Palisade, CO

New Vintage in an Old Farm Town.

Rocky cliffs gave the town of Palisade, Colo., its name, but lush orchards gave the community its reputation.

For generations, this town on the Colorado River has been the seat of the state’s fruit industry—its hot days and cool nights ideal for growing the juicy peaches and apples that once sold in bushels by the millions to consumers across the East and Midwest.

These days, another fruit attracts attention. The quiet western Colorado town of Victorian houses and churches along tree-lined streets is home to the state’s fledgling wine industry. It may never match the size of California’s massive vineyards, but many aficionados say the wines are every bit as good. And local vintages are winning top awards at some of the nation’s most prestigious competitions.

The vineyards are coming in as some of Palisade’s old-time orchard growers are going out, either retiring or no longer able to make money in a highly competitive global fruit market. Some are hoping Palisade’s latest vintage keeps the town of 2,579 from withering on the vine.

“The wine industry may save the peach industry,” says Bruce Talbott, who with his father and two brothers helps run Talbott Farms, an orchard of peaches, apples, pears—and now grapes. When the apple industry plunged a few years ago, Talbott says a local winery sought grapes. Now, this third-generation orchard grower talks about merlot and cabernet sauvignon the way his grandfather ticked off Granny Smith and Jonathan apples.

Grapes aren’t new in Palisade, but they disappeared after Prohibition. Then people such as Parker and Mary Carlson moved in. Back in 1977, winemaking was their hobby. Eleven years later, they rolled out Carlson Vineyards’ first vintage—1,100 gallons of Riesling, peach, and cherry wines that sold as quickly as they hit the shelves.

The Carlsons now bottle up to 20,000 gallons a year in the old fruit-packing shed that houses their operation. They are joined by eight other local wineries, many also run by those who turned a hobby into a business.

“When we first started … old-time peach growers were watching us very close,” Mary Carlson says. “I think they were leery. But now, we have a lot of growers … who are planting grapes instead of peaches.”

Palisade’s blossoming wine industry flavors the town’s tourism, too. Don’t expect sniffing, swishing, and spitting connoisseurs, though. Winetasting in Palisade is a bit more low-key. “It’s kind of like drinking wine with an old friend,” says Sandra Wellnitz, a visitor from near Denver.

At more than 4,700 feet above sea level, Palisade has some of the world’s highest vineyards. Grapes love the mineral-rich soil, says Doug Caskey, director of the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. Western Colorado’s warm days and intense sunlight build sugars, he says, while cool nights preserve acidity and give the wines “finesse.” The cold can also threaten crops, but Caskey says when the fruit survives, it thrives. “Grapes do better when they have to struggle,” he says.

It’s not just the grapes that are struggling. In 1964, nearly 6,000 acres of surrounding Mesa County were orchard. Now, it’s less than half that. Slowly, Palisade’s fields are filling with houses. “You can’t look out over the valley and see acre after acre of fruit blossoms in the spring like you used to be able to,” says Mary Faye Hampton, the town’s retired librarian and a historian of Palisade.

“A lot of things have changed,” she says, “but now where there were fruit trees, in some places there are vineyards.”

Thanks to the wineries, she says, Palisade is still green—even if there’s a different kind of harvest for this old farm town.

David Frey is a regular contributor to American Profile.

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