WineInk: Denver’s newest wine bar

“I’ve been staying here for 25 years,” said a longtime Aspen architect who we serendipitously bumped into in the lobby of Denver’s Hotel Teatro on a recent evening. “It’s always been one of my favorites.”

My wife and I concurred as we, too, have been regulars at the Teatro since the turn of the century. We, the three of us, exchanged reminiscences and memories about how, back in the day before Denver’s hotel boom, everybody from Aspen would stay in the venerable hotel, which first opened in 1911 as the headquarters of the Denver Tramway Company. The Teatro was one of the first true “boutique” hotels in the downtown corridor. Close to the Denver Performing Arts Complex and the Colorado Convention Center and not far from Larimer Square, it was the go-to Denver hostelry for Aspenites.

Well, the Hotel Teatro is back in good standing once again. After a, shall I say, fallow period, the Teatro changed ownership last year, and Sage Hospitality Group — an operator of over 60 individualized boutique hotels and an equal number of restaurants throughout the country — was engaged to manage the property. The Denver-based Sage has changed the face of the hospitality community in the city putting their stamp on developments like The Crawford Hotel at Union Station, the Maven Hotel, and the adjacent Milk Market Food Court, not far from Coors Field amongst a plethora of other unique properties. While they also manage conventional properties, the company likes to infuse their projects with individuality and a sense of character. The Teatro is a perfect fit.

As part of the Sage Independent Hotel Collection, the 110-room Hotel Teatro is being refreshed and updated. I recently went as a guest of the Teatro to experience the opening of the lobby’s newest addition, The Study Coffee & Wine Bar. The Study, a classic front living room in the building’s lobby, features expansive, towering two story windows and has always provided guests a cozy place for contemplation. But now it has morphed into a different kind of space, a Wine Bar, offering a hand-picked selection of international wines and light bites for guests and visitors to the hotel.  

The wine initiative is under the auspices of California transplant and Food & Beverage Manager Taylor Trenda who is the driving force of the project.

“We have such a great space, and we wanted to provide a unique experience for our guests who want to gather for a glass of wine in The Study,” said Trenda about the transformation.

Guests have an opportunity to order a glass, or a bottle, of California favorites like a Hanna Winery Chardonnay from Sonoma’s Russian River Valley or a Cambria Pinot Noir made by rising winemaker Jill Russell in the Santa Maria Valley. For those who wish to go further afield, there is a lovely organic sauvignon blanc from Marlborough, New Zealand produced by Loveblock, and from Spain, a Tarantas Tempranillo beckons. And that is just a few of the selections on the petite but well-chosen wine list. Bubbles by Chandon are also on offer for special occasions or just because.

Bites in the Wine Bar are available from the kitchen of The Nickel, the Teatro’s signature eatery which was voted Denver’s Best Hotel Restaurant by Westword in their 2025 Best of Denver Reader’s Choice Awards this past month. A charcuterie plate with three kinds of cheese, three meats, and the appropriate accouterments is a perfect pick with a glass of wine before a show at the nearby Beull Theatre or a concert or game at the Ball Arena, both of which are just a few blocks away.

The Nickel has its own wine list to pair with its locavore American menu. But the attraction for me is the U-shaped cocktail bar, which features a variety of signature cocktails highlighted by a toasted concoction they call The Nutty Rye, a variation on a smoked Old Fashioned using walnut bitters and a dried orange rind. I’ll take two.  

The Study Coffee & Wine Bar will also be hosting special Women in Wine Wednesdays (5:30-6:30 p.m.) on the second Wednesday of each month featuring female producers of wines or their local representatives. On the day before the official opening of the Wine Bar, I attended an event that included a presentation by MAKER, a women-owned canned winery that sources wines made by small producers from sustainably farmed vineyards in California. The concept is to provide consumers with higher quality canned wines and provide a backstory for each of the vineyards. MAKER will be the subject of a future story.

It was a great visit to an old friend, and I look forward to bumping into Aspen friends in the future at the Hotel Teatro.