Palisade Fun: Bookcliff Vineyards
Bookcliff Vineyards Wine Tasting, Palisade
We discovered Bookcliff Vineyards a few years ago and have been fans ever since. Their tasting room in Palisade is located on a hill and so when you taste outside, which I recommend in the summer months, you are surrounded by the most amazing views of the valley with Mesa’s and blue sky as far as the eye can see. Down below, you are surrounded by vineyards and peach orchards. For me, It’s a vision of heaven. If you can’t make it to Palisade, say during the colder months when snow makes it hard to get over the mountains, they also have a tasting room in Boulder! We try to time our visits there when we are either going to or coming from Estes Park as we drive right past the tasting room both directions. The tricky part is the timing as their hours at that location are fewer than in Palisade.
Tasting and Picnic one Rainy day at the Bookcliff Boulder Tasting Room
In Palisade, they are open daily 11 am – 5 pm May – October and Sunday 11 am – 5 pm November – April. As far as directions go for the Palisade location, from G road, turn south onto 38 ¾ road. You will take a sharp left-hand turn, which turns into F ¾ road. Follow F ¾ road to the end where you will see their entrance sign where you will then drive up a short hill to the tasting room and parking.
Once you are there, the folks in the tasting room will give you a wine menu from which you will make your wine selections. We are wine club members, so I believe our tasting is free, otherwise I think there is a nominal fee of $10 for the tasting. Usually when tasting you will start with the white and move through to the reds. Personally, I’m not a fan of sweet whites so my go to when starting is their Chardonnay, its dry with a bit of butter richness without being too buttery. If it is during the summer months, I move onto their Rose which I think was new either this year or last. The Rose is wonderful when the day is hot, and you need something cool and refreshing. From there I move onto their reds, but before I delve into the reds, I should mention another lovely white is their Friday’s Folly (they also have a Friday’s Folly Red) which are blends and they are wonderful ‘porch pounders’ if you are looking for something to sip say on a Friday night after work while you are hanging out with friends on your porch or patio, hence the reference to porch pounder!
Bookcliff has a wonderful selection of reds that range in body and complexity. Some of our favorites include their Cabernet Franc Reserve, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cadenza and Ensemble (several of their wine names relate to music), Melbec and again their Friday’s Folly red. They have several others that we’ve tasted all very pleasant on the palette.
