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Wines of Note: No Whining allowed |
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Written by Dan England for NEXTnc
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Friday, 10 August 2007 |
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 Tim Merrick always wondered what it would be like to own his own winery, even 25 years ago, when he had a wine-making supply store and wine was made by hobbyists, not businessmen.
Merrick and his wife, Mary, sold fresh grapes and supplies to people who liked to make their own wine. And eventually business was good enough in 1992 to purchase a piece of property just west of Loveland and on the outskirts of the Big Thompson Canyon.
They wanted the land for a vineyard to do demonstrations and maybe grow a few grapes. They had no intention of opening their own winery. But their dreams overpowered all those reasonable plans, and eventually the two secured a few partners.
 Merrick knew he had the experience to do it, but at the time, the idea was a little intimidating. When they opened in 1994, there were a little more than a dozen wineries in Colorado. The closest one to Loveland was in Colorado Springs.
It was, in fact, a long way from today. Colorado is one of the fastest-growing states for wine production in the country, with more than 70 now operating, Merrick said. Festivals are popping up every year to promote Colorado wine, and Trail Ridge Winery will have wine featured at the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra’s Wines of Note fundraiser and gala event. That event has grown with the wine industry, attracting more than 100 wines for tasting.
Wineries followed the raging microbrewery beer craze and even had a movie, “Sideways,” with a lead character, a wine snob, championing their cause, although Merrick doesn’t think the flick did him any favors. The movie, after all, puts pinot noir on a pedestal while bashing merlot. Trail Ridge has a nice merlot but doesn’t offer pinot noir. When told “Sideways” really is a great movie, especially for wine aficionados, Merrick smiles.
“I may yet still refuse to see it,” he said.
Colorado is no California, which may explain why it took a little longer for the state’s wine industry to climb to such great heights, but it’s those heights that actually offer an advantage, Merrick said, as long as irrigation is available.
“The arid climate is actually an advantage,” he said. “You don’t have the plant diseases that you do in other states.”
Even so, Colorado does have maddening shifts in the weather. Winter occasionally comes a little too early — this year’s red wine supply was a little low, thanks to November temperatures that would give a penguin frostbite — and occasionally hangs around too long (this year’s spring freeze also hurt his crop).
But that’s the price Merrick is willing to pay. They grow grapes right by his building, which expanded in 2000 and may expand again, but most of his crop comes from Grand Junction and the Western Slope, where they transport the grapes in refrigerated trucks and crush them in specialized machines.
No, they don’t use feet anymore.
The harvest ends in mid-October, and the first shipments are starting to arrive. The red wines stay in barrels and ferment for at least a year, and whites are bottled a little sooner. The peak season for customers starts around Easter and ends when the harvest ends. Now is a busy time, although the tourist season is wrapping up.
Most of Trail Ridge’s place is about the production, although a charming older house acts as a hangout for customers while the barrels and wine crushers stay in the back. Customers can taste wine in the house or sit outside and enjoy a glass and maybe take home a few bottles. The tasting center is small but offers an environment with jazz music and a sign that encourages customers to use their cell phones outside.
As the interest in wine grew beyond those who can tell you what the fifth fork is for, the Merricks’ business grew as well. Wineries across Colorado help each other promote their businesses and put on festivals such as the first Boulder Wine and Food Festival this Sunday. Merrick will be there with his bottles.
Wine seems to be the drink of romantics — most don’t have Coors Light over a candlelight dinner — but it was not the romance of wine that attracted Merrick to open Trail Ridge. Merrick and his wife were do-it-yourselfers. They had a vegetable garden in the back and canned their bounty. They made their own beer. They loved making wine most of all.
So doing it for a living is still a nice dream. They aren’t rich. Mary works at the University of Northern Colorado as a staff member in the physical education department.
It’s possible they could get rich by bumping up their production, but that would kill the point. Merrick enjoys making wine. He likes the cycle of wine-making. Each step comes with a season. He likes knowing his customers. He likes showing up to work in shorts and Birkenstocks.
“The whole idea was not to get rich,” he said. “It was to support myself and enjoy what I do for a living.”
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TO GO
Trail Ridge Winery
4113 W Eisenhower Blvd, Loveland
(Eisenhower is U.S. 34; take the highway through Loveland and the winery is on the west edge of town.
635.0949
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WINES OF NOTE
The 10th annual Wines of Note, the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, is from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 17 at the Greeley Country Club, 4500 10th St.
Tickets are $50 per person in advance or $60 at the door.
Dinner with dessert will be served for the first time, and other highlights include door prizes, a silent auction, drawn portraits, music and more than 100 wines for tasting.
For more information or to purchase tickets, stop by Westlake Wine and Spirits, 2024 35th Ave., Greeley, 330.8466 or call the Greeley Philharmonic office, 356.6406. You can also go to www.GreeleyPhilharmonic.com. | Only registered users can write comments.
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