Winter Wine Festival Feb 10th

Twenty Colorado wineries will gather for the second annual Winter Wine Festival this February 10th from 6-9pm at The McNichols Civic Center Building. The Festival pairs wine tastings and gourmet bites with local vendors and great music for an approachable and delicious night. Event Company Two Parts has gathered a wide range of Colorado's best wines for the Festival so guests can try everything from big, bold reds to crisp, dry whites and all that's in between! And staff from the wineries will be available to tell you all about their vineyards, grapes, wines, and can even sell you a bottle to take home right then and there.

Tickets are on sale for $50 and includes unlimited pours, small bites, wine tote and commemorative glass. Last year’s event sold out, but this year's location at the McNichols Civic Center Building will provide more room for attendees and vendors, about 700 tickets are available this year! Ticket sales benefit the Colorado Association of Viticulture and Enology (CAVE), Colorado’s only trade non-profit that supports the wine and grape growing industry. This event is also sponsored by the Grand Junction Visitors Bureau, to support wine tourism in Colorado. It's always more rewarding to drink to a good cause, so don't miss out this year on all the great wines, bites, music and fun. 

Fresh Noise, a funky, jazzy collaboration between vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Joseph Lamar and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Mikey Smith will be performing during the festival. The local restaurants and vendors will be announced as the event gets closer. The Colorado wine scene is growing and this event is a great way to sample everything that Colorado has to offer and grow your own repertoire on the fancy grape drink. Cheers~

Allis Ranch Winery
Augustina's Winery
Avanti Winery
Balistreri Vineyards
Bijou Creek Winery
Black Arts Cellars
Black Forest Meadery
Bookcliff Vineyards
Byerscellars Wines
C Squared Ciders
Carlson Vineyards
Catriona Cellars
Climb Hard Cider
Colorado Cellars/Rocky Mountain Vineyards
Colorado Cider Company
Cottonwood Cellars/The Olathe Winery
Creekside Cellars
DeBeque Canyon Winery
Decadent Saint Winery

https://www.twoparts.com/event/winter-wine-festival-2017/

Denver Food+Wine | Too Much to Try, Too Little Time

Our weekend was overflowing with cocktails, fine wines, spirit samplings, and countless Colorado-based culinary creations. We only attended two of the five days' worth of the Denver Food + Wine events, and I am thankful we didn't commit to more as we were sauced by the 4pm close of Saturday's Grand Tasting. Before you accuse us of a low tolerance, let us explain the series of events.

Photo by Nick Adorni

Friday night was a cocktail competition where eleven local celebrity bartenders competed for guest's votes for the “Best Cocktail" in Denver. While the cocktails were sample-sized, they were unlimited until they ran out, which each bar/tender eventually did, and each one contained a different spirit, usually along with various liquors. So by the end of the night you had pretty much consumed everything on the market except beer. If you granted a bartender your "best cocktail" token, then you were rewarded with a full size beverage. It was a tough call for us between about three of the cocktails.

Friday's Shakedown event

There were also restaurants in attendance showcasing Southern-inspired bites vying for guest's tokens. It was a clear standout for us, and most others as it won the competition, with a bone-in short rib atop mashed potatoes and fried onions from Ted's Montana Grill. Between all of the cocktails and food samplings there was hardly time to rest or even walk to the restrooms across the way. There was also live music and tables available outside of the event tent, but no one really made it over there, too caught up in all the excitement (and body heat) inside. The night ended with all of the cocktails having ran dry and the announcement of the winners. "Best Cocktail" for the night was awarded to Shawn Williams of Bar Dough and his tequila+prosecco concoction.

A night's sleep and a needed lazy morning later it was our job to get back out there and drink more . . . over 700 wines and spirits to be exact, and also find room for food from forty Colorado restaurants. We weren't sure we were ready for all this and wanted to start slow and take it easy. But when we walked in there was an Absolute Vodka Bar with various full size cocktails, a Woody Creek Distillers tent with more handcrafted drinks, a Campari Tiki & Rum lounge, St. Germain's bar, AND a Patron Tequila lounge all luring us in with festive drinks, comfy couches and fun flair. It was seriously impossible to start slow.

The Grand Tasting was indeed grand in size, volume and variety. We couldn't make it to everything, and hardly had time to even relax in any of those nice lounges, because (and here's our main complaint) the event was only three hours! To give you an idea of its grand scale, there were multiple main tasting tents, two VIP tents, chef demos and seminars, and all the sponsored lounge bars with full cocktails. Another reason we couldn't make it into every tent and bar was you absolutely needed some restraint and a game plan as far as what you would be tasting in order to avoid a digestive disaster. We don’t know what method they used to arrange the participants within the tents, but we think it could have been better. We felt like if you were there to truly “Taste”, it was overwhelming and difficult to do so in a thoughtful manner. First off, there were just so many different varieties of wines to try, and on top of the unbelievable selection of wine, there were all the different types of spirits as well. Thus, you sort of stuck to a category because it was hard to keep switching taste palettes from tequila to sake to whiskey to vodka, then try throwing in a Red Zin and some sushi! It would have been smart and more approachable and enjoyable for guests if the restaurants/dishes were placed next to spirits or wines that would complement and if the wines would have had some added structural arrangement such as region or variety.

Photo by Nick Adorni

Now we're not ones to complain about how there was so much to choose from, we just wish there had been more time to immerse ourselves and soak it all in a bit better! So all that being said, we totally think it was worth the $125 price tag, and knowing it all goes to charity makes it an even easier ticket to purchase. Everyone went home with a new Riedel wine glass, thoroughly wined and dined, educated if that's what you'd aimed for, and not needing to spend any money (or even any more time awake depending on your BAC), once the event ended.

We wish we had taken some Resqwater home with us. . .

Tiffany Candelaria

Lifestyle | Bonacquisti Wine Company | Denver’s Urban Winery

In the Ultra5280 spirit of experiencing all local activities Colorado has to offer, I’ve been researching local wineries. One of Denver’s urban wineries is Bonacquisti Wine Company, located in the Sunnyside neighborhood at 46th Ave and Pecos. The vineyards used are not located in Denver, but they rely mostly on grapes grown in Palisade, CO, and more recently from California and New Mexico as well.

Bonacquisti Wine Company has been transforming grapes into wine at this location for nine years, a skill that owner Paul Bonacquisti learned from his Italian father. They currently produce 2,200 cases of wine a year and introduce three new wines each quarter. Two years ago they introduced 1 Liter growlers for guests that are refillable from any of their rotating wines on tap. This classic Italian format has caught on as a more economical way to buy wine, with 1,700 growlers sold since their introduction.

Paul keeps the Italian spirit of family, friends and good libations alive with various events, ever-changing wine blends, a tasting taproom and free tours of the winery.  “We want to make this a place the whole family can enjoy" he says as he tells me about their weekly "Fridays Uncorked" event. Each Friday from 6-9pm the winery hosts a live band and a food truck either out on their patio or inside their two-story building. The lineup for each week can be found under their website’s Events tab. 

They also hold special events, such as the DiFranco's dinner & wine paring event I attended. We were greeted by Paul Bonacquisti and chef Ryan DiFranco, and offered a glass of Bella Risa, a custom white blend wine to accompany a traditional antipasti meat and cheese platter from DiFranco’s restaurant. After a leisurely wine and antipasti sampling, DiFranco presented each person with their first course and an appropriate wine was poured alongside. All of the dishes were delicious and I could really taste the freshness of the ingredients. DiFranco’s Restaurant opened on 9th Ave and Lincoln in Denver in 2012, and won Westword’s “Best Italian Restaurant” its very first year. DiFranco also comes from an Italian family who loves good food. He recalls growing up, “We would be sitting at the table eating dinner, (already) talking about the dinner we would make tomorrow.”

The event was sealed up with a sweet Port style Grenache straight from the barrel and a chocolate cake and cannoli. Despite feeling satiated by the previous courses, I indulged in both desserts and may have asked for seconds on the Grenache. . .

thoughts by Tiffany Candelaria