Yes, can you believe it? There's vineyards in Colorado. Everyone always thinks of Colorado as this idyllic place that is continuously buried in the snow or will be buried in the snow at any moment.
Which to those of us that live here think you outsiders thinking this is a really great thing. Those thoughts keep out all the riff raff and leave those big, open beautiful spaces to us. A selfish, but satifying thought.
Kenny and I bought our little 2 1/2 acre plot of paradise in the Vinelands 5 years ago and planted Malbec grapes last year. We figured it was either a field of weeds or a field of.......something. So grapes it is. We picked Malbec for two reasons. First, the Malbec grape loves our climate which our climate is very similar to Mendoza, Argentina. The mecca of Malbec. The same soil, sun, and about the same latitude. Second, nobody else in our region grows Malbec so there's no "hey,you're stepping into my turf" attitude. Which is key if your going "fit in". Which we already have a hard time fitting in since we got no kids, we're democrats, and we think organized religion is for the birds. I think most of our neighbors put up with us because we don't throw our empty wine bottles in the front yard when we're done with them.
So anyway, we, K2 Vineyards, have about 1500 Malbec vines in their second season of growing. There are vineyards all over our neck of the woods. Our neighbors have a vineyard too. About 3/4 the size of ours. They warned us. The first three years are the hardest, they said. That is an understatement. It better be the hardest, because more than 3 years of hard labor will be the death of me. I've seen better hands on an 80 year old grandmother from Tulsa. Yuck.
Right now the vines looks beautiful, so green and virile, so don't get me wrong. Ultimately, I think it was the right thing to do. It's just now everytime I look out there, I don't see what those who don't own the vineyard do. If you came over, you'd relax on our back porch with a glass of Malbec in hand, and bathe yourself in the views of the desert mountains contrasted to the deep green of the happy vines.
Unfortunately, I see something different. I don't enjoy the beauty and calm of the vineyard nearly as much as I think "Look at all those weeds! Geez, I gotta get those vines in the back up on the wire. When do we need to water again?" Oh well, what are you gonna do?
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