahans so interesting as small amounts of whiskey trapped in the tight grain of the oak slowly flow back into the finished wine.
There are several types of Port ranging from nutty, oxidative styles like “Tawny” to the very fruity and rich “Ruby”. However, our current rendition of Port reminds me most of “Vintage Port”, the most prized style which is only made once or twice a decade. For us, 2018 gifted near perfect vintage conditions and the enhancement of the whiskey barrel truly make this Port something greater than the sum-of-its-parts.
Unlike other Ports, this has an unbelievable freshness and vibrancy to it. As Ports should be, it is powerful, but somehow incredibly easy to drink.
Unlike other Ports, this has an unbelievable freshness and vibrancy to it. As Port’s should be, it is powerful, but somehow incredibly easy to drink. The ripeness is perfectly balanced with clearly delineated fruit character: black plum, fresh cherry and baked blueberry. Framing these delicious fruit notes is a subtle chocolate-like bitterness that keeps everything in check. On the finish, the whiskey flavors are showcased but not overstated. Again, this is about as easy drinking of a Port you will ever find. Don’t miss out on this special release! Wines like this do not come around often.
