01 / Colorado
Colorado wine, Grand Valley, Palisade, West Elks.
02 / Plan your visit
What you need to know first.
Best season
Sept (peach + grape harvest)
Palisade Peach Festival overlaps with grape harvest — the calendar to target.
Wineries
150+
Densest in the Grand Valley AVA around Palisade and Grand Junction.
Signature varietals
Riesling · Cabernet Franc · Tempranillo
High-elevation cool nights favor white aromatics and lean reds.
Drive from Denver
~4 hrs to Palisade
The drive is the trip — through Glenwood Canyon. Worth the day.
03 / Where deep guides exist
Want named producers and varietal guides right now?
Cold-climate reds and whites.
Minnesota guides cover the U of M cold-hardy varietals (Marquette, La Crescent, Frontenac) at producer + bottle level — the first state we built out in depth.
Minnesota cold-hardy guidesA weekend wine itinerary.
Michigan’s Leelanau Peninsula road trip and Traverse City base guide are the templates — named wineries, named overnight stops, named bottles to order.
Michigan road-trip guidesQuick Colorado planning.
The chips above cover season, drive times, and signature varietals. Detailed producer-by-producer guides for this state are in the editorial pipeline.
Read the chips above04 / Other states
Where the wine is also actually good.
Minnesota
Marquette, La Crescent, Frontenac
Michigan
Traverse City, Leelanau, Old Mission
Wisconsin
Door County, Wollersheim, Driftless Area
Missouri
Norton, Hermann, Augusta AVA
New York
Finger Lakes, Hudson Valley, Long Island
Virginia
Monticello, Blue Ridge, Hunt Country
Texas
Hill Country, Wine Road 290
Oregon
Willamette Valley pinot — and beyond
Washington
Columbia Valley, Walla Walla, Yakima
05 / Coming next
Deep Colorado guides are in the pipeline.
Each state guide will name producers, vintages, and food pairings — the same standard as the Minnesota and Michigan libraries. Until then, the chips above are the planning brief.
See Minnesota & Michigan guides