Winter Park Winery Bottles with Palisade Grapes

Winter Park Winery is bottling the last of its summer wines using a blend of California and Palisade grapes. Cyndi Palmer writes in the Sky-Hi Daily News:

"Riesling, Chardonnay, Grateful Red and Summer’s Blends. Hundreds of emerald bottles passed through the skilled hands at Winter Park Winery last week as the business finished bottling the last of its summer wines.

"The scene was something to behold. In fact, the public was welcome to watch the process.

"Vintner Jon Brickner, his 'main man' Robin Tolleff, and a crew of retired Coors workers who are friends of father-in-law Bob Peterson bottled 400 gallons Tuesday and Wednesday. For what ended up being a total of 15 hours, each manned a station for filling, corking, drying, labeling, boxing and just plain having a good time.

"Brickner, who is going into his fifth year at the winery, estimates he bottles four times a year.

"He is happy with his small-time, big-hearted operation.

“'I really don’t want it to grow much more,' he said.

"The two growers who provide his grapes are from vineyards in Mendocino, Calif. and in Palisade. The last summer shipment of grapes (for Syrah, merlot and his best seller, the cabernet Sauvignon) is set to arrive next week from Mendocino.

"He uses the Mendocino grapes because they are 'really good, yet still affordable.'
The grapes he gets from Palisade are the best Colorado grapes, he said. "

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