Denver Wine Radio

Cha-Cha's back again! This time we're trying a well-bodied 2019 Malbec from Vinnie Fera Wineries in Boulder, CO. It's called Hogback, which might sound like an odd name, but it makes sense once you hear founder Tim Moley explain it. Vinnie Fera has been around since 2016, and they say they pick their grapes based on what fits best in the Colorado landscape. They're not forcing anything here- they want to allow the full fla...

ChaCha's back! And we're back to wine tasting. This week, we've got a lovely selection from Carboy, a fast-growing and award-winning winery with four locations across Colorado. We test their 2019 Riesling from Grand Valley, and it's quite the treat. We also get a special audio clip from Tyzok Wharton, Head Winemaker at Carboy, where he walks us through their whole winemaking process.

Carboy also has 3 wines in the Governor...

I recently attended a wine tasting event hosted by Blanchard Family Wines in downtown Denver. Four winemakers each presenting one Colorado wine to an enthusiastic and thirsty crowd during Colorado Wine Week. In attendance was Doug Kingman from Kingman Estates Winery, Tim Moly from Vinny Fera Winery in Boulder, Tyzok Wharton from Carboy Winery in Littleton and myself. After the tasting and presentation, we had a panel discu...

Nationally, October is Italian Heritage Month and since 2019, Colorado Governor Jared Polis has signed a proclamation designating October as Italian Heritage Month in Colorado. The Dante Alighieri Society of Denver drafted the proclamation noting the many different ways in which Italians helped and contributed to the establishment of many industries within the state. My guests are Susan Gurule from The Dante Alighieri Soci...

Paul sits down with Alwyn "Fitz" Fitzgerald, the former President of Fisher King Winery which closed in 2020 when there were staffing shortages. In this episode you will find out first hand that it is not too cold to grow amazing grapes in Wisconsin, and that Paul finds similarities between Colorado and Wisconsin when it comes to growing grapes. He also tells the story of his mother and how he used to watch her make wine a...

First of all, a disclaimer: No wine bottles were opened in this week's episode, but you certainly don't need a drink to enjoy this week's guest.

Angel Mendez-Soto grew up in New York City’s East Harlem (El Barrio), and he's a man with a storied career in theatre. He has been a member of Su Teatro, directed by Anthony J. Garcia, for over 40 years. In the 1980’s he was also a member of the the Black theatre company ...

Fate and a combined passion for the wine industry brought two families together to create Continental Divide Winery. 

Part-time Breckenridge residents Jeffrey and Ana Maltzman owned two successful wineries in California. Ten years ago the Maltzmans, their two daughters and their two Australian Shepherds were walking down Main Street in Breckenridge when they spotted Colorado winemakers and Alma residents Kent Hutc...

Jenne Baldwin-Eaton started her career in winemaking with Plum Creek Cellars in 1994. For 22 years, Baldwin-Eaton made award-winning wines from 100% Colorado grown grapes and was involved in all aspects of running a commercial winery. The success and growth of the Colorado wine industry is very important to Baldwin-Eaton and as an instructor her goal is to pass along years of accrued knowledge and practical experience. She...

This week, Brad Page from Colorado Cider Company in Denver joins Paul to try ciders from his esteemed cidery. Colorado Cider Company is the oldest operating cidery in the state. Owners Brad and Kathe Page have also been planting cider and heirloom variety apples and pears at their property in Hotchkiss since 2012. Some of their most well-known products include the Glider, Dry Glider and Ol' Stumpy, produced in 2011, but th...

This week on Denver Wine Radio, Jacob Harkins joins Paul to taste four wines from around the world (of course one is from Colorado) in another episode of Colorado vs. the World. Jacob Harkins is a self-described wine geek, former wine journalist, and recovering ski bum. His current gig is running the marketing efforts of VintageView, the world leader in metal wine rack manufacturing. Paul has a VintageView set up in his wi...

After graduating with a Bachelor's Degree in Management and Human Resource Management from Colorado Mesa University in 2011, Cassidee was hired in 2012 as the executive director of Colorado Association for Viticulture & Enology (CAVE), the only non-profit dedicated to the winemakers and grape growers in the state. Since then, she has restructured the organization into one of the premier wine-related associations in the...

Blanchard Family Wines is the story of how wine can bring people together, build bridges and ignite passions that make dreams come true. This boutique winery expresses the vision of two brothers and the uniting qualities of great wine shared among friends and family.

A first-generation wine venture, the roots of the company are grounded in a family concept. The founders, Mark and James Blanchard, follow the tradition of two...

Jayme Henderson + Steve Steese of The Storm Cellar Winery join Paul this week to try two more of Colorado's finest wines. The Storm Cellar is a collaborative vision between Steve and Jayme; during their many years in the restaurant industry, whether for business, study, or pleasure, they spent most of their time away from work in wine country, and fell in love with it. Steve and Jayme traveled the world’s wine regions in s...

This week, ChaCha Chavez (re)joins Denver Wine Radio to try two fantastic Colorado wines. ChaCha is a radio personality who has spent 30 plus years on the air in Denver, Colorado, as a Program Director and on air talent at these legendary radio stations: KS104, KS107.5, Alice 105.9, Jammin 92.5, Kool105, Jammin 1015.

The first wine on the docket for this episode is the 2018 Riesling by The Storm Cellar based out of The Reds...

Doug Caskey will be the first to tell you that he has one of the best government jobs in Colorado. At one point Doug was the store manager at the Boulder Liquor Mart. Now the executive director at Colorado Wine Industry Development Board, Doug shares thoughts about this week's wines, his thoughts on sake being considered a wine, and makes many recommendations on some delicious new drinks to try. If you want to know wh...

Blues guitarist Jack Hadley drops by to talk about his new CD, Daybreak In Alabama The Langston Hughes Project. A two year project in the making that features the poetry of Langston Hughes and Jack's music.

Show Notes:

[0:44] Who is Langston Hughes?

[4:44] How did you get the idea for this project?

[7:59] Any obstacles along the way?

[11:27] What's your favorite track?

[13:30] Listen to a sample of track 1: As I Grew Older

[...

This is the second part of our meetup for C.A.V.E., Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology. 

We sat down with Steve Flynn, owner and winemaker at Vino Salida Wine Cellars in Poncha Springs, Colorado.

Show notes:

[1:44] Local Italian influnce

[4:22] They do mead.

[8:08] Let's taste some wine!

[8:50] What is barrel fermenting.

[12:10] Bourbon barrel Cabernet Sauvignon

Congratulations to Vino Salida for winning Double ...