Stoney Mesa Winery Stoney Mesa Winery Stoney Mesa Winery, Colorado

		See some of the processes that take place in how our many award winning wines are  made.	At Stoney Mesa Winery, wine is the product of passion and love for farming.  Each bottle is hand crafted by a family who believes in the beauty of Colorado Wine as much as the beauty of the landscape, because the making of a fine wine is something to admire. One that requires good grapes, a bit of luck with the weather and all the patience and care a winemaker can devote.

             

	Who Are We
	Stoney Mesa Wines A benchmark for Colorado wines focusing on high quality at a great price.  We are a pioneer in the art of Western Colorado winegrowing.			One of Colorado's oldest wineries, Stoney Mesa Winery was established in 1990 by the Neal family. Western Colorado has been know for producing spectacular fruit.  The scenery is stunning , and the atmosphere is laid back.  It is a great place to relax or even get out and exercise.  Come and visit us at one of our great locations in Western Colorado.  We invite you for a taste and tour of the winery in Cedaredge.  If you are visiting Palisade/Grand Junction, then coming from the south, Ptarmigan Vineyards is one of the first tasting rooms to visit in the valley!

At Stoney Mesa Winery, we believe that great wine is a reflection of the vineyards care. And the unique

Terroir is something that sets us apart from any other wine growing region in the world. Terroir is a word

to describe everything in our environment that the grapes live in from soil, to temperatures, rainfall, and

 even viticulture practice.  The wines made at Stoney Mesa Winery express the terroir of the three

vineyard properties that constitute our Western Colorado vineyard holdings. We harvest a majority

of the fruit for our wines from these vineyards and each lies in a different area, providing the winery

a wide variety of soils and climatic conditions for planting different grape varieties.

The Farms -

The winery is situated in the middle of our 10-acre vineyard on our 50-acre Delta County farm, of

 which we originally planted our Gewurztraminer in 1990. Here we also grow Merlot, Pinot Gris, and

Chardonnay.  We are experimenting with other varieties, the main one being Zweigelt which is an

Austrian vinifera cross that make a medium bodied red wine.  Much of the property is actively being

used by a local rancher whom is raising some of the best grass-fed beef around.  This acreage will

give us plenty of room to expand our plantings as we grow.

Our oldest vineyard is our 8-acre Ptarmigan Vineyard in Grand Junction, which part of the Grand

Valley AVA.  This vineyard supplies much of our Riesling, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon.   The

original planting here was done in 1982 making them some of the oldest commercial vines in

Colorado.   Make sure you visit our newest tasting room at the farm that we call Ptarmigan Vineyards

if you are visiting the Grand Junction/Palisade area.

Additionally we have a 7-acre farm in Palisade on East Orchard Mesa, an area highly regarded,

and arguably the best fruit growing area in Colorado.   This is where we grow our Pinot Gris, as

it is very sensitive to climatic conditions.  We feel this diversity gives us an opportunity to balance

our crops during harvest to maximize quality in challenging growing seasons.

Our Approach -

We believe in Sustainable Agriculture which is a very low environmental impact method of farming .  

This is aided by using canopy management to help reduce mildew, and our arid climate is a poor

environment for large populations of insects.   By allowing grasses and low vineyard impact

vegetation to grow, problem weeds are choked out thus making mowing and in-row tilling a

very effective method of vineyard maintenance. 

Our Stewardship -

An important part of managing the vineyard, is maintaining the balance between viticulture and

 nature. Stoney Mesa Winery has always focused in environmental responsibility. Dedicated to

growing wine naturally, we work very hard to avoid any harmful practices, and always use organic

techniques whenever possible.  Almost all of our vine work is done by hand, and most ground

maintenance is done mechanically.   We recycle harvest waste and most of it is taken to the old

 town landfill, which is visible to the whole valley.  After it was abbandoned, it was burned and

left baron.  Along with the current owner of the property we are helping replenish organic material

 in the soil so that native plant life can take it back in order to help the ground reclaim it's natural

 habitat and beauty.

Natural winegrowing for us means working in harmony with nature to protect our health, the health

of our employees, and the earth while producing quality wine. Environmentally friendly practices

include conserving soils and water.  Our irrigation system at the winery farm was installed under

a contract with the NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service).  W have allowed natural

wetlands on our property to flourish while focusing on removing plant life from our farms that

has been listed as non-native and noxious in Colorado.