Telluwhat:

Photo credit: Telluride Tourism Board/Ryan Bonneau 

If you haven't been to Telluride, Colorado, you may not know that it is a town of almost year-round festivals; the Telluride Film Festival, Brews and Blues Festival, and Bluegrass Festival are but a few of the better-known ones. There are so many busy weeks filled with exuberant fun fests to attract visitors to this remote Southwestern Colorado ski town, that a local threw up his hands and petitioned for a "Nothing Fesitval," which ends in a naked bike ride through the charming town's main street. I don't know about you, but I don't call that "nothing."

I went to Telluride at the end of last month for the Telluride Wine Festival hoping to discover some good Colorado wines. Alas, I arrived a day after the only event that focused on local wines, so was able to taste wine from just one in-state winery, Guy Drew Vineyards, located in southern Colorado near the New Mexico border. I quite liked the Unoaked Chardonnay ($16) and Pinot Gris ($18), and enjoyed talking to Mr. Drew, an impassioned vintner. More than a few of the Colorado residents I chatted with at the festival said they preferred California wines to their own state's. But the Colorado wine industry, like those in most other U.S. states, doesn't have the distribution, name recognition or track record of the mighty California wine industry. Someday, it may.