You don’t have to travel to Napa or Sonoma to sip delicious wines: You can try incredible reds, whites, roses and other wines right here in Boulder County. If you’re looking for a way to spend a fun afternoon or you want to impress guests visiting from out of town, check out these impressive Boulder County wineries.
Augustina’s Winery
20 Lakeview Dr., Nederland
303-520-4871
Founded in 1997, Augustina’s Winery is a one-woman show directed by Marianne “Gussie” Walter. The winery, which recently moved to Nederland, uses Colorado-grown grapes from the Western Slope, the Eastern Plains and Boulder County.
Head up Boulder Canyon for a relaxing wine tasting in the mountains — try the Bottoms Up White (a sauvignon blanc with notes of grapefruit and melon), the Harvest Gold (a slightly sweet white with notes of pear) or Bredo’s Blue Diamond (a red named for Grandpa Bredo, the inspiration behind Frozen Dead Guy Days!). And don’t forget to take a few bottles home with you.
Silver Vines Winery
2015 13th St., Boulder
720-535-9712
Though Silver Vines Winery is based in Arvada, you don’t have to leave Boulder County to sample the company’s offerings. They recently relocated their Boulder tasting room to a spot downtown, so you can pop in for a tasting (or share a bottle with a friend!) while you shop and dine on Pearl Street.
Silver Wines uses grapes from the Western Slope, as well as the Columbia Valley in Washington, to make its various white, red, sweet and chocolate dessert wines. And if you need a little something to help you cool off in the summer, go ahead and give their innovative wine slushie a try.
BookCliff Vineyards
1501 Lee Hill Road #17, Boulder
303-449-9463
BookCliff has two tasting rooms — one in Palisade (near their vineyards) and another in North Boulder. The Boulder location (which is right next to Settembre Cellars, percent for planning an afternoon of winery-hopping!) offers tastings of BookCliff’s sumptuous wines made with all Colorado-grown grapes.
The winery, which makes syrah, muscat, malbec, chardonnay, riesling, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, petit verdot and several other types of wine, offers tours of its facility and tastings. BookCliff, which was founded by Ulla Merz and John Garlich, also has a great wine club.
Settembre Cellars
1501 Lee Hill Road #16, Boulder
303-532-1892
Another North Boulder winery to visit: Settembre Cellars, founded by Blake and Tracy Eliasson in 2007.
Settembre makes an array of whites and reds with all Colorado-grown grapes, such as rosato, syrah, chardonnay, sangiovese, cabernet franc and riesling. You can try all of these wines — and more — when you visit their tranquil tasting room. If you like what you taste, you can have wines shipped directly to your house multiple times a year through their wine club — and what could be more delicious than that?
Vinnie Fera
3012 Sterling Circle, Boulder
720-287-1252
vinnieferawine.com
Head to East Boulder to try Vinnie Fera’s delicious small-batch wines made from grapes grown in Colorado, Oregon and California. Founded by Tim Moley (who is also the brains behind the Boulder company Chocolove), Vinnie Fera’s name is a whimsical play on words: “vitis vinifera” is the species name for grapes used to make wine.
Their tasting room, which has huge west-facing windows (where you can see great sunsets!), is located in the same building where they make their malbec, pinot noir, sparkling rose, chardonnay and other wines.
