Colorado Vineyards Take Part in National Wine Tourism Day

 
LAKEWOOD, Colo. – The first-ever Wine Tourism Day in North America will take place on Saturday, May 11th, 2013, with wineries, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses offering a variety of events to the public throughout North America. Many Colorado wineries will be offering special events to mark this day locally.

“There are now over 7,500 wineries in 205 American Viticultural Areas, 38 authorized wine appellations in Canada, and another 40 appellations in Mexico,” says Allan Wright, president of Zephyr Adventures, the active wine tour company organizing Wine Tourism Day. “Most of these wine regions and many of these wineries are dependent on visitors who sleep in hotel beds, eat in restaurants, and buy wine from cellar doors. Wine tourism is very important to the success of many local economies and is a subject worth commemorating.”

In Colorado, Bookcliff Vineyards (Boulder), Stone Cottage Cellars (Paonia), Whitewater Hill Vineyards (Grand Junction), St. Kathryn Cellars, Meadery of the Rockies, Talon Winery (all three in Palisade), Liliputian Winery, Mesa Winds Winery and Leroux Creek Vineyards (all in Hotchkiss) are all offering special tastings and tours to celebrate Wine Tourism Day. Events range from unique wine and cheese pairings to a “wine and dine” weekend getaway.
“Colorado has more than 100 boutique, family-owned wineries,” says Doug Caskey, executive director of the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board. “Most of our wineries are relatively unknown and Wine Tourism Day is a good way to introduce yourself to your local wineries.”

The idea for a Wine Tourism Day comes from Europe, where the European Day of Wine Tourism has been ongoing since 2009. Attendees of the 2012 Wine Tourism Conference, an annual gathering of the industry’s leaders, discussed bringing the concept to North America.

For more information and to find a list of events on Wine Tourism Day, please visit www.coloradowine.com or www.winetourismday.com for national events.