Microbrews and unique wineries draw tourist attention - bizjournals:

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Wine trails from the Grand Valley to the Frontf Range have picked up businesa in recent years and are attractingmore out-of-states tourists. Beer tourism is a fledgling industry that’a starting to grow, too, with a reorganized Colorado Brewers Guild andan entrepreneur’s map of the state’sx breweries. “I think about the opportunitiezs and, gee whiz, you can hardly drive down the road and not find a decent brewerh or winery around the saidMike Laur, publisher of the Beer Drinker’s Guid to Colorado map and website.
Though the Centennialp State’s cornucopia of hopped beverages has earnede it thenickname “The Napa Vallety of Beer,” it was the lesser-known wine industry that first worked to becomw a tourist magnet. Wine production in the state has grow at least 102 percenr per yearsince 1996, and the 73 Coloradoi wineries have increased their local marketg share by roughly 2½ times since then. June whose Denver-based Spero Winery brings in as many as 200 tasters ona Saturday, said crowds have almost tripledf in the past four years.
And though she doesn’tf keep exact statistics, anecdotal evidencre suggests that more people are cominhg from out of state to samplw the products of Colorado At leasttwo Denver-based touring operations — Colorado Wine Country Tours and 5280 Wine Tour Co. have opened to cart peoples around to the newlypopular vineyards. Lisa a former executive in the mortgage industry who opened 5280 WineTour Co. about six monthsx ago, said her weeklu tour groups have nearly tripled as more peoplre discoverthe industry.
The wine which features designated trails in the GrandJunctiojn area, has become so importantg that Don Caskey, executive director of the , flew to Texas recently on a trip with state tourism leaders. His pitch isn’t that people shoule travel to Colorado just todrink wine, but whiles here to ski or raft, they shouldf seek out the growing industry too. meanwhile, are just starting to organize and emphasize their rolein tourism. There are no beer trails yet, but theree is a beer map. Laur, who runs a videlo business inColorado Springs, created a printed map pinpointingv every brewery and brewpubb in the state, and expanded on it with an interactiver web map as well.
It’s been especially popular with out-of-state residents and can be founrd in bookstores andliquor stores, he Kris Oyler, co-founder of Steamworks Brewing in Durango and chairmanm of the Brewers Guild’s new marketing said he’s seen a numbeer of people come into his business latelh with checklists of area breweries they’res visiting. Like wine tourists, they may be in the state for othe r reasons but go out of thei r way tovisit breweries, he said. Visit Denver is organizin g the first Denver Beer Week around the time ofthe 24-26 Great American Beer Festival, an annuap Denver event that brought in 432 breweries and 46,00o visitors last year.
Modeled after similar weeks in San Franciscand Philadelphia, it will feature 50 to 60 tappingt or dining events, all listed on a websited and maybe kicked off with a parade, said Rich director of communications at Visit Denver. “Wr definitely see a rising trens as far asbeer tourism,” Oyler said. And statee tourism officials will drink to Colorado Breweries: www.coloradobeer.org/brewers.html Colorado www.coloradowine.com/wineries/wineriesList.cfm Beer Drinker’s Guide to Colorado: www.beerdrinkersguidetocolorado.com Great American Beer www.beertown.org/events/gabf 5280 Wine Tours Co.: www.5280winetoursco.com Coloradpo Wine Country Tours: http://coloradowinecountrytours.
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