2008 Stories We Should Have Covered #6

We're doing a Top Seven Countdown for all the wine stories we should have covered in 2008. All of these are about either Colorado's Wine Country or the Wine Country Inn. Number Six on the list was an extremely gracious photo spread and preview of the hotel in the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. Written by Dave Buchanan, the story appeared in May under the headline, "Palisade's Wine Country." Buchanan wrote:

"Like a Narnian Castle rising out of the forest, the appearance of a multi-storied, 80-room hotel growing amidst the vineyards of Palisade causes more than a few second looks."

"But this is no fairy tale. The country inn-like hotel, designed like an enlarged version of the farm houses that dot the area’s vineyards and orchards, is rapidly taking shape a few good swirls from the tourists traveling Interstate 70, a position which might be marketing at its best."

"Richard and Jean Tally, experienced hoteliers with properties in Grand Junction (Quality Inn) and Denver (Best Western Denver Southwest), are building the Wine Country Inn, Palisade’s first hotel and the state’s first hotel with a wine-country theme."

"With a planned August opening, barely a year from when the first shovel dug into the vineyards, the Tallys recently hired their general manager and are taking advance reservations on the inn’s Web site, www.coloradowinecountryinn.com."

“I think we see ourselves as a catalyst that will boost the whole concept of agritourism in Palisade,” said Jean Tally, recently. “The big missing piece in what’s out there is lodging and we see ourselves as providing a place for people to come and then we can send them out into the community.”

"The hotel is a big change from the comfortable bed and breakfasts sprinkled around the Grand Valley’s wine lands, and it’s sure to bring a decided economic boost to Palisade and the area’s tourist-popular wine industry."

“I think it’s really going to be great for Palisade and it’s going to take the whole Grand Valley to the next level,” said Doug Caskey, executive director of the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. “But it’s not just wines, it’s agritourism and everything else. It has a lot going for it.”

You can read the rest of the story here.