Wine Openers

This weekend (Aug. 4-6) marks the ninth annual mid-summer West Elks Wine Trail, celebrating the wineries, cideries and meaderies of the West Elks AVA and the North Fork Valley.

Featured venues include Alfred Eames Cellars, Azura Winery and Gallery, Black Bridge Winery, Delicious Orchards (Big B’s), Leroux Creek Vineyards, Mesa Winds Farm and Winery, Stone Cottage Cellars, Terror Creek Winery and 5680’ (winery contacts here).

Visitors begin their tour by obtaining a West Elks Wine Trail map from any of the West Elk wineries in the Paonia/Hotchkiss area. 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 will 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, barrel 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.

Winemaker Dinner Update (as of Tuesday, Aug. 1): Leroux Creek has a few seat open for its French Affair winemaker’s dinner on Friday, August 4, at 6:30pm. Reservations: 970-872-4746.
– Alfred Eames Cellars has limited seats (as of Aug. 1) for its Multicultural All American Culinary Experience dinner on Aug. 4. Details: 970-527-629.
– Black Bridge will have Wood-Oven Pizza and Barrel Tastings on Saturday, August 5.
– Big B’s at Delicious Orchards will be having a BBQ on Saturday, August 5, 12-8pm. Plus they will have live music by Zolopht, a progressive, reggae-rock band. Just drop in – no reservations will be taken.
– Azura Cellars and Stone Cottage Cellars dinners are sold out.