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Wine region

Colorado

Colorado is a wine region in United States, home to 8 wineries, producing red, rose, white wines, known for Grand Valley.

Colorado at a glance: predominantly red; known for Grand Valley.
On this page

Colorado's 8 wineries produce predominantly red wine; Cabernet Franc is the most common single-grape bottling; wines carry AVA designation.

About the Colorado region

    Location
    Colorado wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S.
    Climate
    The mountain climate ensures warm summer days and cool nights.
    Soils
    In USDA NRCS Soil Data Access results for Colorado survey areas, Mollisols have the largest weighted component acreage, approximately 20,763,551 acres.
    Distinctive
    Colorado's grape-growing regions contain some of the highest elevation vineyards in the world, with most viticulture in the state practiced between 4,000 feet (1,219 m) and 7,000 feet (2,134 m) above sea level.

Region facts sourced from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Soil Data Access query for Colorado (CO survey-area prefix), retrieved 2026-07-11. (U.S. Government work / Public Domain (17 U.S.C. § 105)), Wikipedia contributors, "Colorado wine", Wikipedia, revision 1357183721, retrieved 2026-07-11. (Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International).

Most common single-grape wines

When Colorado wines are made from a single grape (rather than a blend), these are the most common:

Wine profile

Colorado is predominantly a red-wine region (about 64% of its wines).

22 distinct Colorado wines tracked, spanning the colours and styles below.

  • Red14 · 64%
  • White6 · 27%
  • Rose2 · 9%

Types: Still.

Representative Colorado wines

Selected from stable product-to-region relationships for diversity — not a claim that these are the region's best wines.

  • Carlson Vineyards — High Desert Lab Wine Riesling Dry
  • Carlson Vineyards — 365 Rose
  • Carlson Vineyards — Contact
  • Monart — Malbec
  • Monart — Merlot
  • Carlson Vineyards — 365 Red
  • Carlson Vineyards — St. Vincent
  • Carlson Vineyards — Laughing Cat Sweet Baby Blush

Quality designations

Wines here carry AVA status — a controlled quality designation.

  • AVAAmerican Viticultural Area — a defined US grape-growing region, marking where the grapes were grown.

United States wine designations

AVA
An American viticultural area is a U.S.-government-recognized delimited grape-growing area.
Understanding the wine data
Designation
The protected-origin or administrative category associated with the wine, interpreted using country-aware rules. The same abbreviation can mean different things in different countries, so we only show the meaning approved for that country.
How this ranking is built

Producers are included when WhatDrink has a canonical producer-to-region relationship supported by the catalogue data. Display order may use represented wine count and relationship confidence to provide useful coverage; it is not a ranking of winery quality, prestige, production volume or critical acclaim.

Representative wines are selected from products with a stable relationship to this region, with preference for clear producer identity and a useful spread of producers, wine styles and designations. Inclusion is not an editorial score and does not mean these are the region’s best wines.

How to choose a good Colorado wine

Look for the AVA designation — it signals a controlled-origin Colorado wine.

FAQs

Where is Colorado?
Colorado wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Colorado .
What do the designation terms on Colorado wines mean?
AVA: An American viticultural area is a U.S.-government-recognized delimited grape-growing area. These terms describe geographical or regulatory categories; they do not by themselves guarantee that one producer or bottle is better than another.
How are wineries and producers selected for Colorado?
Producers are included when WhatDrink has a canonical producer-to-region relationship supported by the catalogue data. Display order may use represented wine count and relationship confidence to provide useful coverage; it is not a ranking of winery quality, prestige, production volume or critical acclaim.
How are representative Colorado wines selected?
Representative wines are selected from products with a stable relationship to this region, with preference for clear producer identity and a useful spread of producers, wine styles and designations. Inclusion is not an editorial score and does not mean these are the region’s best wines.
How much wine data does WhatDrink have for Colorado?
The current regional catalogue contains 22 linked wines from 8 linked producers. Counts describe WhatDrink catalogue coverage and may change as source data is refreshed.

Regional data is aggregated from wine directory and product-catalogue sources; grape and style associations reflect characteristic varieties and may vary by producer and vintage.