Colorado vineyards for sale, orchards for sale: the viticulture industry is growing rapidly in western Colorado. Certain areas of Colorado have the ideal combination of warm, sunny days, cool, crisp evenings, fertile soil, and abundant water to grow quality wine grapes.
I have had the good fortune to spend quite a lot of time learning about organic vineyards from my friends Lance and Anna Hanson, owners of the Jackrabbit Hill organic winery in Hotchkiss, Colorado. I photographed some of the images for their website, www.jackrabbithill.com (yes, that main page banner photo is mine--one of my favorite photographs that I've taken) and got to learn a lot about viticulture in the process.
For those who want to investigate building a vineyard in Colorado, it's an interesting undertaking. The property to locate a vineyard must be carefully selected, because of several critical factors. First, it must have ample sunshine. Properties that are hidden in narrow valleys don't grow grapes as well. Secondly, the elevation can't be too high. The property must be capable of growing fruit. If you get a warm spell in the spring and the vines start to flower, a late May or even June frost can kill the whole crop. Lower elevations are somewhat insulated from this danger. Depending on local weather conditions, 6,500 feet is probably the highest elevation in Colorado where you'd want to locate a vineyard. Most productive vineyards are between 4,500 feet and 6,000 feet, and they still have to worry about frost.
Thirdly, there must be abundant water rights, because you can't grow grapes and other fruit crops in Colorado without irrigating. The property must be of an adequate acreage to grow a crop worth bottling; many vintners produce a pretty good appellation on 15-20 acres, but it's an intense business. Training grapevines requires tidy rows of fenceposts and wires, and you don't want deer in your vineyard eating the beautiful grapes once they're ripe. Game fencing is necessary, and all this infrastructure is expensive.
Once the grapes are grown, then there are the issues of picking the crop, crushing the grapes, storing the pressings in large vats, casking the wine in oak barrels, and bottling the wine! It's a big job that requires a lot of planning and infrastructure. However, the wine industry is growing big enough in Colorado that there are several larger wineries that will buy grapes or work with vintners to do the crushing of the grapes and bottling of the wine.
If real estate buyers are interested in getting into the Colorado wine business, there are established vineyards for sale, and properties for sale that would work for establishing new wineries. I know of two beautiful wineries for sale in the North Fork Valley, near Paonia and Hotchkiss, Colorado. Both have well-established vines, nice homes, and beautiful surroundings. The lifestyle in western Colorado can't be beat--skiing, fly-fishing, elk and deer hunting, friendly people, educated workers, beautiful scenery, concerts and culture, good organic food, and direct connections to major airports. Why not build your dream winery here?
Call me if you're interested in looking at Colorado vineyards for sale.
Gary Hubbell
Ranch real estate broker
Needlerock Mountain Realty & Land
Crawford, Colorado
970 921 5588
970 988 2122 cell
970 921 5331 office
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