On cloud wine: Aspen boasts new local wine maker

The time between the loading and unloading of Lift 1A might not seem like a lot, but it’s enough to envision a wine-making collaboration and seal the deal with a handshake.

That’s exactly what happened for Greg Van Wagner, a local sommelier with a resume boasting Element 47, Jimmy’s, and PARC Aspen. He recently branched into the wine making business with Ajax Cellars, selling almost exclusively to the Roaring Fork Valley that has been his home for the past 13 years.

“It’s wine that’s unique to this valley,” Van Wagner said. “It’s not readily available elsewhere. As much as possible, I’d like to keep it that way.”

The burgeoning Colorado wine industry is still grassroots where there’s still a fair amount of do-it-yourself and where most everything is done on a handshake, according to Van Wagner.

He originally came to Colorado sponsored as a road biker and Tour de France hopeful. After getting a job at Boulder’s iconic Frasca to supplement income, he said he fell in love with the “amazing world of wine.” After also falling in love with the Aspen area, he moved here in 2012 as the opening maître d’ of Element 47 at The Little Nell.

During his time as a sommelier, he came across Joe Bucket and Evan Martin, two men who ultimately led him to consider moving into the production side of serving wine.

“It was everything I needed to convince myself,” Van Wagner said. 

Martin, founder and vigneron of Martin Woods Winery, shared that old-school 1A lift seat with him. The bottle branding, sold in limited quantities mostly in the valley and exclusively in Colorado, now features that exact lift. 

“There was a moment there where I thought, ‘Man, it would be fun to do a collaboration with Greg,'” Martin said. “What a great opportunity for me to learn about my own wines by having someone of Greg’s tasting ability, not to mention his friendship, to come into my cellar and help me understand my wines more … This collaboration is an opportunity to blend together perfection.”

While Martin makes the wine, he and Greg blend it together, and then Greg goes out as what Martin calls “the champion of sales” to place the wine throughout the valley.

Aside from sourcing from Martin’s Willamette Valley enterprise, Van Wagner works with a Riesling vineyard outside of Dolores, Colorado, in the Four Corners region — the highest Riesling vineyard in North America at 6,300 feet. He also works with a vineyard in Palisade, Colorado, what he calls “the epicenter of Colorado wine production.”

“When you are in these vineyards and you taste the resulting wine,” he said, “you can absolutely tell there’s a connection between what’s in the ground and what’s in the glass.”

The Colorado-based wines boast a Maroon Bells label, which Van Wagner said comes full circle as it ties back to his bicycling; he still rides five to six days a week, and every time he rides up to the Bells, he swears “it never gets old. They’re just as impressive as they were the first time.”

According to Van Wagner, he’s going forward with plans to continue doing what’s best for the wine and the people buying it.

While power in wine is typically defined by density of fruit, density of color, and richness of tannin structure, Martin said his collaboration with Ajax Cellars’ is doing something different for its wine and its customers.

“I think there’s a more accurate definition of power: How much of an impact does a wine make on your sense-memory? Did it speak to you? Did it get into your mind and into your heart?” he said. “Our intention is to produce something that wins hearts and minds over the long-term.”

Ajax Cellars wine can be found throughout the valley, including at Of Grape and Grain, Aspen Wine & Spirits, Hotel Jerome, Angelo’s, Yuki Aspen, Origin by The Farmer & Chef, Cache Cache, The Little Nell, and Sopris Liquor and Wine.