West Elks Wine Trail: Pairing the Best of Colorado Wine with the Best of Colorado Cuisine

West Elks Wine Trail: Pairing the Best of Colorado Wine with the Best of Colorado Cuisine

Paonia, CO (July 31 – August 2, 2015 – 11:00-5:00)

The Wineries of the West Elks Wine Country invite you to a special weekend of touring, premium wine tasting and winemakers’ dinners during the Seventh Annual West Elks Wine Trail. Set your own route for a fun and relaxing day or weekend and come home with delicious wine and memories. Visit westelksava.com for details.

The wineries are ready to introduce you to the Colorado wine and cuisine grown from this unique region.

Start your West Elks Wine Trail tour by stopping by any of the West Elk Wineries in the Paonia/Hotchkiss area to pick up your trail map for the weekend. Each winery will feature food and wine pairings, with a focus on local foods. The winemakers have selected two favorite foods to complement their wines, and give you the recipes just for stopping by. The nine wine tasting rooms will offer a wide variety of activities from vineyard tours, art displays, tastings, winemakers’ dinners, food pairings, mountain views and more. Complimentary wine glasses will be given to those who travel along the wine trail and collect recipes from at least five wineries.

We invite and encourage you to purchase wines from the winemakers. Many of the vintages from this region are only available at the wineries and are extremely limited. There are several events and dinners associated with the West Elks Wine Trail event. Please contact wineries directly.

Notably, the West Elks AVA is home to vineyards planted at the highest elevation in the Northern Hemisphere. The intense sunlight, warm days and cool nights produce grapes that are ideally suited for creating distinctive Chardonnay, Riesling, Gewurztraminer, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir, Gamay, Cayuga and Chambourcin. Additionally, local winemakers craft wines from Colorado-grown Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Syrah, Carmina, and Tempranillo. Vintners produce wines in all styles from beautifully dry, crisp whites, to robust, meaty reds, sweet and delicious port-style dessert wines, and hard apple cider.

Just a stone’s throw from Grand Junction (1.5 hours) and Montrose (1 hour) a beautiful drive over Kebler Pass from Crested Butte (1.25 hours) or a foray over McClure pass from Aspen (2.25 hours), Carbondale (1.5 hours) Glenwood Springs (2 hours), and Redstone (45 minutes), the West Elks Wine Trail offers a refreshing food and wine getaway with plenty of additional diversions to leave you relaxed and yet rejuvenated to enjoy summer. Join us the first weekend in August and savor our wine and food pairings along with lovely North Fork Valley scenery.

Participating wineries include: 5680’ (970) 527-6476, Alfred Eames Cellars (970) 527-3269, Azura Cellars (970) 390-4251, Black Bridge Winery (970) 527-6838, Leroux Creek Vineyards (970) 872-4746, Mesa Winds Farm & Winery (970) 250-4788, Stone Cottage Cellars (970) 527-3444, Terror Creek Winery (970) 527-3484 and North Fork Cellars at Delicious Orchards (970) 527-1110.

For general information on the West Elks Wine Trail, call (970) 527-3444 or visit westelksava.com. For lodging check paoniachamber.com.