Surprise!!! We are still in Colorado and Wine with Wixy is visiting another awesome winery!! A very unique winery at that, I mean how often [other than for communion] can you say that you were tasting wine in an old monastery!?
For this winery excursion, I have a visitor in town!! We came upon this Abbey quite innocently [I might add] while we were traipsing around exploring Colorado's beautiful countryside. We certainly could not ignore the seemingly "divine intervention" that is evidenced here. We were able to convince Shawn to stop, so we went on in to do some investigation!! [he took a nap in the car.. in the Abbey parking lot.. hahaha]
Let’s go back and talk about my visitor for a second. She is a good friend of mine by the name Andrea White!! She is actually one of the first [and has been one of the most lasting] friends that I made on my very first travel assignment in Charlotte, way back in 2014!! She started travel nursing not too terribly long after we worked together, and we have kept in touch through the years. Andrea has probably visited us at almost everyplace we have been for the summer, as well as, in Arizona!!
She was passing through on the way to her next assignment and decided to stop on by for a visit!! [the gypsy lifestyle of a travel nurse!! LOL] One of the sights we decided to check out was the Royal Gorge Bridge, and we came upon the Abbey on our way back to Colorado Springs. The Holy Cross Abbey [located at 3011 East Highway 50, Cañon City, CO] has been around for over 120 years. It was originally a monastery and served as a boarding school for boys.
When the school closed in 1985, the remaining 20 monks in residence decided to plant a vineyard as a way of making an income to help with the Abbey’s high upkeep costs. In 2000, Father Paul Montoya was in Colorado Springs to perform an exorcism at a neighboring winery. He discovered a love for winemaking and believed that the Royal Gorge Region with the Wet Mountains in the background, made the Abbey a perfect location for a winery.
After convincing his fellow monks to take a leap of faith, Father Paul reached out to Sally Davidson and Matt Cookson to help them get the winery established. The doors opened to the public 2002, and they have won many awards for their wines. They were even named Winery of the Year by CAVE. [Colorado Association of Viticulture and Enology, but I like just saying CAVE better. LOL]
They boast about their sustainability measures, composting grape pumice, recycling bottles and cardboard, and using an electric forklift. The Abbey closed its doors in 2006, but the winery remained intact and has won over 100 awards in wine competitions over the last three years alone!! It is still run by Sally and by the new owner, who purchased the Abbey in 2005, Larry Oddo. Larry moved to Napa from New Jersey with his wife, Diane and his then eight-year-old daughter, Emily.
Jeff Stultz was hired on as the assistant winemaker and then took the title of head winemaker in 2014. After taking the reins, Jeff won several top honors for his wines, including the Jefferson Cup Invitational!! Commissioned by Thomas Jefferson [our third President] the Cup Invitational is the only competition that honors the best wineries from America's wine regions. The tasting room is a comfortable space, with a with a narrow, wooden bar for service.
The tasting room and building was used as the arts and crafts house in 1911, back when the Abbey was still part of the boys’ school. You can thank Fleur Kaiser, who joined the Abbey’s team in 2007, and her highly organized and creative thinking for the tasting room and gift shop areas. I enjoyed looking around the gift shop and the interesting gifts available. [as pictured above and below]
Fleur also manages the not so traditional wine club, [named The Congregation.. how cool!?] one could say that she has taken the Abbey’s winery to "new heights." There are three different tiers of The Congregations membership. The first tier is the Monk/Nun level, followed by the Prior/Prioress and finally the Abbot/Abbess. [this may be the first time in my life I have ever considered becoming a Nun!! Hahaha]
Andrea claims that we both really enjoyed the Franc. [I wish I could remember it] However, since The Franc [made by Cosentino] is my favorite wine to date, it is not surprising that I would have liked it another Franc!! I am planning to place an order with the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey. [to test my tastebuds, and Andrea’s memory.. Haha] Stay tuned, I will give you an update when this takes place!!
Next week Wine with Wixy will be at the Colorado Springs LDLO with a very special paint and wine [maybe one of my favorite paintings] that you won’t want to miss!!
Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!
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