Denver Wineries & Tasting Rooms

Get a Taste of Western Colorado's Wine Country Without Leaving the City

Although most of the state’s vineyards bask in Western Slope sunshine, many wineries have planted tasting rooms and production facilities in the Front Range, making it easier than ever to sip local. In fact, you can visit more than a dozen wineries and tasting rooms around the Denver metro area to sample unique, award-winning vintages without ever crossing the Continental Divide. And if you'd rather someone else do the curating, Denver's growing collection of wine bars offers an even broader world tour, with bottles and glasses spanning every style, region and mood.

Denver Wineries and Wine Bars

Bigsby's Folly Craft Winery

The swankiness of the Roaring Twenties meets modern-industrial chic at Bigsby’s Folly Craft Winery, a tasting room and full-scale winery that's located in RiNo. Come and sample red, white and rosé wines — made from carefully sourced California, Oregon and Colorado grapes — and enjoy exquisite food pairings that will have you lingering in this stylish space for quite some time. This eco-friendly operation serves wine on tap by the glass (or growler, if you want to take some home) and re-purposes any wine bottles it uses into candles. Play winemaker for a day by signing up for one of Bigsby’s Folly’s private blending sessions.

Balistreri Vineyards

A vineyard in the middle of Denver? Heck yes. Balistreri is a true urban winery. What started as a flower farm in 1964 is now a grape-growing oasis in the middle of town, complete with a tasting room and gift shop. Since the Balistreri family first planted grapes in 1998, they've been making wines here in the Italian tradition. The award-winning wines at Balistreri Vineyards include syrah, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, red zinfandel, port and Colorado cherry wines. Whites include riesling, viognier and Muscat. Wines are made from 98% Colorado grapes, including some grown on-site. Balistreri does not add sulfites to its wines and does not filter them, making them a little hazy sometimes. But their numerous awards show taste more than makes up for clarity. All Balistreri wines are handcrafted a barrel at a time, and the grapes are fermented in their own yeast and aged in American oak barrels.

Room For Friends...A Wine Bar!

Sure, you can order wine flights at this comfy Art District on Santa Fe hangout, but how bout a Cheez-It flight? Or an Oreo flight? That’s the sort of quirk that separates Room For Friends from pretty much every other spot in town. Because proper snacking is a must when you’re sipping orange wine and Arneis, or whatever other funky bottles have caught your eye. Vintage furniture and eclectic décor keep the vibe firmly in the “this place sells lemon Oreos!“ camp rather than anything remotely pretentious.

Carboy Winery

Join Carboy Winery in Denver or Littleton for a one-of-a-kind Colorado wine-tasting experience. Since 2016, their award-winning wines have helped lift the Colorado wine industry into prominence as a wine region ripe with possibilities. Through ambitious winemaking and innovation with new varietals, sparkling wines and wine seltzers, they have helped turn a state known for its beer into one that creates exciting and adventurous wines. Their wines reflect the extraordinary terroir and unmistakable typicity of Colorado's Grand Valley and Washington's Horse Heaven Hills AVA's. Plus, they have daily tastings and happy hours.

Bonacquisti Wine Company

Situated in northwest Denver's Sunnyside neighborhood, Bonacquisti has a tasting room downstairs, a party room upstairs and its very own wine radio station. That's what happens when one of your owners, Paul Bonacquisti, is a former deejay. His wines, which include pinot grigio, montepulciano, moscato, chardonnay and sangiovese, are made from 75% Colorado-grown grapes. Besides barrel aging and bottling local Colorado wines, Bonacquisti hosts several events (check the calendar for what's on tap this week) and showcases the work of local artists on its walls.

Trellis Wine Bar

This Park Hill wine bar prioritizes bottles that are both sustainably grown and seriously drinkable. The unfussy menu spans pét-nats, “Interesting Whites” and even wine cocktails, making it easy for both aficionados and casual sippers to find something to love. There’s almost always a deal to be had, whether it’s happy hour or Wine-Down Wednesdays with half-off bottles, and when the weather is absolutely perfect, grab a bottle and goodies to-go and turn Fairfax Park into your own backyard wine bar.

Corridor 44 Champagne Bar & Restaurant

Building a bar around bubbly? Brilliant. While champagne might be associated with celebratory occasions, Larimer Square’s Corridor 44 fully embraces the YOLO philosophy, proving there’s no reason not to pop a cork on a random Wednesday. And that’s easy to do at this sexy spot, complete with crystal chandeliers and white leather banquettes that remind you that the everyday can be pretty celebration-worthy, too. Dinner is equally elegant, with the toast-worthy choices including smoked salmon caviar chips, oysters on the half shell and grilled filet mignon.

La Bouche

The wine list at this Uptown French American spot is as impressive as you’d expect from a wine bar with French flair, though cocktails, mocktails and beer are well represented too. The food menu leans oh-so-continental, with croque madames and monsieurs cozying up to chocolate mousse and even a decadent cheese brûlée. And because vibes matter: La Bouche’s chic dining room and umbrellaed patio are perfect for channeling your Parisian café era.

Sienna Wine Bar & Small Plates

Forget the dark corners and dim lighting associated with wine bars. Congress Park’s Sienna is bright, floral and delightfully welcoming, the sort of place you can settle in with a glass and a board game without feeling like you’ve wandered into a secret society of sommeliers. The lengthy menu truly circles the globe, with whites, reds and bubbles spanning France, Italy, New Zealand, Uruguay, the U.S. and beyond. Beers, sake and non-alcoholic options are equally far-flung, while the food menu happily settles in the Mediterranean, with dishes like roasted beet hummus, dolmas, ratatouille and bruschetta.

Blanchard Family Wines

With a headquarters in Sonoma County, Calif., you know this local winery means business. Swing by and enjoy the world-class wine, paired with Colorado charcuterie, cheese and desserts in the beautiful Dairy Block development. As the name implies, it's a family-owned business where they do unique, low-production varietals. You can have a genuine taste of Sonoma conveniently in downtown Denver.

Spero Winery

It’s all in the family at Spero, where winemaker Clyde Spero learned the art from his Italian father. After making vino for the family, he started sharing the wine love in 1999, and today he uses grapes from the Western Slope, Pueblo and a cousin’s vineyard in Lodi, Calif. Taste Clyde’s creations (for free!) on Saturdays from 1–5 p.m., when you can sample Spero’s roster of whites, reds and dessert wines.

Wineries and Wine Bars Near Denver

Silver Vines Winery

All of the winemaking for the dozen-plus varietals at this family-operated winery happens in Arvada, where rows of barrels and tanks quietly age and develop inside a sprawling warehouse. Visitors can sample the lineup, along with cheese boards and a medley of cheesecakes, at either the Arvada tasting room or the Boulder outpost just off Pearl Street. Sip the Pinot Noir Reserve, aged in French oak barrels, or the sweeter Rocky Delight blush with notes of strawberry, or opt for a flight of two-ounce pours to taste your way through the collection.

Deep Roots Winery & Bistro

This family winery and bistro pairs handcrafted wines with curated menu items like baked brie, panini and decadent desserts. Stop in to the tasting room in Golden for an extended happy hour on "Wine Down Wednesdays." Or sign up for one of Deep Roots' monthly Wine Education Nights to learn more about the history of vino, how it's made and how to appreciate it on an even higher level.

Redstone Meadery

Tucked into a strip mall on the edge of Boulder, Redstone Meadery offers a taste of something different. Take a tour and find out how mead — wine made from honey — is produced. If you've only tasted very sweet meads, your palate is in for a surprise. There are sparkling meads, fruity meads and even some fairly dry ones. The sparkling nectars are made with fruits (think black raspberries, mango and passion fruit) and Colorado honey, and the meadery's Sunshine Nectar makes a killer mimosa for Sunday brunch. Redstone Meadery is the second-largest meadery in the United States and the largest craft meadery (akin to a microbrewery) in the nation.

Bookcliff Vineyards

Palisade-based BookCliff Vineyards brings its wines east to its north Boulder tasting room. While not quite as scenic as their 37-acre Palisade vineyard, where they grow 14 different types of grapes, you can still taste all their delicious, Colorado-grown wines. It's the place to come to learn about wine and discover your next favorite bottle. During the year, BookCliff offers a lot of fun events, including chef dinners, barrel tastings, release parties and chocolate-and-wine pairing flights on Valentine's Day.

Creekside Cellars

Plan to hit this winery in downtown Evergreen around lunchtime and sample some superb Italian deli specialties that include an antipasto platter, a cheese board or panini sandwiches made with fresh focaccia bread. If the weather is nice, enjoy your feast on the deck overlooking Bear Creek, which goes rushing right by. After lunch, taste an award-winning Creekside Cellars chardonnay, viognier, riesling, cabernet franc or sauvignon, merlot or syrah. Also check out the vintage port and the moscato d'amburgo, a black muscat. Small private tours can also be arranged.