Spring 2022: Wines are the children of the grower and the winemaker

Ambelos Vineyard: the long and continuing story behind this Cabernet Franc

I was visiting with Palisade peach and grape grower Bruce Talbott yesterday, catching up and going over my grape order for Harvest 2022. As we said our goodbyes, he said something that sums up our 19 year collaboration and friendship. In a masterfully poetic way that only a seasoned farmer could formulate into words, he told me that, “Wines are the children of the grower and the winemaker. The father is the grower. The mother is the winemaker.” These words set the stage for my adventurous day of walking the Palisade vineyards and visiting with the farmers who grow my Vino Salida wines.

What a refreshingly warm and calm spring day it was. Earlier this week, I was hunkered down inside while the snow was flying, and now my senses have come back to life from yesterday’s intense bluebird day. The fluttering white butterflies and bright green grass felt comforting against the cold dark blue snowy Grand Mesa looming 6500 feet above me. The smell of sage colored weeds and smoke from ditches burning in the distance foreshadowed summer’s imminent return. However cheery I felt, I know all too well that springtime in Palisade is a cautiously optimistic time.

After another visit and vineyard walk with longtime collaborator/grower/winery owner Kaibab Sauvage, I took the time to enjoy freshly pruned peach trees and grape vines. They felt so tidy and new, like any spring cleaning project. The long awaited orderliness had arrived out of winter’s unpredictable chaos. This manicured landscape will provide summer’s bounty and autumn’s harvest…hopefully. Fingers and toes crossed. A snowstorm with chilling cold could show up any day now. Ferocious spring winds could damage bright, delicate blossoms. These orchards and vineyards are not safe until June, and then we can all breathe a sigh of relief, assess any damages, and count our blessings.

Resilience, perseverance and optimism are necessary skills in the tool chest of our industry. Without them, we would not have food and wine on our tables. Colorado vineyards have taken many blows since I made the first Vino Salida wines in 2009. Extreme freezes in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2019, and 2020 have made it challenging to grow enough grapes for the many Colorado wineries. Most of our grape growers depend on their own peach harvests to support themselves, and the April freeze of 2020 wiped out all but 5% of peach blossoms in the state. Most recently, the October freeze of 2020 devastated most vines, many with hanging grapes, and led to a dismally small 2021 harvest, only 7% of a crop. This forced most wineries to send valuable cash elsewhere by sourcing grapes from out of state. Cautious optimism and fingers crossed…

My vineyard adventure concluded yesterday with Neil Jaquet at his Ambelos Vineyard. Neil and I have worked together since 2012 when I helped pick his Gewurztraminer grapes and made wine from them. He also had Orange Muscat, Tempranillo and Malbec planted. That is, until the freeze of 2013. He lost all his vines, leaving him and his wife, Dee, with a pivotal decision to make: should they sell the vineyard or replant? After combing their financial spreadsheets and a winter of soul searching, they decided to dig their roots a little deeper in the Palisade soil and replant. Knowing their site even more intimately now, they decided to plant the cold hardy varietals of Aromella, Traminette, Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc. This was a wise decision, as the vines have done magnificently in this location. I have crafted sparkling wines, red wine blends and several single varietal Cabernet Franc wines over the years from Ambelos. That is, until 2021. There were no grapes produced due to the October 2020 freeze. The Cabernet Franc was the worst hit, the vines having to be cut to the ground last summer, retrained to 4-5 canes, and tied this spring into quadrilateral cordons to hopefully produce 50% of a crop. Fortunately, as we walked and talked, it was quite obvious that his vineyard was once again in recovery mode. Neil happily predicted a 100% crop of Chambourcin, Aromella and Traminette. Things are looking up at Ambelos, but fingers crossed until June!

After our joyous sunny tour, Neil proceeded to open a bottle of his homemade 2020 Traminette/Aromella blend. We sipped tasty cold vino on the patio overlooking his vines and the Grand Mesa, telling story after story as the afternoon began to wane. The floral aromas and bright, slightly sweet tastes of nectar seemed to linger forever. It was a happy reunion of friendship and wine made from grapes of yesteryear, all mingled with today’s optimism of another successful harvest in the fall. A celebration of years gone by and years to come. We ended the tasting with a tradition of ours: trading bottles of wine that we both made from his grapes, including the 2020 Cabernet Franc released last week in Vino Salida’s tasting room.