By Paul Caputo

Wine lovers are inherently intrigued by terroir, for great wine regions are defined not only by their talented winemakers, but also the landscapes that come, inevitably, to represent style and personality. In thinking of the steep schist slopes that fall into the Mosel River in Germany, the misty forests of California’s Anderson Valley, or the rolling hills separating the medieval villages of Chianti, we can somehow feel these territories in the glass.

What then of Colorado’s high desert plains? Here, vines are planted at altitudes that fray the nerves of even the most experienced risk taker – between 4,000 and 7,000 feet above sea level. This hostile environment poses both opportunity and threat. Frost can strike when buds are barely formed. Water is scarce and winds sweep across the plateaus, drying soils and stressing plants. The intense light means even minor errors in canopy management can leave grapes scorched.

Yet successfully navigating these risks gives Colorado wine its personality. Days are pinching hot and intensely bright, yet nighttime temperatures drop sharply. If all goes to plan, and it often doesn’t, the end of season fruit is thick skinned, but ripe, and gives concentrated, fragrant wines with a wicked edge of freshness.

Grape grower Kaibab Sauvage, who formed Sauvage Spectrum with winemaker Patric Matysiewski in 2019 captures the jeopardy perfectly: “let’s be honest, farming grapes here isn’t for the faint of heart. This is the high-wire act of viticulture. Our winters can be brutal. One wrong swing in the weather and you can lose a vintage, or a vineyard. We’re at the mercy of frost, drought, and the raw unpredictability of farming in the high desert.”