We've Moved The Winery!

Don't worry, the tasting room is still downtown on 15th and Pearl St. but the winery is now at a different location. For the past 10 years or so the location where we crushed, fermented, pressed, bottled, etc. was in the basement of Ulla & John's house. For the past month or so, we have not only moved the whole winery but have also gone through harvest and crush. We are making more wine than we ever have in the past and believe me we've been busy. Most of the wines are still fermenting and we are almost done pressing. Pressing is the messiest job in the winery (and I love it). After the wine is almost done fermenting we remove all the skins and seeds, which have been in the bin with the juice/wine, we remove them and put them in a press to squeeze out any remaining wine. For white wines we press before fermentation starts. There is a great blog about the process written by Melinda, who works for us doing farmers markets and such. Click here to see that. Eventually we will be able to have people come and tour the winery, probably sometime next year. Until then stay tuned to our monthly newsletter to learn more, we'll probably have a open house type thing soon. In the meantime come down to our tasting room for some great Colorado wine!

1st Annual Harvest Dinner

Join us next month as we celebrate harvest season with our First Annual Harvest Dinner. This is a traditional German dinner pairing our brand new wines with some delicious German food, including Onion Quiche, German brats, mixed salad and dessert. This is a unique opportunity to have some great food and try the 2008 wines. These wines will be half fermented meaning there is alcohol but there is still some sweetness and carbonation in the wine, where else could you try something like this? Colorado wine and German food, this is gonna be a lot of fun!

Saturday, October 25th, 2008 7:00 p.m.

At the BookCliff Vineyards Tasting Room on 15th St. just south of Pearl St. in Boulder

Tickets: $35, V.I.P.'s can purchase tickets for $25.

Purchase tickets at the tasting room or by calling (303) 499-7301

Winter Hours

I can't believe it is already September. Crush is only a couple weeks away, in fact Muscat Blanc might be ready to pick next week! This is the first year we've had this grape so we are excited.

Anyway, we are starting our winter hours at the Boulder tasting room beginning Monday 9/15/08. The hours will be as follows:

Sunday 1-7 pm

Monday 3-7 pm

Tuesday Closed

Wednesday 3-7 pm

Thursday 3-7 pm

Friday 1-10 pm (live music at 7:30!)

Saturday 1-7 pm

You can contact us at (303) 449-WINE with any questions. Come in and try some Colorado wine today.

p.s. stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for some big news ;)

New Wine!!

We just released a brand new white wine. "Visanne" is now available exclusively at our Boulder, Colorado tasting room. Visanne is a crisp dry white blend of 70% Viognier, 29% Roussanne and 1% Orange Muscat. This extremely food friendly white has hints of grapefruit, white peaches, lemon and lime zest. If you like our Viognier, you'll love the Visanne! Come in to our tasting room and try this wine and other great Colorado wine.

Veraison in the Vineyard

Mid August is Veraison. The vines end their vegetative stage, and give their full attention towards the grapes. During this period, the berries stop expanding in size, begin developing sugar and flavor, and in the case of red grapes, they develop their color. It'll begin with Chardonnay and Merlot and end with Cabernet Sauvignon. So far we've been happy with how the vines have reacted to the year's conditions. We had an unexpectedly cool spring, which pushed flowering, and Veraison about two weeks behind where we were last year. What may result is a vintage higher in natural acidity, and a more developed ripeness. We won't know what the weather does to the crop until we begin harvesting the Chardonnay in a few weeks. Our biggest challenge this summer has been a pest called the grape leafhopper. Its a tiny insect that once established, can multiply by the thousands and before long can strip the chlorophyll from the canopy. The typical response would be to spray a pesticide such as dimethoate or provado, however we have a commitment to farming without the use of chemical pesticides. We performed a series of sprays consisting of Stylet oil, merely a diluted highly refined mineral oil, and pyrethum, a biological insecticide derived from the chrysanthemum flower. We are glad to say the leafhoppers are under control, and hopefully the vines, and our wines are healthier. For now, the bird netting is on and there's little to do in the vineyard except wait for the picking crews. I've included a picture of the vineyard truck, which doubles as my office. The 1979 Toyota truck will never give up on us.

Sam Stetser

Vineyard Manager

New Merchandise

We are now selling some merchandise at our tasting room on 15th & Pearl in Boulder. We are carrying some wine related items such as stoppers. The hand carved natural wood stoppers make great gifts, they are made right here on the front range. We also have some silicone stoppers that work wonderfully. We also sell our regular glasses as well as our new dessert wine glasses. Our newest items are gift boxes including samples of organic foods and other items such as candles, all in neatly decorated gift box. Boulder's Best Organics provides these, you can check out their website here. Come in and check out what other items we offer. Contact info can be found on our website.

Pearl Street Sidewalk Sale

This weekend only, you can get a bottle of Ensemble for $12.99! At the tasting room today and tomorrow we are discounting our red blend Ensemble by $4. The 2004 Ensemble consists of 57% Cabernet Sauvignon, 38% Merlot, 3% Syrah, and 2% Cabernet Franc. Its an easy drinking medium bodied red that makes the perfect match for tomato sauces and could even pair well with bbq. Come in and we'll pair it up with some chocolate for a decadent taste experience. Don't miss this hot deal.