Balistreri Vineyards in Denver, Colorado

Does the state of Colorado have wineries?  Yes, many!  There are many wine regions in Colorado--click this link Colorado Wine--to see their locations within our valleys and plateaus, fueled in summer by mountain snowmelt and three hundred days of sunny weather and cool dry nights.

Please click on to enlarge

Last summer my husband and I visited Balistreri Winery located at 1946 E. 66th Ave, in Denver, Colorado.  

John Balistreri’s ancestors immigrated from Sicily to the United States in the early 1900s. They eventually found their way to Colorado, where they worked as “truck farmers” producing local vegetables in the North Denver community. In 1964, John Balistreri built greenhouses and started his own business growing carnations. During this time, John continued the Sicilian tradition of producing wine for family and friends.  In 1998, John’s daughter Julie and his wife Birdie encouraged him to make his wine production a commercial endeavor. On the very same land that the family had once grown carnations, stands a new facility equipped with a wine cellar, tasting room, event center, and restaurant. 

Although located in what is now a very industrial area of Denver, the winery is a green oasis with beautiful grounds and is often used as a reception or wedding venue.

Inside is a large seating area that also can be used for receptions and other events.

We enjoyed a few sips of different wines in their tasting room. Among the wines they produce are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Franc, Zinfandel, Sangiovese, Chardonnay, Muscat, Cherry Wine, Viognier and Port.

John Balistreri’s wines are made naturally.  Only grapes that are hand-harvested are used to make the wine, and they are selected from high-quality single vineyard sites across Colorado and occasionally California.  The grapes are fermented on their own yeast, unaltered by sulfites and aged in American oak. More facts about their winemaking process can be read on their website on this link.

We decided to stay for lunch in their tasting room cafe and we were very impressed with their menu selection and quality of food! We both enjoyed a very delicious lobster risotto. It was presented so beautifully with a scattering of edible flower petals on top.

* As of this writing, because of the novel coronavirus pandemic, they are not offering in-house wine tasting or food, but have online ordering available for curbside pickup of take-out food and wine, and hope to be able to return to normal as soon as they are allowed.

We really enjoyed our visit to Balistreri Vineyards. We purchased a few bottles of their wine we enjoyed the most during our tasting, to enjoy at home.  One of the bottles we picked up was "Little Feet Merlot" wine--more about that extra special wine in my next post!

You can also find me on

Instagram Twitter Facebook 

Pinterest

 I'm linking this post to the following blog events:

 Mosaic Monday, All Seasons, Blue Monday, Through My Lens Monday, Little Cottage Link Party, Hearth, and Soul Link Party, You Are the Star Blog Hop, Inspire Me Monday,  Good Random Fun, Nature Notes, Grand Social, Travel Photos, Photo Tunes, Happiness Is Homemade, Over the Moon, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday, Tuesday Turn About. Tuesdays With A Twist, Let's Keep In Touch, Wordless Wednesday on a Tuesday,  Party in Your PJ's, Wordless Wednesday, Nanahood WW, Oh My Heartsie Girl's Wonderful Wednesday, Your Whims Wednesday, Worldless  Wednesday My Corner of the World, Wonderful Wednesday,  Little Things Thursday, Thankful Thursday, Thursday Encouraging Hearts and Home, Full Plate Thursday, Thursday Thinking Out Loud, Friendship Fridays, Friday Features Linky Party, Skywatch Friday, Pink Saturday, Saturday Critters