Wine & Art, A Perfect Pairing Part II

[Montrose Mirror | August 7, 2023 | By Kathryn R. Burke]

Let’s continue with our Wine & Art Tour. Galleries share art and wineries share vintages—perfect pairings from my point of view. Often, they combine wine with visual and performing arts, including live entertainment. One thing they all have in common is wine tastings, which is what makes this tour so much fun.

Last week we visited three wineries in Paonia. [Read story here.] One has a yacht club! Two also show art. One also hosts live entertainment and offers art classes. Our next stop is Cedaredge, where we will spend a day at the AppleShed. Then on to Montrose for another day when we will visit LaNoue DuBois Winery, (which makes wine and supports the creative community), and Mosaic Montrose (which shows art and serves wine) in Montrose. Next week, we’ll conclude our tour in Ridgway. For sure, wherever we go, we will have fun!

New day, new destination: Cedaredge. We’ll make one stop here and spend the whole day at the AppleShed.

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AppleShed & Williams Cellars in Cedaredge, owned by artist Connie Williams and her husband, Dan, the winemaker , was originally a real apple shed. The area was, and still is, a prolific fruit producer. The sprawling building now is known for its multiple galleries representing many fine local artists. You may find some of them making art at various spots around the building. And the Williams family also makes their own wines, bottling them downstairs where apples were once stored. Connie Williams is an artist and she designed many of the labels. The shopping there is fabulous—art, jewelry, home furnishings and decor, a kitchen shop, and wonderful artistic and vintage clothing. They also have a bake shop and a great deli. (Try the apple milkshake in the fall, delicious!) Make a day of it. We always do. Shop, sip, then sit and snack in the deli, while you admire your purchases. AppleShed also hosts school and community events, the latter with wine, of course. At annual school art events,  young art students can earn prizes. The AppleShed, 250 S. Grand Mesa Drive, Cedaredge. (970) 856.7007.

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Next stop, Montrose. We’ll visit LaNoue DuBois, a family-run winery growing grapes on 3rd-generation farmland. The family’s iconic old stone house is next to the Tasting Room and wine-making and storage facility. Later, we’ll head back to town and stop at Mosaic, a fun and funky little downtown gallery that serves LaNoue Dubois wines (along with a variety of other adult beverages.) It reminds me of some of the places we hung out in SoCal before it became gentrified and too expensive. Both locations also host events and offer art classes. My alcohol ink classes are a favorite at each…maybe because you can imbibe it as well as paint with it (although you cannot drink the colorful kind you paint with).

LANOUE

LaNoue DuBois Winery in Montrose has indoor and outdoor tasting room seating areas and hosts conferences and events, including a monthly Ladies Night, dance classes, live entertainment, and a host of other creative activities. Local organizations, holding fundraiser wine-tastings, and private groups when they request it, are treated to a facility tour, with winemaker Lee LaNoue explaining how their wines are made, aged, and bottled downstairs beneath the tasting room. The winery’s name comes from the family’s last name, LaNoue and the matriarch’s family name, Woods. The winery and surrounding property are part of the ancestral Woods Estate; the vineyard is still called Woods Estate Vineyard. We love this place—their award-winning wines are excellent, which is perfect, since we live close by.  LaNoue DuBois Winery, 67289 Trout Road, Montrose, (970) 964-5112.

MOSAIC

Mosaic Montrose, contemporary gallery with Colorado Made & Vintage Goods and in-house DIY projects including a Jewelry Bar, Hat Bar, Plant Bar, and more. Shop, sip, take an art class, and have fun playing. Mosaic also hosts First Friday art events with a new featured artist each month and art classes for kids and adults. The latter with adult-beverages (including LaNoue DuBois wines). They have projects (materials included) for all ages & skill levels. Owners LeAnne and Jordan Johnson, are Montrose-based artists and entrepreneurs, designers, and makers doing business as Lucky Tree Studio. They were doing a lot of craft fairs and shows, which stopped with Covid. So they decided to consolidate and open their own facility where they could do it all in one place. Their enterprise has been wildly successful and a welcome addition to downtown Montrose. Mosaic Montrose, 21. Cascade Ave., Montrose. (970) 787-2441.

AppleShed, LaNoue DuBois, and Mosaic Montrose are happening places, open during the day (varies according to the season) and frequently hosting evening events. All three are very community-minded, supporting local non-profits and providing a venue for fundraising activities.

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[Montrose Mirror | August 14, 2023 | By Kathryn R. Burke]

Our last stop is Ridgway, in Ouray County. The town was almost flooded and under the Ridgway Dam, but was saved when the engineers decided to flood the old town of Dallas instead. Ridgway, whom to many artists, is an art community. The monthly First Friday art walk fills the downtown with art, music, food, and entertainment. First Friday is a national event, but if you are in western Colorado, Ridgway is the place to be.

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Any day…every day… of the week during the summer season (and frequently in the cold season), The Sherbino Theater (called the “Sherb” by locals) puts on a big menu of live music, theater, comedy, literary and poetry, movies (screened and via Internet links), and a variety of special events. They host art classes, too. And, of course, have a full bar with good win. The Gallery 610, next door, features a new exhibition every month. The Courtyard, behind is a small, intimate outdoor venue for events such as live music. All three are part of Ridgway’s Chautauqua community, a nonprofit organization incorporated in 2012 for the purpose of keeping the historic Sherbino theater a community gathering place and fully utilizing the space by offering high-quality, diverse programming. During warm weather, you can sit at little tables out front, and with your phone, order drinks and food to be served out there. Then, you’ll be ready to go when the show starts, or you’re ready to browse the shops and galleries. If you love pizza and beer, Colorado Boy, next to the Sherb, has both. The  Sherbino Theater and Gallery 610, 604 & 610 Clinton St., Ridgway. 970-318-0892.

All are part of Weehawken Creative Arts, based in Ridgway, but also serving Ouray and Montrose. Weehawken provides moving and visual arts education, personal growth programs, dance performances, and cultural events, such as the wildly popular Ridgway Rendezvous held annually in August. The juried creative arts show also offers food and drink… and wine, of course. We never miss this one! Weehawken Arts group which sponsors and organizes a variety of art-inspired events that have helped build Ouray County’s reputation as a place where art, artists and art-lovers thrive.

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We should also mention, that many wine labels, like those of Qutori, Alfred Eames, and Williams Cellars, are works of art, designed by winery owners, which creatively describe  what’s in the bottle as well as adorning the vessel itself. Eames is known for its Spanish wines, and their labels speak of Alfred’s years living and working in that country. Besides being a winemaker, Julie Bennet at Qutori is also an artist and graphic designer. Her colorful, clever wine labels attest to her talents. Williams Cellars is co-owned by renowned artist Connie Williams, who creates many of their wine’s striking labels. Some are also designed by AppleShed gallery artists.

TABLE SETTING (FROM TEA)

It not just what’s in the wine, but how and where you serve it. Think of some of the picturesque table settings you’ve seen at wine dinners and wine tastings, each a work of art. Table décor is an art form in and of itself. Just ask places like Fabula and Heirlooms for Hospice (stores in both Montrose and Delta). These shops specialize in helping you design a beautiful table. And at AppleShed in Cedaredge, you can find it all in one place: the wine, art, and table settings.

Bottom line, however it happens, when and where it happens, and whoever hosts it, the result is the same: People still love to pair their art with wine. Covid may have thrown us a curveball, but it also taught us how to discover more clever ways to create a perfect pairing of wine and art. And now that we all free to get out there and partake and participate, we are off to wonderful new adventures enjoying it all.