Colorado : Rooted in History

Doug Caskey Jim and Ann Seewald headed a group of Perhaps the single event that moved 18 investors to found Mountain Colorado’s wine industry further ahead of the History , and in 1978, the winery other Four Corner states was the passage of the When Colorado Governor George produced its first bottle from Colorado . Industry Development Act A. Crawford planted 60 acres of grapes on After many corporate reorganizations, Colo- in 1990 by the state legislature. Modeled after Rapid Creek in 1890, above the town of rado Mountain Vineyards essentially operates Missouri and Oregon’s wine promotion statutes, Palisade in the “sweet spot” of today’s Grand today as Colorado Cellars in Palisade. the act created a continuously appropriated Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA), he The idea of using Colorado grapes grew funding stream from a penny per liter excise was taking advantage of the perfect fruit- quickly. Theron Barber planted mostly hybrid tax on all wine sold in the state, an additional growing conditions in the newly settled area. grapes across the interstate from the World $0.01-$0.05 per liter sliding scale excise tax on According to “The Fruit Belt of Mesa County,” Arena in Colorado Springs in 1979 as wine produced by Colorado wineries, and $10 an authoritative statement of the resources of vinifera, the species of the classic European per ton on grapes and other produce used by Mesa County, c. 1896, prepared by the Com- wine varieties, does not tolerate the Colorado wineries to make wine. missioner of Immigration for Mesa County, extreme temperatures and fluctuations of the The fund is overseen by the nine members the conditions “can hardly be improved upon. . His winery, Vineyards, of the Colorado Wine Industry Develop- More than 300 days of perfect sunshine annu- had its first crush in 1984. Hobby ment Board (CWIDB), who were appointed ally and the dryness of the atmosphere make it Doug Phillips and Eric Bruner founded Plum by the governor. The board operates under a natural sanitarium.” Creek Cellars in 1985 along its namesake in the auspices of the Colorado Department of The publication goes on to name the Larkspur, but soon moved the operation to Agriculture. The Wine Industry Development “finest European grapes [grown in the Grand Palisade to be near the grapes they had planted. statute mandates that at least one-third of the Valley], such the Black Hamburg, Flame Tokay, Grape grower Steve Smith opened Grande budget, which has totaled more than $600,000 , Sultana, and Malaga,” a River Vineyards in 1987, and Parker and Mary in recent years, be spent on research and at list that would have impressed a nineteenth- Carlson followed suit with Carlson Vineyards least one-third on promotion of Colorado wine century . and Winery in 1988. and grapes. Between 1899 and 1909, the grape The CWIDB’s promotional efforts have in Colorado reported by the U.S. Department Funding included billboard, radio, and limited TV of Commerce Agriculture Census went from Due to its agricultural roots and its advertising, plus media trips for national and 586,300 to 1,037,614 pounds, with 1,034 potential to stimulate the economy of many local writers to taste Colorado . However, farms involved in grape production statewide. parts of the Western Slope, the Colorado wine wineries traditionally report that the most Many of the European settlers who had come industry has always enjoyed the avid support successful marketing tool is the Colorado Wine to Colorado to work the mines in areas like of the state legislature. The Colorado Lim- Brochure, listing all 105 licensed wineries and Pueblo and Cañon City brought ited Winery Act, passed in 1977, gave small their remote tasting or sales locations. The and a tradition with them. wineries using primarily Colorado fruit and publication has been distributed in tourist Unfortunately, Colorado was ahead of produce to make their wine a reduced cost brochure rack services across the state for the times and adopted Prohibition in 1916, license that allowed self-distribution, without nearly 20 years. It has been expanded to four years before the rest of the nation. Grand needing to go through a licensed wholesaler. It include an interactive map and winery listing Junction historian Abbot Fey calls Prohibition also allowed up to five remote sales and tasting on www.coloradowine.com, which is also a the advent of the peach industry in the Grand rooms, plus one on the manufacturing prem- source of information about virtually every Valley as hundreds of thousands of grape vines ises, from which to sell Colorado wine directly aspect of the Colorado wine industry for trade were torn out when the wine tap was closed by to consumers. members and consumers. the government. These privileges, plus the Colorado Wine When the legislature passed the Colorado In 1968, Denver dentist Dr. Gerald Ivancie Festival License, enacted by the state legislature Wine Industry Development Act in 1990, founded the first modern winery in Colorado in in 1999, permitted manufacturers of vinous there were 5 licensed wineries. That num- his cellar. He hired an aspiring , War- spirits in the state unprecedented access for sell- ber grew to 35 in 2000 and 105 currently, ren Winiarski, who went on to make wine at ing their products directly to consumers. While although the total fluctuates. The volume of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars and had some notable limited wineries were always allowed direct-to- wine reported by the licensed wineries in the success at the in 1976. consumer shipping, the legislature brought that state has risen more than 12-fold, from 91,800 At Ivancie’s urging and Winiarski’s recom- privilege into compliance with the Granholm liters in 1992, the first year of records from the mendation, grapes were reintroduced to the Decision (U.S. Supreme Court, 2005) in the Wine Industry Development Act excise tax, to Grand Valley in the early 1970s. Colorado 2006 session. More recently, the legislature first 1,115,139 in fiscal year 2012, which ended in State University participated in viticultural allowed wineries, then breweries, to take advan- June. Despite enduring some of the worst crop research as part of a federally funded Four Cor- tage of a federal rule allowing manufacturers damage in recent history during December ners Project grant that looked at the viability of wine or beer to share “alternating premises” 2009, the average annual production increases of grapes as an agricultural economic generator for production activities, thereby reducing the for Colorado wine continue to track ahead of in all four of the adjacent states. That project initial capital investment required to get into annual increases in overall statewide wine con- would be the genesis for the current industry in the business. sumption, 4.7% versus 3.3% for 2008−2012. all four states. Nevertheless, Colorado wine’s market share

Colorado Business Review 4 based on volume hovers around 1.8% compared to other wine states, such as Washington and Oregon, which together account for 20% market share. A 2006 CSU economic impact study determined that the wine industry in Colorado generated $21.1 million in direct and induced effects. That amount, combined with an additional $20.6 million from wine activities, created nearly $42 million in economic impact. An unverified 2009 economic impact study suggested this had increased to roughly $60 million total impact, but a revised number will not be available until 2013.

Challenges Contrary to the sunny picture painted by the Mesa County Commis- sioner of Immigration in 1896, extreme weather is the most consistent challenge for Colorado’s grape growers. On the plus side, the low humidity precludes Photo courtesy of Colorado Wine Industry Development Board disease and pests that necessitate the extensive use of chemicals required in most of the major wine growing regions. Colorado viticulture is Even in good grape harvests, such as those grapes, Dr. Horst Caspari, CSU State Viti- about as low impact as anywhere in the world, in 2000, 2006, and 2009, the statewide average culturist, has been conducting trellising trials provided growers can find the 20 inches of yield rarely surpasses 2.5 tons per acre, and using techniques that would seem frivolous in annual water grape vines require. averages 3.0−3.5 tons per acre in the more a consistent climate such as . He has The Grand Valley AVA, recognized by the fruitful Grand Valley AVA in those strong elevated yields 25%−50% (and even higher) federal government in 1990, follows the Colo- years. in experimental blocks by switching from the rado River (once known as the Grand River) as For most regions around the world, eco- nationwide standard of bilateral pruning and it emerges from the mouth of DeBeque Can- nomic viability rests with high-quality grapes trellising practices to quadrilateral arrange- yon up to the foot of the Colorado National and production yields of 4 to 5 tons per acre. ments, cutting away surplus shoots and buds Monument west of Grand Junction. Depend- Colorado does not come close to that even once frost danger is over and winter damage is ing on the , the Grand Valley yields in a good year, and historical trends predict evident. 80%-85% of the grapes grown in the state. a devastating year once every decade. As the Coupled with CSU State Enologist Dr. (See the Colorado Wine Industry Overview at cost of vinifera grapes ranges between $1,200 Stephen Menke’s efforts to expand the viti- www.coloradowine.com for more information and $1,800 per ton, and a per acre cost for cultural palate of Colorado grape growers and on the climate of the Grand Valley AVA, as well production around double that price, a yield of winemakers to include more cold-hardy hybrid as the other growing regions in the state.) 2.0−2.5 tons of grapes per acres barely meets grape varieties that would allow planting in the In a normal year, the growing season for the break-even cost for growers. more extreme conditions of the Front Range the Grand Valley AVA yields as many degree and expanded areas on the Western Slope, days—a measure of the available heat for grape The Future the Colorado wine industry is on the verge of vines between the last spring and first fall Grape growing has persisted on Colorado’s significant expansion and improvement. New frosts—as Napa Valley in California or Tuscany Western Slope because it offers fruit growers a areas for viticulture, from Montezuma County, in . But the heat is concentrated in a greater diversity of crops and a broader hedge where growers are actually dry-farming grapes roughly 180-day growing season, compared against frost damage. With an early spring on land cultivated by the Anasazi, to Fre- with 232 days in Napa Valley. This means that frost, growers might lose cherries and apricots, mont County that is reviving the immigrant Colorado grapes have to work faster to fully but grapes will still be viable. As the commer- grape-growing traditions from the nineteenth ripen. As a result, late ripening grape varieties, cial viability of apples has dropped precipi- century, the Colorado wine industry is return- such as Zinfandel or , are relegated tously in the last decade, grapes have increas- ing to the roots of its beginnings. to a very select few sites in the valley, while the ingly filled that late season harvest slot. Bordeaux and Rhône Valley varieties, such as Virtually all of the research funding from Doug Caskey is the Executive Director of the Colorado , or , and , the CWIDB goes to Colorado State Univer- Wine Industry Development Board. He may be con- tacted at [email protected]. flourish. sity. To improve the yields and profitability of

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