A Wine Time

Balistreri Vineyards won’t be harvesting any grapes from its nearby vineyard on Washington Street this year; winter cane damage killed the crop. But the Balistreri family still has plenty of reason to celebrate today at its seventh annual Harvest Party. “We’re celebrating all the other harvests — we’ll be getting over sixty tons from the Western Slope,” Julie Balistreri says. “Ninety-eight percent of our wines are made with 100 percent Colorado grapes. We never blend California with Colorado.”

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But Balistreri does make wine with California grapes – and what wine! At the recent Colorado Mountain Winefest, nine Balistreri wines won awards, and its Petite Sirah, “the only one that was a California grape, sure enough it took Best of Show,” Balistreri laughs. The Petite Sirah will be one of more than twenty Balistreri wines that you can sample at the Harvest Party, along with antipasti, artisan cheeses, pizzas and roast pig. “We do all the food except for the pig roast,” notes Balistreri. But the highlight of the annual open house is always the Children’s Grape Stomping at 2 p.m. And, sorry, it’s definitely kids only. “We don’t make Big Foot Cab, we only make Little Feet Merlot,” she points out.

In fact, the Harvest Party got its start when Balistreri’s own kids wanted to stomp grapes, soon after the winery opened back in 1998. “We used to do it ourselves, just family and friends, and we’d have 200 people,” she recalls. “So we decided to open it up to the public and have a big party.”

The party runs from noon to 6 p.m. at Balistreri Vineyards, 1946 East 66th Avenue in Denver; tickets are $55 in advance, $60 at the door, and children twelve and under get in free. For more information, call 303-287-5156 or go to www.balistrerivineyards.com.
Sun., Oct. 4, 12-6 p.m., 2009