Today I’m talking with a star of the Colorado wine scene, Cassidee Shull. Cassidee is the Executive Director of the Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology, aka CAVE. We chat about the Colorado wine industry, the events CAVE has planned for the year, how Cassidee got her start in the industry, and what her favorite things are about Palisade. We also have a very special guest in-house…Jilly the puppy!
For more info about CAVE or the Colorado Mountain Winefest and other events, check out their websites: winecolorado.org and coloradowinefest.com.
Music by Romarecord1973 from Pixabay.
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Transcript:
Hello and welcome to Postcards from Palisade, the podcast that’s all about the people and places that make this slice of western Colorado wonderful. I’m your host, Lisa McNamara.
Today I’m talking with a star of the Colorado wine scene – and her new sidekick – to find out what’s going on in Palisade and the wider Colorado area in the wine industry today.
Thanks so much for spending some time with me today.
Cassidee Shull (CS): I’m Cassidee Shull, I’m the Executive Director of the Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology. We produce Colorado Mountain Winefest and a VinCO conference over here in Palisade and Grand Junction.
Lisa McNamara (LM): And if we hear anything in the background, any chewing, who is that?
CS: We are here in my office in Palisade with our little puppy, Jilly, and she’s enjoying a little bone behind us.
LM: So for somebody who maybe hasn’t heard the terms viticulture and enology before, what does that mean?
CS: Our organization has a very long name; we’re more affectionately know as CAVE, but viticulture is grape growing and enology is winemaking. We are a 501(c)(6) trade non-profit. We were established way back in 1987 as an all-volunteer board over here in Palisade by winemakers and grape growers here in the area, and we are set up like a chamber of commerce. We have several membership tiers, winery and vineyards, allied trade partners, other organizations that are interested in being part of the organization, maybe retailers, real estate offices, things like that. Cork companies. And then individual members, so amateur winemakers and the like.
And so our whole organization exists to support winemaking and grape growing throughout the state, through education and research. And we do that through a couple really big events. Mostly the consumer-focused event folks are more familiar with is Colorado Mountain Winefest, and then all the proceeds of that go back to the industry through our trade conference held every January called VinCO.
LM: And what would a member of CAVE get? Like, what benefits do they get by joining?
CS: Several benefits through all three of those tiers, but the big ones are discounts to a lot of those events. We put on many educational seminars throughout the year. We hire a full-time lobbyist that monitors and legislates on behalf of the industry, and monitors alcohol-related bills for us.
Like I mentioned that conference we put on – it’s a four day multi-track trade show and conference held over here in Grand Junction. We partner with the Western Colorado Horticultural Society and put together four days of industry learning, and we bring in folks from all over the country and sometimes all over the world to speak to our industry on winemaking, grape growing, business and marketing, and a very large trade show accompanied with that. And then we do a lot of marketing and outreach on behalf of the industry, through Winefest of course, that event brings in anywhere from 4,000 to 5,000 attendees for several days in September.
So, a lot of different things! We also run an amateur wine competition throughout the year for our amateurs, bringing in judges from across the state to judge amateur wine. So, a lot of different facets.
LM: With the amateur winemaking, I looked at that a little bit online, and there were a lot of different award winners, so that made me think – there must be a lot of entries!
CS: Yes! We range anywhere from I’d say, 80 to 90 to over 120, depending on the year. And then, what’s really, really cool about that event, is we get to see amateurs enter year over year and maybe get a bronze, a silver, a gold medal, then gold, double gold, year over year, and then really get those comments and feedback from our judges. And then get that praise, and just really want to step up their game, and then go on to open a commercially licensed winery in the state. So, just really seeing that stepping stone and being part of growing the industry itself.
LM: Jilly is jumping on me right now. She’s so cute! She’s so small! She’s so tiny!
CS: She just really wants to be part of the interview!
LM: So that’s cool, you get to see them grow and progress over time and really get to know people as they get started. That’s really cool.
CS: Yeah, we’ve been part of – or not been part of, but just gotten to see the industry grow. One of the CAVE board members, Juliann Adams with Vines 79, actually was one of our amateur winemakers for many years and opened her winery during covid.
LM: Oh wow!
CS: And she’s located right here in Palisade.
LM: Well I did have one follow-up question about VinCO – the average person maybe wouldn’t necessary know it’s going on, but it just seems like such a great venue and important resource for winemakers and grape growers in Colorado. What do you see being kind of – the few things that are most in demand for people wanting to learn about?
CS: So you’re exactly right, VinCO is a very industry-focused event. A lot of folks don’t really even – if you were a consumer on the street, don’t really know it’s happening in the convention center, especially in the middle of January, but we’re seeing a lot of folks in the industry really focused on water right now. We’re obviously in a drought…years…in the western slope, and in Colorado in general.
And then in winemaking and viticulture in general, we’re really focused on the types of grapes we’re growing. 2020 was a really devastating year for everybody, of course with the pandemic, but in the wine industry, we suffered a very, very devastating freeze out here in Palisade and even up into the West Elks area. It was late October, we had an over 70 degree shift in temperature in 24 hours, and lost – I think the final count was I think 70-80% of all vinifera.
So we’re really looking at hybrids and different types of grapes that grow well in Colorado. As you know, our climate is very temperamental! We could have very late spring frosts, or very early frosts in the fall, so we’re doing a lot of research and winemaking techniques with different types of hybrids that consumers maybe may not be as familiar with. So you’ll see a lot of those sessions at previous conferences. We have all of those available on our website and then looking forward to what will be available in our 2024 conference as well.
LM: And then, y’all also do another event, the Barrel into Spring, right?
CS: Yes, that’s a newer one! This will be our second year we’ve offered that event. That was a long-standing event put on by a previous wine association here in the Grand Valley that we’ve taken over. It’ll happen in one weekend in April and one weekend in May and feature tastings from seven separate wineries – seven wineries in April and seven wineries in May and then – barrel samples and then food bites at each of those locations as well.
LM: Barrel samples – I think it’s such a unique thing. It’s not something that somebody can get every day, right?
CS: Yes.
LM: Like this is kind of your one chance to do it.
CS: Absolutely. So it’s a definite heightened experience than what you would see just behind a tasting bar. And really, I like to think of it as like, really glimpsing into the future. Because you’re again tasting something that’s not even been released yet, it’s not fully developed yet. And then have the ability to say, like, I really want to purchase part of what’s in that barrel. So you’re kind of just tasting futures almost, which is exciting.
LM: It wasn’t obvious to me at first when I started reading about the event, and then when I started hearing or understanding a little bit more, like – oh, you’re actually tasting something that you can’t get any other time of the year.
CS: Yes!
LM: And it’s seven different wineries each weekend, so it’s really a chance to see like, fourteen different wineries and what their products are going to be like in the future. It’s a really cool event.
CS: Yeah, I absolutely agree, and if folks are really looking for that unique experience – you’re tasting wine that will literally taste different, a week later, even, because it’s still not completely aged and not finalized. We’re all living in that moment of experiential and very unique experiences, and so that’s what I always think of. And I’m like – oh yeah, we’re tasting something that we’ll never have again, because it’s gonna be different when it’s bottled, or even different when it’s sitting in that barrel a month later, two months later.
LM: So, a lot of my questions are really Palisade-focused, but I know that CAVE doesn’t just focus on Palisade, obviously, or even just the Grand Valley AVA. You focus on Colorado as a state, in general.
CS: So we are actually working with the Colorado tourism office on a marketing grant right now, and we’ve highlighted and through a lot of research of where folks are touring and tasting from – and to – three main wine regions. So we have two American Viticultural Areas, the Grand Valley AVA which is here in Palisade and the West Elks AVA which is up in Paonia and Hotchkiss area. We’re highlighting both of those areas. There’s about 30 plus wineries here in Palisade, another 25 or so up in the West Elks region and outlying areas.
And then we are also highlighting the Front Range wine region. And the Front Range wine region, we are very broad in pulling from Boulder and Fort Collins all the way down through the downtown Denver area, and then there’s wineries all the way down to Colorado Springs, Canyon City. And so if you’re out wanting to grab a bit of food or see a ball game and then want to grab a tasting – glass of wine at a tasting room, you’re able to do so literally just about anywhere in Colorado. We have wineries all the way down at the Four Corners region, we have wineries in Evergreen. We have wineries literally on the continental divide! So it’s really a unique state to drink Colorado wine – wine in general obviously, and then where our growing regions are as well.
LM: Over the last ten years or so, how has Colorado wine production changed?
CS: Exponentially! When I started, just over twelve years ago, we had just over a hundred wineries, and about the same vineyard production, but we’re now sitting at over a hundred and seventy wineries.
LM: Oh wow!
CS: And that includes wine, cider, and mead, but it’s really exciting to see how far the industry has come, and the perception of Colorado wine has changed significantly. We have wineries that are being written up in Forbes, and Wine Spectator, and Wine Enthusiast, and our regions are just getting such great press and representation, which is just so exciting to see!
LM: Yeah, it is really exciting. I mean, I’m obviously a big fan of Colorado wine. So we were talking a little bit earlier about the ballot initiatives in 2022. There was a lot that people were able to vote on last year in terms of wine, wine availability, and the one that actually passed was wine in grocery stores. Can you talk a little bit about the one that passed and if CAVE had an official position on any of those initiatives?
CS: Yes, there were a lot of initiatives involving alcohol and wine. Our organization did not take an official position on any of them. I don’t believe! This was a while ago, and we have a lot of legislation coming down right now. The one that did pass was wine in grocery stores. We have such a large representation of our membership that some would benefit from, some would not, and we felt that it was in the best interest to let our membership kind of go forward with what works best for them rather than take a position that may negatively impact one or the other.
From vintners, restaurants, limited wineries – we have liquor stores we represent as well. We have immediately seen – I mean, that went into effect just earlier this month, twenty days ago or so. We have some that are making use of that and have seen placement in Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s, City Markets and things like that. And then some that are just continuing on with direct to consumer or liquor store placements. But it’s definitely a shift overall in the model for sure.
LM: Yeah and I imaging that it would be a very complex issue for this position, where you are really trying to elevate everybody.
CS: Yes! And we are a small industry. As you know in California and some of those bigger wine regions, they’re like, wait, you don’t have this? This is old news! But those are also very large production industries. On average I’d say the Colorado wine industry is about 1,000 to 2,000 cases per year [per producer]. We do have several wineries that make much, much more than that, and then we have some that make less than that. But to fulfill some of those case orders, or some of those orders for some of these larger grocery stores or convenience stores, that’s when you get into some of those, like you said, those layered and complex issues.
LM: That makes sense.
CS: It may work for some, it may not work for all.
LM: Right. If you need to take her out or anything, we can totally pause too! They need to go out a lot, right?
CS: I think I’m gonna give her – I have a little toy for her.
LM: Oh, oh yeah!
CS: I’ll put it out here so she’s not…
LM: She’s like, distracting me with her cuteness! I’m like aww, aww! Anyway, but for the upcoming year you mentioned that there were quite a few things currently in legislative session relating to the alcohol industry. What kind of things are you seeing?
CS: Yeah, there are lots of things happening in the legislative world regarding alcohol. Currently our organization is working on a festival bill to assist with the amount of festivals a winery – or cidery, brewery, distillery – can attend in a twelve month period. So that would really assist with the wineries’ ability to attend festivals, sell wine by the glass or bottle, and just be able to have that be an additional extension to their business model.
LM: So there’s a limit today, then?
CS: Mmhmm.
LM: Oh, interesting, so they’re capped, so really, a winery would need to say, OK, I need to pick…
CS: Mmhmm, plan out their year.
LM: …a certain number of festivals, and I’m gonna try to figure out which ones are going to be most useful to me and yeah – I can see how that would be really challenging. Anything else or is that kind of the big one right now?
CS: That’s the big one, definitely, that we’re working on.
LM: The other cool thing I noticed on your website, I noticed that CAVE offers a scholarship program.
CS: Yes!
LM: While we did just pass the deadline for this year…
CS: Yes, I have all the emails drafted, ready to go out to the recipients!
LM: That’s such a cool opportunity. Can you talk a little bit about what that’s for or traditionally who it’s been awarded to?
CS: So this is a scholarship program we began, oh goodness, several years ago, before covid. And we wanted to make the barrier of entry really, really easy, and low. So it’s for any CAVE member or their employees or staff. The board, or our staff, can apply. And it has to go towards something in viticulture, enology, or marketing, or business-related. And that’s it! It can go towards classes, a seminar, a session, a TIPS training, anything of the sort. And we’ve offered it, like I’ve said, for the last several years.
Unfortunately during covid, we had to pull back that program. We weren’t able to offer Mountain Winefest. It was the only year it’s ever been canceled in 2020. And that’s our biggest fundraiser, so that was unfortunately one of the biggest programs we had to cut. And this is the first year we’ve been able to bring the program back, and we’ve been able to double the amount of funding we’ve been able to offer through our scholarship program. So with that amount of money we’ve been able to offer, we’ve also seen an increase in the amount of applicants. Which really made myself and our board really happy.
So that application deadline was earlier this month, and our board met earlier this month as well and went through all of our applicants and saw all the programming they were requesting funding for – so it’s everything from UC Davis winemaking courses to TIPS training courses to tuition assistance for our Western Colorado Community College Viticulture and Enology program. So really, anything in the realm of viticulture and enology or winemaking and grape growing, just to encourage and further their education and training. We don’t care where it exists in the world, we don’t care if they’re going to a course on the other side of the states or the other side of the world or if they’re taking an online certification program or a WSET class, a certified somm class – we’re just excited to help support that additional education and training. And that they’re doing that and we can be a part of that.
LM: Yeah, it really helps benefit the local community – anybody who is a CAVE member or anyone in Colorado. That’s a really cool thing. Obviously a lot of the production of wine, grapes, fruit, everything in the valley wouldn’t happen without migrant workers.
CS: Yes.
LM: They take on a lot of the labor. What if anything does CAVE do to support migrant workers?
CS: So we’ve worked closely in the past with Child and Migrant Services. They’ve been partners in our Colorado Mountain Winefest in the past. Like I said, all of those scholarship opportunities are open to all. And then we work closely with the Western Colorado Horticultural Society, so all of these organizations are intertwined, and like you had said earlier, all of these programs are intertwined, and the product is intertwined. It’s a huge, huge amazing organization and without them, this organization would not exist and this industry would not exist.
LM: Right.
CS: And they’re doing phenomenal work here in the valley. Our lobbyist is also monitoring anything that’s involving the H-2A program and anything that would impact, either positively or negatively, what goes on with our migrant workers as well.
LM: Of course. Makes sense. What new things are Colorado winemakers doing that you’re really excited about?
CS: We’re seeing a lot of amazing collaboration between our own industry – so, it could be alternating proprietorships, so wineries working on different types of…
Jilly: starts noisily lapping up water, continues for a long time for a little puppy!
CS: …wineries working on each others licenses or sharing barrels, sharing ideas, things like that. To different packaging and different types of collaborative efforts to different types of new and exciting wines and varietals. We’re also just seeing a lot of, kind of that trend in hybrid wines and blends. There’s a lot of, kind of a shift in events, and because of that festival permit I had mentioned earlier, we’re seeing…
Colorado Wine Walk is a really good example. This is a new event that’s taking place in downtown Denver in April and I believe again in August, where they’re inviting a lot of wineries onto their premise in just a new and fun way. I think they’re having nine to twelve wineries with little tables, with a wine check, just a very new – I don’t want to say improved festival, but just more of these urban feel, urban vibe, instead of like, Mountain Winefest for example, where you’re down in Riverbend Park or park atmosphere, just kind of a new take on a festival atmosphere.
LM: What do you find most challenging in promoting Colorado wine?
CS: Definitely the ability to change folks’ perception. When you’re chatting with folks about Colorado wine and they’ve had it in the past, maybe five or ten years ago, it may be hard for them to put those negative connotations, or, if they’ve had something a long time ago and they were like – oh, it wasn’t for me, it was too sweet, or you know – just change that. And so events like the one I just mentioned, or a wine fest, or a tasting, or a wine paired dinner, is a really great way to showcase how far the industry has come and how new some of these wines and blends and new hybrids that are coming out would be a great way to introduce some of these – just how great these wines are.
LM: Like I mentioned earlier, I’m from upstate NY and I worked in the Finger Lakes wine region for a season, and it was a very similar challenge for NY wine. A lot of people had had it ten or twenty years ago, when it was more like jug-style, really sweet. And you know, they’re like, ugh, I don’t like NY wine. And so that was a really big issue, getting over that perception of it being all sweet jug wine, when actually they’re doing really amazing Rieslings and cold climate red wines. So that’s interesting. I think a lot of the smaller, less known wine regions probably struggle with something similar.
CS: Yeah, and we bring – uh, her name just escaped me, the folks from Red Tail Ridge, they come out and have spoken at VinCO. And they do just a fantastic job.
(door opens) Rondo: Oh, you’re in a meeting?
CS: Hi Rondo!
Rondo: Call me when you’re done.
CS: I will. Don’t let the puppy out!
Rondo: I won’t. Hi puppy, I didn’t even see you! (door closes)
CS: He’s somebody you should talk to! But their wine is amazing, and very similar. And one of the best comments we get – I don’t know if that’s the right way to phrase that, but when folks come and taste and tour through Palisade, is, oh, this was Sonoma 25 years ago, or this was Napa 30 years ago.
And we very much lean in to this wine region, to Palisade, being very small and quaint, and very family focused and very family oriented. There’s a very high chance, when you’re tasting here, that you’re meeting, or having wine poured from the winemaker, the owner, the cellar manager, the vineyard manager – most times they’re all the same person and most times they’re husband and wife or they’re related. But it makes for such a unique experience and story-telling. I mean, you’re getting from front to back how they got into the industry, how they got into this lifestyle, and why they make the wine they do. And that’s not unique here, it’s for the whole state of Colorado. You’ll hear the same from the West Elks region, from downtown Denver, from the Four Corners, the Rocky Mountains as well.
LM: That just helps contribute to the really friendly atmosphere too, because it is so familial and welcoming.
CS: Absolutely.
LM: Like we just saw Rondo walk into the CAVE office – you’re located in downtown Palisade. If somebody were to stop in, like – do you have people stop in? And if they do, what sort of information can you provide them?
CS: Yes! We – so I work here in our office with our program director, Melinda Tredway. We’re a small team of two. And we are here year round. We have the ability to offer literally anything and everything for folks that come in off of the street. We have maps of the area for just the area of Palisade, and then we can answer anything and everything for the wine industry on a statewide scale as well. We have a tiny little retail shop. We have all the previous years’ Winefest posters, we have Winefest merch, we have Riedel glassware, t-shirts, things like that.
But we do get a lot of walk-in traffic around high season, which for us starts probably April through September/October. Folks looking for best places to taste, places to eat, where to stay, what to do while they’re here on their visit. So, yeah. We like to think of ourselves as like a little visitors’ center or info desk for the wine industry. So, if you’re around, please stop in and come say hi. We also have a lot of dogs in the office! We have our little puppy and then Mel has two little German Shorthaired Pointers named Stella and Nelson. So it’s a little doggy petting zoo in here!
LM: Yeah, stop by for some wine info and some dog pets! Oh my gosh, she’s – what is she doing? She’s somehow like rolling – she’s trying to get me to pet her belly, like, in the air. OK. Ah, so, personally, I have tons of job envy for your position. How did you get into this and what made you want to do this for your career?
CS: I graduated from Mesa State/Colorado Mesa University. I graduated the year the school changed names, with a degree in Human Resource Management and Business Management in 2011. And didn’t – I knew what I wanted to do, I just didn’t know where I wanted to do it. I really wanted to work in non-profit.
I had done a lot of work in service clubs and student clubs on campus, my whole student career. When I graduated, I just started sending resumes everywhere. I had moved here from Costa Rica – my family and I lived in Costa Rica for several years. So I was like, oh, let’s get out of Junction, let’s go back to the big city, let’s go to Denver, so I was applying to places all over the state essentially, but not here.
I think it was my mom or my grandmother that found literally an ad in the Daily Sentinel and they were like, you should apply for this job! And it was an Executive Director position for an organization I had never heard of, but it was event planning and volunteer coordination and things that I had done all throughout my career at school. And I applied, thought there was no way they were ever going to call me back, because I was just out of college, but they did. And then they called me back again for a second interview and I was really excited and really thrilled.
The other part I was very upfront with – I was like, I don’t have any wine background. I – my degree is in business and human resource but not wine. We don’t have a wine program at the school yet. But it was just what they were looking for. They were at a point where they were doing an organizational restructuring of the organization, so previously it was all volunteer-led, and they had a director of the festival, but not of the organization. And so it was a good time to come in and just take stock of where the budget was and where things were going and they were just looking for somebody with some social media background and taking it into a new direction.
LM: And it sounds like an opportunity to have grown together and have grown the organization together.
CS: Absolutely.
LM: What a cool opportunity.
CS: Yeah, it was and I’ve been here ever since. It’s been a huge learning experience for everybody since I’ve been here, but I would not have traded anything for the world. It’s been a wonderful honor and privilege to grow alongside this industry and see how far the wineries have come, the growers have come, and just the industry overall.
LM: What’s a typical day like?
CS: Definitely depends on the time of year! The first quarter is all conference – our VinCO conference is in January. We shift into Barrel Into Spring around this time. Winefest applications go out. Summer, spring and summer we’re really focused on Winefest. And then if you’re here in August and September, it’s like, all hands on deck getting everything ready for the festival. The whole office will transform into a bunch of boxes. But we’re still open, taking questions and calls and folks that need something – we’ll just maybe have more stuff here.
And then in between all of that we’re running board meetings, budgeting, strategic marketing sessions. Definitely after covid a lot of our meetings shifted to zoom, so I’m on my computer a lot, but it’s nice because we’re able to connect with folks all over the state and all over the country a lot easier without as much travel. But it’s definitely – every day’s a little bit different. Meeting with sponsors, meeting with different groups we work with and things like that. It’s awesome.
LM: I’m sure you can’t ever, ever mention to anybody what your favorite winery is. That’s a secret that never leaves your lips.
CS: Yes!
LM: But, what’s your favorite wine to drink – your favorite varietal or wine?
CS: I drink a lot of – this is not a secret, people ask me this a lot.
LM: I’m sure!
CS: I drink a lot of really big, bold reds. So, Cab Franc. Pinot Noir – not as big and bold, but red. And Malbec. I’ve become a really big fan of Petite Pearl recently, drinking a lot of hybrids. And then for whites, I like a really dry, like Sauv Blanc. So, I drink a lot of everything! A little bit of everything, for sure.
And when folks come into the office, we do get that question a lot. We have a little booklet here for the area and then for the state of, you know, what do you like? Do you like sweeter wines, drier wines, fruit wines, ports, and then we’ll send folks to their respective wineries, and if they’re a big party we’ll call ahead and let them know we’re sending a tasting group of ten or more. But we try and get them to where they’re going with a glass of wine that they’ll enjoy at the end.
LM: What’s your favorite thing about the Palisade community?
CS: That’s a great question. It’s very friendly and it’s very tight knit. Sitting on the tourism advisory board for the past twelve – goodness, eleven and a half, twelve years – there’s always something to get involved in or something to do.
We just had an amazing event happen I think last weekend that was called Sing up the Sun that was kind of an homage or welcome to the equinox, and it was all just put on by a community member that just wanted to see a new event happen this time of year, which is a but slower for us. We’ve not yet hit spring, or, I’m sorry, early spring, like summer festivals. Farmer’s market’s not up yet. Our honeybee festival’s not here yet. And to see – I think the first one was last year but to watch that event take off and it’s all community-led and volunteer driven, and people came out with poems and dancing and costumes and puppets and I was like – this is amazing! And it’s all just a small community put-together.
Our Olde Fashioned Christmas is I think another example of that where, I don’t think I’ve seen another community put that on, outside of like, a Hallmark movie! Or like our Trick or Treat street is very similar. This is a very Halloween town event. So, that’s definitely what comes to mind is how niche and wholesome I would say it is.
LM: When you do get a day off, how do you enjoy your day off? If you don’t mind?
CS: That’s also a good question! I play a lot of video games. This puppy is keeping me very active, doing a lot of training. And then I – if I can schedule it (in)correctly, I go to HOTWORX, like a yoga studio here in town, to work out. Or I’m out tasting! I’m benchmarking wines.
I do love live music and supporting live music and local music. Both my brother and my partner are in bands and I mean, a handful of my friends. So there’s always something happening. We have a great local music scene here on the western slope. If it’s not on the western slope we’re literally traveling to go see music on the front range or surrounding areas, but it would probably be supporting one of those two bands, either my partner’s band Zolopht or my brother’s band Peach Street Revival.
Or, just literally popping in a local music venue and just seeing who’s on stage. I’m a really firm believer that – very full circle to that event I had just mentioned, that Sing up the Sun event – that art is everywhere. I used to be a dancer and so being able to see somebody on stage that you know has rehearsed and put so much time into their craft, whether they’re playing guitar, or playing drums, being able to share that with them, just on a Thursday night at a farmer’s market or something, I think is really special.
LM: Last question is, what’s another person or organization that you’d love to hear from on this podcast in a future episode?
CS: I think Child and Migrant Services would be amazing. The Chamber of Commerce has a lot of things going on, so they’d be a great one. There’s a lot, I could just email you a whole list! The Chamber would be great, the Town of Palisade would be great, I think, because they, between what they do for the town and then the events they put on as well – they put on Bluegrass – I think would be an awesome one.
LM: Thank you so much for your time. It was really great to talk with you.
CS: Absolutely! Yeah!
LM: Where can people find out more information about any of the events or about CAVE?
CS: If you are interested in learning more about the non-profit, the Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology, our website is winecolorado.org, so you can find everything about the amateur wine competition, our scholarship program, and VinCO on that site. And then if you are interested in learning more about Colorado Winefest and the events and tickets and things like that, that is coloradowinefest.com.
LM: Thank you so much, Cassidee!
CS: Thank you, this was amazing!
LM: If you are interested in being on the show or if you have ideas for a future show, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me at lisa(at)postcardsfrompalisade.com.
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Thanks for listening. With love, from Palisade.