The wine swirled around the clean Maverick glasses, with patrons leaning in to smell the bitter or sweet aromas emanating from the top.
Guests chatted idly in the corners, while dozens of hands reached across the tables to get another sample of the hundreds of wines present. This was the 7th Annual Grand Valley Wine Festival, held in the ballroom of Colorado Mesa University (CMU).
“We’re a local Colorado winery. We have three wineries; we’re the second largest producer of wine in Colorado. Talon is our traditional grape varietal, Saint Katherine Sellers is fruit botanical, and [we have] mead or honey wine,” Talon representative James Ferguson said.
Vendors were split into two groups: local wineries, or distributors, who were less locally based.
“We’re local here, 100% Grand Valley grown, so I drove 10 minutes down here from my winery. And we crushed four tons each of cabernet franc, and cabernet sauvignon, this is my 15th crush. Crush ‘cause you crush the grapes, so that’s what this time of year is called,” Whitewater representative Nancy Jane said.
Laughs, a photo booth, VIP lounge complete with whiskey tasting and a silent auction punctuated the night, with food available to patrons as they browsed the wine selections.
“I work at Fisher’s [Liquor Barn]. The reason I’m here is that we joined a Wine Guild. You can’t get any of these wines but at Fisher’s on the Western slope. We have some dry French Rosé, sweet Roscato and other Italian red wines that are sweet, some domestic chardonnays[…], these are from all over the world, we have Argentina, France, California, New Zealand[…]” Fisher’s Liquor Barn representative Mike Flynn, said.
Elias Born for The Criterion 
Elias Born for The Criterion
The Winefest was put on to support CMU Athletics, with proceeds raised directly supporting them and their athletes.
“Our name is Colterris, it means from the Colorado Land. We are in a state winery, so we grow all of our grapes in Palisade and make all of our wines out there. Tonight we’re featuring our sauvignon blanc, our coral, which is a white Cabernet Sauvignon, and then our Coloradeaux, which is a blend of Cabernet, Malbec, Petit Verdot, Merlot, and a little bit of Cab Franc,” Colterris representative, Megan Silvertooth, said.
Wineries present were local and Grand Valley-based, with Denver distributors mixing in as well.
To get a glass of wine, patrons would browse around, before requesting a sample. Soon their glass would swirl with red or gold liquid, matching the CMU logo emblazoned on the glass. Hundreds of bottles lazed around on wooden shelves, or were simply propped up on the tables covered in red tablecloths.
“I am from Classic Wines, it’s in Denver Colorado, we’re the fourth biggest distribution in Colorado. We deal a lot with imports, so I have a couple of Italians over here. I have Gruet from New Mexico, which is a champagne, I’ve got Oregon wine, I’ve got[…] a California wine, and then I’ve got two Spain wines. We tried to showcase everything,” Classic Wines Kathleen Kendrick said.
Wines present at the festival are available for purchase from their respective companies.
