Up Close with BookCliff Vineyards

Between their new Boulder tasting room and Palisade grape vines, BookCliff Vineyards is an up and coming young winery that applies sustainable farming practices, and minimizes the use of herbicides or pesticides. The owners of BookCliffs believes a component of their success is using only local grapes.

Under the headline, "'Colorado Grown' Appeals to Consumers Seeking Local Wines," Practical Winery & Vineyard Reporter Don Neel writes:

“We would never have gone into the winemaking business if we couldn’t have made wine from Colorado grapes,” says owner John Garlich. “We wanted to grow them ourselves.”

"BookCliff was founded in 1999 and produces 1,800 to 2,000 cases of wine per year, nearly all 100 percent Colorado- grown. Twelve wines under the BookCliff brand include
Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Ensemble (a Bordeaux blend), Adagio (a Black Muscat dessert wine) , Allegretto (Orange Muscat ), Viognier, Chardonnay, Riesling, Finali (a Cabernet/Merlot dessert wine), Syrah, and Friday’s Folly (red table wine blend)."

"The Allegretto has been a blend of California and Colorado Orange Muscat, but the 2008 bottling will be 100 percent Colorado-grown."

"BookCliff uses about 30 percent of the grapes farmed on 33 acres in Palisade,
Colorado (Grand Valley AVA), also selling grapes to other Colorado wineries. BookCliff wines are only sold in Colorado, and Garlich believes that, with the locals, “Colorado-Grown” carries weight."

“Sales are up 50 percent in 2008, and we think this is due to people wanting to buy local. Our Friday’s Folly red blend has been particularly successful, and the merchants tell us it is because the wine says ‘100 percent Colorado Grown."

To view the full story, go the Colorado Wine Industry & Development Board's press page and download a .PDF file, or simply click here to learn more about BookCliff Vineyards.