Tasting barrels in Colorado: Front Range and Western Slope wineries offer sneak peeks before new releases hit retail shelves.

• Author: Smith, Alta

Spring in the wine industry means the anticipation of new wines, which have been sitting in barrels or aging tanks for months waiting to be bottled and put on liquor store shelves. For some, spring also means getting to taste those wines out of the barrels before anyone else.

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Wine critics long have tasted wine from the barrel, sometimes several years before they are released to the public. Coloradans have the same opportunity at more than a dozen wineries in the Grand Junction area and on the Front Range that siphon some of their wines from the barrels for an insider's look. Later, when the wine is on retail shelves, there is the self-satisfaction of knowing you tasted it before it went into the bottle. When a bottle of a 2008 release is placed on the table for guests, a story is certain to unfold about how it tasted from the barrel and what food it pairs with best.

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the eight members of the Grand Valley Wine Association, all in Palisade or Grand Junction, are hosting their "Barrel into Spring" 2008 event on two weekends--April 26-27 and May 17-18. Make reservations early for this popular event (see below). Participants receive a souvenir wine glass and a "passport" for a self-guided tasting tour at each of the wineries, visiting as few or as many as they want over the two-day weekend. Also, all the wineries offer a 15 percent discount on wine purchases.

Adding to the enjoyment are the different chefs and food pairings at each winery, each one seeking the perfect match. Foods paired in the past have run the gamut of gourmet delights. At press time, none of the wineries had decided which wines would be tasted from the barrel.

At the Debeque Canyon Winery at Palisade, examples of food served in the past that co-owner Davy Price says everyone has enjoyed are little crab cakes served with a variety of sauces, sliced beef with artisan bread, and medium-spiced shrimp. Besides more common red and white wines, expect to try wines from grapes that may be unfamiliar, such as Malbec, Tempranillo and their Claret (Bordeaux) blend.

Canyon Wind Cellars has often used Chef Wayne Smith and his students from the Colorado Culinary Academy at Mesa State College. Examples of their catering include elk poppers cooked "on the barbie" or glazed salmon with Chardonnay. You'll be able to taste their newer "4710" (the altitude of the winery) red and white table wines. This is the first year Canyon Wind has had a 4710...