There is something special, even sacred, about sharing a bottle of wine with family or friends. As a Spiritual Director, I find spiritual overtones in many of these moments, especially when I visited Mesa Park Vineyards in Palisade, and participated in their Full Moon Meditation.
After the meditation, I sipped on a Barn Owl Red and I spoke with Laura Black who owns the winery with her husband, Brandon. Their story is inspiring and interesting. Laura, a real estate agent, and Brandon, a contractor, had a successful “fix-it and flip-it” business in Denver before they decided to follow their crazy dream.
They had toured Mesa Park Vineyards and learned it was for sale. Not long after that visit, they found themselves owners and winemakers. They completely jumped in feet first into winemaking. Laura told me they had no previous experience in winemaking when they arrived in Palisade.
During their “Virtual Happy Hours,” Brandon said he has a background in farming but knew nothing about making wine. Laura said she is amazed by Brandon’s dedication to the winery. He works day and night creating their wines. Their eyes light up as they talk about the winery and smile as they talk about the hard work and the challenges. Laura and Brandon make wine approachable. They don’t have the attitude that wine should be left to the few specialists. Their goal is to help their guests find the wine they enjoy. Mesa Park Vineyards specializes in red wines, growing Bordeaux grapes on their eight-acre vineyard. Their bestselling wine is the Barn Owl Red. All their red wines are barrel-aged in either French Oak or American Oak.
Their rosés are made with estate Merlot grapes. Their Barn Owl White is made with grapes grown at another local vineyard. One of the common goals of the vintners in the Grand Valley is to use locally grown grapes in their wines. I was struck by the sense of camaraderie the vineyard owners share. Laura stressed that they can always count on each other if someone runs into a problem. There is not a sense of competition among them, instead, the belief is that the better one local winery does, the better they all do.
While Laura and Brandon are happy with the wines they are currently making, they do have plans to make a vintage Malbec in 2021 and a Black Label Reserve. Currently, they bottle 1,000 cases a year and look to bring that number up to 2,000!
In addition to the enthusiastic owners and award-winning wines, another feature that makes Mesa Park Vineyards unique are special events, such as the Full Moon Meditation and the Winery Comedy Tour. The community and wine club that has been created around their winery is what Laura says makes Mesa Park Vineyards exceptional in the Grand Valley.
My evening at the winery ended with us all watching the full moon rise over the mesa. There may have been some howling going on, but I’ll never tell.
