West Elks: the 'other' Colorado wine region: North Fork of the Gunnison River valley growing in importance.

• Author: Alta
• Position: VINE [Arts & Entertainment]

One of the prettiest drives in Colorado is on the West Elk Scenic Byway, a gawker's paradise that loops through mountains and valleys south of Carbondale. On the western loop of the byway, just off 8,755-foot McClure Pass on Colorado 133, is an agricultural area known for its cherries and apples but also increasingly known for its wine.

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More than 60 wineries spread across Colorado now, but the state has only two areas the federal government has designated as a grape-growing region called an American Viticultural Area (AVA). The designation conveys distinction, pride and often quality.

Colorado's two AVAs are the Grand Valley between Palisade and Grand Junction and the West Elks in the North Fork of the Gunnison River valley. The West Elks AVA, created in 2001, includes 10 wineries in a 75-acre area just east of Paonia to the west of Hotchkiss. The two Colorado AVAs produce different wine styles because of their differing climates and soils.

Although the West Elks AVA is eight years old, the winemakers and grape-growers in the area are getting more serious about getting the message out about its distinctiveness. Master Sommelier Wayne Belding of the Boulder Wine Merchant says the area has some of the state's best wines, although the quality varies. Among Belding's favorite wines are those from the new Bethlehem Wine Cellars in Paonia, Terror Creek Winery on Garvin Mesa just north of Paonia and S. Rhodes Vineyards near Hotchkiss.

"People don't really know us," says Barb Heck, a wine grape grower near Paonia who with winemaker Joan Mathewson at Terror Creek Winery spearheaded the formation of the AVA. Heck, who owns Slate Point Vineyards, says the West Elks is to the Grand Valley what Sonoma is to Napa in California's wine industry.

More specifically, the wines of the West Elks have been compared to those from the Alsatian region on the French-German border, an area known for dry white wines like Riesling and Gewurztraminer. The West Elks also is trying to make a name for its Pinot Noir, a more delicate red grape that likes cooler temperatures.

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Horst Caspari, the state viticulturist with Colorado State University, thinks Riesling is the best white wine now in the West Elks, with Gewurztraminer a close second, while Pinot Noir is the top red grape. He describes a West Elk Riesling as "steely" with more acid than the Grand Valley wines.

"I think the West Elks can do some of the best wines in the...