The post Gifts to Wine Lovers From on (Mile) High (Winning Wines From the 2024 CO Governor’s Cup) appeared first on 1 Wine Dude.

The Colorado winemaking scene must be in a seasonally generous mood: it’s got plenty of gifts to bring to all you good little wine lovers out there.

This past summer, I was fortunate enough to have been invited once again to judge at the Colorado Governor’s Cup wine competition, a well-run face-off of Colorado wines that has attracted an experienced cadre of judges from across various pillars of the USA wine business.

2024 marked my third year of judging there, and as in 2022 and 2023, I walked away quite impressed with the quality ceiling for the wines coming out of the Mile High State. In 2024, the competition set a record for submissions, which are on the rise (unlike pretty much every other wine competition out there at the moment). 54 wines ended up qualifying for the Sweepstakes round of the competition in 2024—by far the highest number since I’ve been involved.

Now that the winners and the selection of the 2024 CO Governor’s Cup Collection have been announced, I can highlight some of my fave’s from the winners.

What you will notice (I hope) from this list is that 1) CO is not afraid to venture into different styles and varieties, because they have developed the winemaking and farming prowess to do them well, and 2) the state is able to produce high-quality—in some cases, world-class high quality!—wines from a panoply of grape varieties.

While some of the best performing varieties are starting to emerge (I am looking at you, Teroldego!), we may not yet have seen the best wines that Colorado is capable of creating. I mean, we found killer Gewürztraminer, Albariño, Moscato, Chambourcin, and even Corot Noir; not to mention stylistic variations like Rosé and dessert wines. For CO, the wine future is looking about as bright as that high altitude, high-UV sun exposure…

• Alfred Eames Cellars at Puesta del Sol Vineyards 2019 ‘Collage’ Red
• Alfred Eames Cellars at Puesta del Sol Vineyards 2019 ‘Sangre del Sol’ Red
• Carboy Winery 2021 Chambourcin
• Fox Fire Farms 2023 ‘Fox Fire Red’ Corot Noir
• Restoration Vineyards 2023 Gewürztraminer
• Sauvage Spectrum Palisade 2023 Teroldego
• Snowy Peaks Winery 2023 Albariño
• Snowy Peaks Winery 2022 Cabernet Franc
• The Storm Cellar 2023 Rosé of Pinot Noir
• Whitewater Hill Vineyards 2023 Moscato

Cheers!