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Press

We are excited to share the press and praise for The Storm Cellar wines this year! We have been so fortunate that our friends, family, and colleagues have embraced our story and have been so supportive of our adventure already. We encourage you to follow our newsletter, read our blog, connect on social media, or explore these stories from various media outlets.


The Storm Cellar entered their three 2018 Rieslings in the invitation-only 2020 American Fine Wine Competition. The Dry Riesling scored 88 points, the Riesling scored 90 points, and the Reserve Riesling took home a 94-point score and a double gold medal. View the results via this link.
In MaryAnn Worobeic’s “Wine Focus” in the March 31, 2020 issue of Wine Spectator, titled “Rocky Mountain High”, she shares the story of The Storm Cellar and includes the 2018 Riesling among 14 recommended wines from the Mountain West Region. Read the article via this link.
The Wall Street Journal wine columnist, Lettie Teague, highlights The Storm Cellar’s story and selected their 2018 Dry Riesling as one of 20 must-buys for Thanksgiving. She writes, “Regions once considered wine deserts are producing in-demand bottles as a new wave of winemakers boldly redraws the map of American wine regions.” Read the article via this link.
Two of our wines, the 2018 Riesling and 2018 Dry Riesling, won Double Gold Medals at the 2019 Colorado Governor’s Cup awards. We are two of 14 wines selected from over 250 wines to receive this honor, blind-tasted by Master Sommeliers, Masters of Wine, and local and national beverage professionals and wine writers. Red more about the event and the other winners here.
In their fall 2019 issue, Spoke+Blossom magazine interviews Steve and Jayme of The Storm Cellar for perspective on high-elevation grape growing. Per Jayme, “Colorado (wine) is finding its voice, and people are listening to it.” The magazine also features our gorgeous Chardonnay grapes on the cover, courtesy of Olive & West Photography. Read more via this link.
One of Colorado’s most eye-catching and informative digital magazines, West of 105, covering everything west of the 105th meridian, highlighted Jayme and Steve, along with the other members of the 2019 Colorado FIVE culinary team in a quickfire Q&A on pages 88-93 in their online autum issue.
The Storm Cellar was selected by the editors of 5280 Magazine as “Best Winery” in their annual “Top of the Town” awards for 2019. This is an incredible honor for which we are beyond grateful. “Jayme Henderson and Steve Steese have everything it takes to bring their winery into the national spotlight.” Read more about the awards and the editors’ perspective on our winery project here.
One of Colorado’s most eye-catching and informative digital magazines, West of 105, covering everything west of the 105th meridian, highlighted The Storm Cellar Rosé of Pinot Noir as one of four Colorado rosés to enjoy this summer. Catch our photographs on pages 8, 15, and 70, and read the stellar review on page 71 in their summer issue.
Grand Junction’s Spoke+Blossom magazine featured a behind-the-scenes history of The Storm Cellar in their summer 2019 issue. Jayme and Steve share what brought them to the North Fork Valley, some of the hurdles they faced along the way, and some of the dreams and joys that have kept them going, including a wintry wedding celebration in the middle of their dormant Chardonnay vines this past February. Read more via this link.
Founders of The Storm Cellar, Jayme Henderson and Steve Steese, are announced as members of the 2019 Colorado FIVE team. A select group, chosen by LSE Consulting, the FIVE team exemplify the passion, creativity, and purpose that has become the staple of Colorado cuisine. Jayme and Steve will be featuring and pairing their wines, along with other Colorado products, with the cuisine of five of Colorado’s most influential chefs at events and festivals throughout the year, culminating in a dinner at the prestigious James Beard House in Manhattan.
Denver’s 5280 magazine wrote a feature on Colorado wine for its February 2019 issue and included a Q+A with Jayme and Steve, along with a couple of great photos by Olive & West Photography. “Ever fantasize about buying a farm and opening a boutique winery? Meet two former Denver sommeliers who actually did it.” Read the full piece here.
Grand Junction’s Spoke+Blossom magazine interviewed Steve Steese, co-founder of The Storm Cellar, for his view on what community means to him as a wine-grower out on the Western Slope of Colorado. Read his thoughts in their winter 2018-19 issue on page 8, via this link.
Cheers! In this episode Eric talks to the female bosses of booze in Denver. His guests are Bess Dougherty, head barrel troll at The Grateful Gnome Sandwich Shop and Brewery; Jayme Marie Henderson, cofounder and winemaker at The Storm Cellar; sommelier Maia Parish of Wine Suite, LLC; and whiskey maker Helen Lee of Laws Whiskey House. This is gonna be a hell of a hangover! Listen to episode 10 of the Chef or Death Podcast!


We just capped our very first pèt-nat, made with We just capped our very first pèt-nat, made with Chambourcin grapes from the Grand Valley, along with a little estate Riesling. 🍾🍾🍾 We are excited to see how this pink bubbly develops over the next few weeks.
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Hopefully, we’ll be able to pop a couple bottles for NYE! We only made 12 bottles of this sparkling wine, so you’ll have to wait until next fall, when we make a larger drop.
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Catch more BTS on our most recent reel and in our stories. 🎥
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#stormcellarwine #highelevationwine #highelevationvineyards #coloradosparklingwine #pétnat #petnat #methodeancestrale #chambourcinrosé #coloradorosé #drinkpink #cowine #coloradowine #westelksava #westelkswineries #foodwinewomen #femalewinemaker #visitcolorado #agritourism
R I E S L I N G U P D A T E —> Since our last p R I E S L I N G  U P D A T E —> Since our last post, we’ve gotten a lot of questions about the status of our existing Riesling vines and how they weathered through the super-cold freeze that hit a few weeks ago.
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We’ve heard from several neighboring vineyards that the bud damage was severe, and that 2021 yields are going to be low or non-existent for certain varieties. Buds that house next year’s grapes were formed over this past summer and hadn’t hardened off for dormancy, when temps dipped into single digits.
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We are collecting bud samples from the vines this afternoon and getting an accurate prediction on bud damage in the next couple days. We are expecting a lot of damage to our primary buds, but we also know that Riesling is a pretty cold-hardy variety.
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Even the clusters from this year’s harvest that you see in this photo are smaller than normal because we lost a lot of primary buds last fall.
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On a positive note, our four tanks of Riesling are slowly fermenting around 55°F and showing great promise in flavor, acid balance, and complexity.
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#stormcellarwine #highelevationvineyards #highelevationwine #highaltitudewines #whitewinelover #rieslinglover #rieslingislife #ibleedriesling #redstonevineyard #coloradowine #cowine #westelksava #alpinedesertwine #sommlife #sommelierwinemaker
Is this our next album cover!!? 😎 Nope. It’s Is this our next album cover!!? 😎  Nope. It’s actually the two of us at the end of the most hardcore two days of the season.
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Last year, a dramatic early frost killed our newly planted Chardonnay vines, so we were especially nervous when we saw a similar climatic situation approaching this year.
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We hope that we over-compensated in protecting all of the new vines that we planted this past spring, but this year’s freeze was even worse than last year’s, so ... fingers crossed.
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Here we are, bundled up after mounding up over 1,200 vines with as much soil as we could manage, to cover the tender graft lines, as the snow was rolling in.
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The last row of 44 vines was a test of our resolve. The temps dropped to 20°, the snow began to fall, and the sun set early. We turned up the drum-and-bass and channeled a do-or-die vibe.
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We did the best we could, so we’ll see how we fared this next spring. For now, we are beyond grateful for a successful year at the tasting room but are simultaneously excited for a change of direction and shift of priorities in this colder season.
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#reallife
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#farmingishard #farmlife #stormcellarwine #westelksava #farmsohard #modfarm #modernfarmer #youngfarmers #redstonevineyard #coloradowine #cowine #highelevationfarming #highelevationvineyards #highelevationwine #sommlife #sommelierwinemaker #damnitscold @hollyandflora @big_zen
We are sending out an incredibly heartfelt thanks We are sending out an incredibly heartfelt thanks to our friend and chef @brandtbishop of @bishopqualitygoods for keeping our business deliciously alive this summer.
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According to current regulations, as a winery, we cannot operate our tasting room, unless we partner with a restaurant or commercial kitchen. It only made sense to us to ask Brandt to create seasonally driven, locally sourced charcuterie boards, so that we could maintain our tasting room offerings.
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We have sold them out every weekend, to rave reviews, during our tasting room season.
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Thank you, Brandt, for always giving your all, sharing your personal taste, and supporting local, CO brands and growers on each plate you produced.
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On the rare occasion that there was a leftover plate, we totally appreciated and enjoyed the love you put into these boards and into so many mouths and hearts here in the North Fork Valley.
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#stormcellarwine #bishopqualitygoods #chefbrandtbishop #farmtotable #northforkvalley #hotchkisscolorado #visitcolorado #coloradoagriculture #coloradoagritourism @coagtourism #coloradowine #cowine #foodandwine #foodwinewomen #charcuterieboard #cheeseboard #cheeseboardingschool #eatlocallygrown #supportsmallbusiness #westelksava #sommlife #sommelierwinemaker #thekitchn #sunsetmag
Someone’s getting mighty big. 💥 Captain Murph Someone’s getting mighty big. 💥 Captain Murphy is learning new tricks, learning to love rides in the truck, and trying his best to get along with our cats.
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He’s seven months old and just under 40 pounds. He proved challenging to have around during harvest this year, as he kept wanting to eat grapes, which are toxic to dogs. We were constantly having to call him away from the crush pad.
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He’s learned how to give his paw on command and offer his “other paw”, when asked. We are working on “lie down” and “stay”, especially when vehicles drive by.
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Come by and say hello to this sweet addition to our family. He’ll be here for hugs tomorrow at our final Friday at the tasting room.
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Will we see you there?!
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Visit our previous post for details on our fall release tasting, paired with seasonal small plates, curated by Chef @brandtbishop of @bishopqualitygoods, from 2:00 until 5:30 tomorrow.
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Club members, drop by to pick up your fall release!! 💥💥💥
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#stormcellarwine #coloradowine #cowine #visithotchkiss #coloradostaycation #visitpaonia #visitcolorado #northforkvalley #whitewinelover #drinkcolorado #sommelierwinemaker #redstonevineyard #westelksava #westelkswineries #bordercolliepuppy #blackbordercollie #vineyarddog #winerydogs #captainmurphydog #bordercolliesofinstagram #workingdog
P O P – U P 💥 Fall wine release party with P O P –  U P 💥  Fall wine release party with chef @brandtbishop this Friday!!
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Join us here at our tasting room this Friday, October 30th, for our official fall wine release, featuring the final six wines from the 2019 vintage!
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Chef Brandt will be here from 2:00 until 5:30, serving up an eclectic menu of small plates, each priced around $10, with a vegetarian option! 🍴 Get the menu details in our stories.
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We’ll be pouring free tastings of these new wines during our regular tasting room hours, from 11:00 until 7:00. We can’t wait to hear what you think!!
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✔️ 2019 Viognier
✔️ 2019 Roussanne
✔️ 2019 RRV, white blend
✔️ NV Estate Fire + Ice Riesling
✔️ 2019 Estate Chardonnay
✔️ 2019 Estate Reserve Dry Riesling
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While our spring release was filled with delicate whites and rosés, this fall selection is bolder, richer, and more textural — perfect for the cozy months and holiday cuisines ahead.
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⚡️ Tastings are held outside, with groups seated at their own table, with adequate social distancing.
⚡️ Mask up! 😷 We’ll be masked up, as well, while we serve you.
⚡️ Our driveway is freshly graded and dry since the snowstorm, for those of you, who know what the drive up here can be like! 😬
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See you here!! 🤩
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Can’t make it? These are the wines featured in our fall wine club shipment. 🖥 Visit our website for details on how you can join!
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#stormcellarwine #northforkvalley #visitpaonia #visithotchkiss #coloradoagritourism #coloradowinetasting #coloradowine #cowine #drinkcolorado #5280drinks #fallwinerelease #whitewinelover #sommlife #sommelierwinemaker
We mounded up all 1,250 of our newly planted, graf We mounded up all 1,250 of our newly planted, grafted Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines yesterday and the day before, and they are now nestled under 6-10” of soil. We are beyond tired but seriously thankful that we finished up the process just after dark, right after the snow began to fall.
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Temperatures dipped down to 12°F last night, but hopefully, since we harvested our grapes from our producing vines a couple of weeks early, the buds for next year’s harvest are okay and the vines are further along in their progression toward dormancy.
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Since we will hopefully be planting 4,000 vines next spring, we are researching a means for more efficient (mechanized) mounding to protect graft lines. Hand-mounding each vine is simply unfeasible. That’s a winter project. ⚡️ And it’s NOT for today.
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Today is for relaxing and being grateful that the 2020 growing season is behind us.
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#stormcellarwine #thefutureisgrafted #highelevationvineyards #highelevationwine #coldclimatewines #coldclimatevineyard #redstonevineyard #farmlife #vineyardlife #classof2024🍇 #whitewinelover #coloradowine #westelksava #westelkswineries #harvest2020
We brought in the entirety of our estate Riesling We brought in the entirety of our estate Riesling last weekend. It’s slowly fermenting, and we are slowly beginning to slow down, ourselves, as well. 😛 We are beyond honored to have been on the cover of the @denverpost this past Thursday.
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Did you get a chance to read it?! 💥 @josie_sexton covered our challenging harvest beautifully, and it was rather surreal to see these photos by @wwoodyco from our harvest, which all feels like a blur at this moment.
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Get the link in our bio and hear how our upcoming, to-be-released, 2019 Reserve Dry Riesling was produced last season and how this year has proven to be a challenging-yet-delicious vintage.
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We are humbled and honored and thrilled to be part of the Colorado wine community. Josie highlights some of Colorado’s forward-thinking producers from around the state. We are in great company, and we are only collectively growing stronger.
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TOGETHER.
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“I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. I only know what I CAN do.”
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— Captain James T. Kirk, Star Trek, “Into Darkness”
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📷: @wwoodyco for the @denverpost stormcellarwine #coloradowine #denverpostfood #denverpost #denverpostdrinks #cowine #westelksava #westelkswineries #highelevationvineyards #highelevationwine #whitewinelover #rieslingistheanswer #ibleedriesling #sommlife #sommelierwinemaker #redstonevineyard #jaymeandsteve4ever 💥💥💥
#STORMCELLARWINE

            

The Storm Cellar  |  14139 Runzel Gulch Road, Hotchkiss, CO 81419  |  970.589.3142

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