Day 31-August 5, 2017-Wine and peaches
Sunny and warm, up to 90.
Grand Junction is in the Grand Valley between Grand Mesa, the largest flat-topped mountain in the world and Colorado National Monument to the west, more gorgeous mountains. The fertile valley makes it great for growing, especially peaches, cherries, grapes and apples. There is the Palisade Wine and Fruit trail which encompasses the town of Palisade and some of Grand Junction. We stayed around the campground in the morning, went up to the office to reserve for another day but they said we were already registered for another day. Drove back into Palisade, only about 5 miles away to Red Fox Cellars, which was packed with people. There was a horse and carriage in front waiting for a tour group and about a dozen bicyclists inside. Biking here is a popular way to get around, the vineyards are close to each other, the roads are flat and the weather is beautiful. We saw groups of 8-15 riding along the road. This winery specializes in wine cocktails and they were very popular today, they were making more cocktails than pouring wine. We did a quick tasting, then left, too busy for us. The second winery was Garfield Estates where we ate lunch in their sitting area that was very shaded with pine trees. On to Plum Creek Cellars, a bigger tasting room with two huge iron sculptures in the front of the building, one a rooster and one a horse, made from scrap iron. There are a lot of little fruit stands all over town and we heard that they were all good but we chose McLean’s for peaches. They had a flat for $8 that they said had some damaged peaches but I didn’t see much wrong with them. The others were $2.49 a flat (about $15-$18.00). I’m going to freeze most of them for pies when we get home (of course eat some first). The owners have been doing this for 81 years and now have help from their daughter. They also have cherries but cherry season was over in June. They had a bucket of frozen, pitted cherries that would be great for pies but I don’t think we can fit it in the freezer. I had to choose, the peaches or cherries and the peaches won. We got a peach ice cream cone while we were there. The last tasting was very different from anything we’ve done before. It was Varaison Vineyards, in a beautiful old home. Very personalized tasting, only done in groups, there were 6 of us in ours. Instead of just tasting wine it was a lesson in how to pour wine, drink different kinds of wine, buy wine, etc. A lot I never knew about wine but probably didn’t care about. We were there for over an hour and a half. It was interesting to listen to and I kept thinking it would be a great idea for our wine parties at home. Very different wines, some I’ve never heard of. But I didn’t like any of them. Drove back to the RV through the spectacular Book Cliffs. Lightning and rain again all through the night.