BY BOB SWEENEY

Beyond the ski slopes of well-known Vail, and beyond the famed Hot Springs of Glenwood Springs rests the pristine community of Palisade. This aggressive community tucked under the Grand

Mesa has had a 14 percent increase in sales tax dur-ing the 2009 recession.

Much credit due to the Palisade Chamber of Commerce led by Leif Johnson, the master of mar-keting for this community that has so much to offer with world class fruit, wine, cherry pie, chocolates and Alpaca fl eece.

The city of Palisade had the smart savvy to host a Media Tour, April 10-11, and attracted several dozen media representatives from Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. Media checked in to the brand new Wine Country Inn, owned by the Tally family, and various other local bed and breakfast establish-ments on Friday and Saturday mornings.

The event began in downtown Palisade at what was once the local lumberyard and today

hosting one of the swankiest art galleries in Colo-rado, The Blue Pig Gallery, owned by Jane and Ivan Wood.

Palisade Mayor David Walker welcomed the me-dia in the patio area and related some of his pride and knowledge about the community. Chamber Ex-ecutive Director Johnson greeted the media and he and John Linstrom conducted a walking tour of the downtown business district. Linstrom held court in the new town square under the Palisade Lion clock donated to the city for the town square.

ABOVE: Panoramic view of the Grand Valley overlooking majestic Colorado River from the High Country Orchard owned by Scott and Theresa High. President Obama stood here last fall when he visited Mesa County, a truly presidential view. AT LEFT: A Metal rooster stands a tall guard outside the Wine Creek Winery.

Spend a day toiling in the vineyards

a Media Tour, April 10-11, and attracted several dozen media representatives from Colorado, Utah and New Mexico. Media checked in to the brand new Wine Country Inn, owned by the Tally family, and various other local bed and breakfast establish-ments on Friday and Saturday mornings.

The event began in downtown Palisade at what was once the local lumberyard and today

Awards and their award-winning

counterparts line the shelves at

the Carlson Vineyards.

Continued next page

PALISADETOUR THE BOUNTY

Peach capital gears up for busy summer season

PALISADEPHOTOS BY ROBERT SWEENEY

PART ONE OF ATWO-PART SERIES

PAGE 16 • THE VILLAGER • April 29, 2010 PALISADE | TOUR

L instrom, who owned the local Palisade Café for a dozen years, told us the history of the community by showing historic photos ob-tained from the Grand Junction Museum.

These photos showed Palisade at the turn of the cen-tury. He even had some photos of early day Indians fording the Colorado River with rifl es tucked under their arms. Indians inhabited the valley before they were taken away to reservations when the white set-tlers arrived in the late 1800s. Coal mining, farming, and raising fruits and grapes were very successful early industries that provided livelihoods for the res-idents. Palisade hosted a downtown hotel and boom-ing wine business until prohibition closed the winer-ies in the 1920s, not to return for many decades.

Today, Palisade is host to many events, includ-ing a Sunday farmers market during the summer. The town now hosts numerous fi ne restaurants and a growing number of art galleries as the town transi-tions from retail to art, entertainment, agricultural production and related food and beverage produc-tion.

The large fruit docks and storage facilities that once loaded carloads of peaches for shipments across America are gone now; a brewery, distillery and real estate offi ce fi lls its space. Peaches once cooled by blocks of ice now speed to market in trucks overnight where they are sold fresh in stores nationwide. Most fruit growers sell direct or through agents and from onsite vending locations.

Media members were split into two groups and after leaving the Blue Pig Gallery. We visited the newly remodeled Twisted Brick Studios located right off the town square on 3rd Street. We visited with Artist Dianna Fritzler in the attractive building, which is now home to seven artists who do their art-work and metal crafting onsite. The building is full of art treasures on canvas and metallic crafting that has been made into award winning jewelry. Palisade has three other art business fi rms: Wedel Pottery, Kentz Sculpting and Parker Pottery.

We climbed aboard Bonnie Richard’s American Spirit Shuttle and went directly west of Palisade to a modern looking building with a metal sculpture of a running horse and a huge metallic rooster. These art pieces stood outside the home of Plum Creek Win-ery, one of Colorado’s oldest and most successful wineries. Sue and her deceased husband Doug were early developers of the famed Wine Fest along with former Palisade Tribune Editor Bob Dougherty.

PLUM CREEK CELLARSPlum Creek Cellars, directly west of Palisade,

started in 1984 by Sue and Doug Phillips, two Den-verites who wanted to grow grapes and bottle prize wining wines. They accomplished their dreams and Sue continues the business today with the assistance of her winemaker Jenne Baldwin. We sat around the fi replace and sampled a bevy of wine, no one spit it out like the pros, and these journalists swallowed every drop and asked for more – I did anyway. We enjoyed Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Cabernet Sauvi-gnon and a Palisade Red. We moved into the storage area where the wine is distilled in giant tanks and kept at constant temperatures before being placed in French and American oak barrels to age for our ulti-mate drinking pleasure. Many of the wines have to age for at least eight months before bottling. They’re ready for you at www.plumcreekwinery.com.

We tried some new after dinner wines still in the development stages that were sweet and succulent that have yet to be named and labeled. A creation of Sue and Jenne’s talents that was so good with the tray of chocolate candies.

We climbed back aboard Bonnie’s shuttle, and headed toward Orchard Mesa directly south of Pali-sade across the Colorado River. The van climbed the winding hill past a paint-ball battlefi eld, which was quietly closed on this beautiful Saturday morning. Water to the area comes from a nearby canal sys-tem designed and built by early day pioneers and expanded by a pumping station installed with help from the federal government decades ago to turn dry desert hills into prime fruit and wine orchards.

CARLSON VINEYARDSCarlson Vineyards is the home of Parker and

Mary Carlson, who have operated their business since 1988. It doesn’t take long to fi gure out that Parker is quite a character with his grizzled beard and big smile. Here is a man who loves what he does as he shows visitors how his Siamese cat can shake hands with him. Wife Mary greeted us until Parker chimes in and poses for some photos

Sue Phillips, owner of Plum Creek Winery, with her Winemaker Jenne Baldwin. The Plum Creek wines age in oak barrels, like the ones behind the two women, for at least eight months.

Continued from Page 15

Parker Carlson displays his award winning wines from Carlson Vineyards.

Wine Country Innhosts 80 rooms in a

Victorian setting with great dining

cuisine.

Continued next page

April 29, 2010 • THE VILLAGER • PAGE 17 Palisade | Tour

underneath some of his many award-winning wines. The Carlson vineyards have won many multiple awards, including a world title for their Riesling. Their wines carry names of Cougar Run, Shiraz, Prairie Dog Blush and Tyrannosaurus Red. A new building is under construction as the Carlsons ex-pand their booming business. There is a local joke about a nudist colony in the area but that story an-other time. The Carlsons provided a real treat in a warm drink called “Hot Peach Cobbler;” it was yummy. They have the Peach wine and the recipe waiting for you. Visit www.carlsonvineyards.com.

Mesa Park VineyardsOn the move again this time to a smaller venue

of some newcomers to the industry who purchased their vineyard in the last year from older owners who retired. Patty and Chuck Price welcomed us to Mesa Park Vineyards, as we rolled into their yard in front of the freshly painted red winery building be-hind their home surrounded by acres of grape vines.

Here was another happy couple that with family members Brooke and Brad Webb has ventured into the viniculture industry. Moving from the Denver area, they have cleaned, painted, planted and dis-tilled their tasty products. They were great hosts and provided cheese trays, cold cuts, chocolates and an assortment of red wines dating back to Merlot 2003 and 2004; a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon; and their gold medal 2008 Colorado Mountain Winefest win-ner and Silver Medal 2009 Winefest winner. They may be the new kids on the block, but they know how to make wine and greet guests. For more infor-mation, e-mail pricebrooker@aol.com or visit www.mesaparkvineyards.com.

suncresT orchard alPacas

We didn’t see vast herds of sheep or cattle on the range, lots of cats, no dogs, and few saddle horses but Orchard Mesa has the Suncrest Orchard Alpac-as. The home of our new graphic artist Chris Mc-Dermott and his parents Mike and Cindy. We were very curious as we arrived in view of a corral full of hairy creatures that look like and are related to camels. The fleece is many times warmer than wool and smooth as silk. The Alpacas come from South America in cold climates like Peru where they are raised for domestic work and fleece. It takes almost a year for an Alpaca to go through the gestation pro-cess and produce offspring. Males are kept separate from the females and sometimes compete for the constant ladies attention.

They eat a small amount of dry hay; all defecate in the same area of the pen that makes for easy clean-ing, right Chris? Call 970-464-4862 to order some beautiful sweaters and socks at reasonable prices. I want a sweater for Christmas – hint, and hint.

Mike McDermott gave us an educational tour of how the fleece is processed; it is placed in a tum-bler to clean and dry the fleece, then washed and dried, then run through a shredder type of machine that turned the fleece into fluffy fibers. Then it goes through spinning processes that make a spool of Al-paca yarn that is very valuable. They have a store onsite full of products to keep us warm when we have nasty winters just like this last one. The Alpaca industry is growing across America and it’s nice to see products that aren’t “Made in China” but right in Palisade, USA.

incredible folksOur tour guides for the day were Cathy and Tom

Monroe, who own DiVine A Thyme Bed and Break-fast, www.adivinethymebandb.com. Some media stayed with Tom and Cathy, but Gerri and I were booked at the Wine Country Inn where we headed about 5 p.m. It had been a grand and glorious day, we had made four stops and at every location met incredibly nice people who obviously loved what they are doing and were working 24/7 to do all of the labors of love that owning a business can create. These were hands- on folks who work from dawn to dusk to enjoy doing what they do so well. They are at the mercy of Mother Nature and wine and fruit consumers. It is up to us to support their efforts and purchase Colorado wine and fruit products.

A dinner date was planned with Jean and Rich-ard Tally. Hoteliers’ who have a Best Western Inn at Hampden and Wadsworth in Lakewood; a Qual-ity Inn in Grand Junction; and the new Wine Coun-try Inn in Palisade, a snappy 80 unit Victorian style hotel surrounded by the Tally’s 21 acres of grape-vines. Their son Greg does much of the marketing and lives in Littleton. Visit www.ColoradoWine CountryInn.com.

Our room was elegant with a balcony overlook-ing the pool and courtside; plush large towels and luxury soaps and shampoos. Being a journalist is a tough life. And greeting us on the dresser was a beautiful basket of fruit candies and I recognized

Patty and Chuck Price are all smiles as they learn the ropes at their Mesa Park Vineyards.

Tish Collins designs and makes artistic

jewelry at The Twisted Brick Studios.

Mike and Cathy McDermott welcome media to their Suncrest Orchard Alpaca ranch where they walked guests through the process of turning raw fiber into fine yarn.

Continued next page

Bob Helmer’s Alida’s Chocolate covered walnuts and caramel apples and chocolate candy named after Alida Helmer. Visit www.palisadepride.com.

We met the Tally’s in the new dining room where they now serve dinner and lunch to the public. Han-nah Odneal, our award-winning columnist, joined us for dinner and we enjoyed a meal fi t for a king or a journalist. We hadn’t seen Hannah since early morn-ing, the tour was split into groups and she is writing about her experience and I’m writing about where the Sweeneys spent the day. I apologize to the other Vineyards that we were not able to visit, but prom-ise we will come take a tour at a later date. What we observed with your peers must be universal and we respect all of your hard work and contributions to Palisade and Colorado.

We learned that Jean Tally is a graduate of Loui-siana State University that means football and cof-fee for anyone that knows anything about LSU, good food and the South. She and her husband Chuck or-dered a plethora of tapas to share. I won’t do a com-plete restaurant review, but Coquilles St. Jacques of shrimp, scallops and lump crabmeat was exquisite, so was the Mediterranean delights made of Med-jool dates stuffed with cream cheese and nuts then wrapped in prosciutto. There was seared Ahi tuna and onion soup; oh I love The Wine Country Inn.

There was salmon, stuffed pork loin, bacon-wrapped chicken breast, New York strip steak; at the recommendation of the great service advisor I took her advice and ordered the medallions of beef USDA tenderloins that cut with a fork. The Tallys also rec-ommended this dish and they do know their food and hospitality business so well.

I wrapped up the meal with homemade European style fruit strudel served with ice cream; Jean had the caramelized sugar coated vanilla Crème Brulee. It may be time to consider getting out of the publishing business and just becoming a travel writer; this is a pretty good gig for the Palisade Tribune and VillagerPublishers to enjoy.

HIGH COUNTRY ORCHARDSThe tour continued on Sunday morning with a visit

to High Country Orchards. We started the day with a great breakfast buffet and headed to Riverbend Park on the south side of Palisade. Palisade editor emeri-tus Bob Dougherty and myself used to argue about having a golf course where the present park is today. I favored a golf course; Bob favored the park on the grounds that there wasn’t enough land to do a really good golf course.

His concept prevailed and today the 100-plus acres stretches quite a distance adjacent to the Colo-rado River and has become a statewide destination for a Bluegrass Festival, June 11-13. Followed by the massive 42nd Annual Peach Festival, Aug. 19-22 and then the Colorado WineFest, Sept. 16-19. All of these events will have wine tasting and tours, biking

PAGE 18 • THE VILLAGER • April 29, 2010 PALISADE | TOUR

activities, music, ice cream and lot’s of peaches and treats. Call 970-464-7458 for more information.

Palisade City Manager Tim Sarno greeted the Sun-day morning media folks in the spacious park facil-ity and related attributes of the famous city where he has the responsibilities for all services and operations. Palisade is currently doing a major street repair and just completed a downtown parking area development. The city is open for business and recorded a 14 per-cent increase in city sales tax in 2009 largely due to the opening of the new Wine Country Inn.

Tammy Craig at Fruit and Wine Real Estate has a number of downtown business locations listed for sale, some with owner carry terms: 1-970-464-5100.

After a quick ride, we pulled into High Country Orchards mid-morning and were greeted by Scott, Theresa, and Mathew. This is a family affair, neat as a pin, well designed, with a huge investment in cash and sweat equity. Of the vineyards visited this family was the most aggressive, youthful and full of vim and vigor to build their business.

They have some young grape vines and have just completed a new wine facility where they will bottle their brands when their grape crop matures. Scott re-ported that they didn’t have any winterkill of grape vines, a worry for the entire local industry.

The new circle drive skirts the mesa with a pan-oramic view of the entire Grand Valley. A perfect site for a wedding and the site of President Obama and the fi rst lady’s visit last fall. They have marked the grape rows where he walked in a patriotic blue paint to hail the president’s visit

High Country has Denver roots with Scott and The-resa having Denver connections with their wine dis-tribution company, Classic Wines LLC – www.classicwines.com. Theresa High is a driving force in the busi-ness and has a marketing background that helps the

Continued from Page 17

High Country Orchards has an ultra modern packing plant with a digital imaging peach sorting program to size peaches for fast packing and a fresher delivery overnight to market by trucks.

family market their peach crop to vendors like Whole Foods that purchases almost their entire harvest.

We toured the packaging plant where the peaches are selectively picked each day in the morning when they have the most fl avor before the trees pull the moisture back into the roots in the hot summer after-noons. Scott explained. The peaches are cooled, and digitally sorted and automatically placed in shipping boxes and trucks pick them up each evening and the peaches can be in the markets the next day. A far cry from the Mountain Lion packing brands shipped out of Palisade on the railroads from large warehouses along the tracks.

DINING AROUND TOWNWe returned to the Riverbend park, and many of

the media stopped at local restaurants: The Red Rose, Palisade Café, Inari’s, The Century House, The Pack-ing Shed, Palisade Brewery, Diorio’s Pizza, Speedy’s, Slice O’Life Bakery and the cherry pie at Mumzel’s Crumpets, Cups and Cones is spectacular, the ultimate of fruit growing must be the fruit pies!

There was a clear message in this tour that these Vineyards and Orchards are great places to sample the products and to teach our children. There are some wonderful folks working hard to produce wholesome, fresh food and fruit products. A tour of these facilities makes one feel good about America and Americans still making great products in Colorado and the good old USA.

For more info, visit Palisade Chamber of Commerce, www.palisadecoc.com.

High Country Orchards owner Scott High gives a group of media professionals a visual vantage point tour of his crop lands that produce “America’s Best Peaches.”

BELOW: A prize-winning cherry pie greets hungry

customers at Mumzels at 301 W. Main Street located in the

Art & Antique store on the corner in Palisade.

The trademarked look of the High Country

peaches box.