Aspen Peak Cellars

A beach of ground glass

The sand on the riverside patio at Aspen Peak Cellars is glass. “We have a machine that pulverizes glass bottles, which is what creates our beach environment down by the river,” co-owner Marcel Flukiger told The Flume in February 2026. “Instead of throwing the bottles into a landfill, we crush them right on site throughout the year and save that for the beach so that the sand is nice and fine.” The winery calls the patio #baileycobeach. It lies along the North Fork of the South Platte River behind the building in downtown Bailey. The driveway turns off US Highway 285, 28 miles out from the C-470 merge for anyone coming from Denver, or about 49 miles for anyone coming down from Fairplay. Riverside “cabanas” are reserved separately from tables.

The beach is a summer place, and summer is the busiest season. When it closes for winter, diners move to a covered deck warmed by patio heaters, or to the Tuscan-style dining room inside. Live music plays every Saturday and Sunday afternoon from 2 to 5, year round. When the winery reopened after its rebuilding, Westword reported a lawn for summertime bocce beside the riverside deck.

The bottles that do not become sand go back into service. The winery washes and reuses them, and Marcel Flukiger has said the labels are made semi-permanent so they come off easily.

Fondue, hanger steak, and Mocha Zinsation

The bistro serves lunch and dinner. Executive chef Kevin, called “Chefsky” by the staff, runs the kitchen with executive sous chef Alyssa. Tracie, who holds WSET Level I certification, manages the front of the house. The menu has included ahi tuna salad, grilled beef hanger steak with red wine, charcuterie boards, Caesar salad with a small loaf of bread, lemon tart, and a Vintner’s Beef Burger en Croute. Krista Kafer, writing for Westword in January 2019, singled out the sausages, the pastry burger, and the mushroom soup, and also the fondue, made from Marcel’s mother’s recipe from Switzerland.

The wine is made in the same building, which gives about a third of its space to production. Marcel Flukiger said in 2026 that the winery buys as much as it can from Colorado, with grapes from Palisade on the Western Slope. He also said the winery had recently hired a winemaker from California to head production. The staff list names Rachel as winemaker. The list of wines runs from Pinot Gris, Albariño, and Riesling through a Strawberry Rosé and a Dry Rosé to reds called 285 Fusion and Bailey Barberian, plus a Malbec. The reserve tier includes a Cabernet Sauvignon, a Blanc de Blancs, and Vintner’s Reserve bottlings of Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and a blend called Rockin’ Rapids. Westword reported in 2019 that the Rockin’ Rapids Reserve had drawn an 89 from Wine Enthusiast. The dessert wines are Pomegranate Rouge and Mocha Zinsation, which Westword called “a port with hints of chocolate and coffee.” Mocha Zinsation was chosen for the 2015 Governor’s Cup “Niche” Case. At the 2025 Governor’s Cup, the 2023 sparkling Blanc de Blanc Chardonnay and the 2023 Malbec took silver medals, and six other wines took bronze. A tasting flight of six wines costs nothing to anyone who buys at least two bottles.

The calendar follows the seasons. Winter brings Snowshoe & Fondue, a snowshoe outing followed by a tasting flight and fondue, which runs through mid-March. Other events have included Riverside Yoga, a Flies & Flights fly-fishing class, Jazz & Tapas Night, quarterly wine club dinners, and brunches at Easter and Mother’s Day.

A wine kit and a lightning-struck barn

Both owners are chefs. Marcel Flukiger was born and raised near Luzern, Switzerland. He finished a three-year apprenticeship and was certified as a Swiss chef in 1990, then worked several seasons at a ski resort near Austria and served in his country’s mandatory military program. In 1993 he came to Denver on an exchange program sponsored by the Brown Palace Hotel and stayed 18 months. Julie, who grew up in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania, graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York in 1993. The two met at the Brown Palace and married in 1995. They have lived in the Denver foothills and worked in local kitchens ever since.

For Christmas 2005, Marcel gave Julie a wine-making kit. According to the winery’s own account, the hobby “would quickly get out of control.” In 2009 the couple opened a winery, bistro, and bed-and-breakfast at the historic Clifton House Inn in Conifer, with a barn on the property serving as the wedding and special-events venue. The business took its name from a painting by Julie’s mother. In the summer of 2011 lightning struck the barn and fire destroyed it. The winery and The Flume give the barn’s age as 135 years; Westword gives 140.

The loss of the barn sent the Flukigers to Bailey. In 2012 they opened in a former automotive service garage on Highway 285, which needed a complete remodel to become a working winery with limited food service. Westword reported that it quickly became popular with locals and that the wines began winning awards. By 2016 a new outdoor music venue with a stage, built with community funds, stood beside it.

Crow Hill, September 13, 2016

Just after midnight on September 13, 2016, a 1998 Freightliner hauling bottled water came south on 285 down Crow Hill. State troopers said the driver failed to make the right-hand turn at the bottom of the seven percent grade. “The vehicle traveled across the northbound lanes and off of the left side of the roadway,” Trooper Nate Reid told The Denver Post. The truck went into the winery, which was closed and empty. Photographs from the winery showed the rig under a mound of debris. The driver, Charles Constant, 34, of Boynton Beach, Florida, was taken to St. Anthony Hospital in Lakewood with serious injuries. CBS4 reported that he was cited for careless driving.

Marcel’s first word came by telephone. “The officer called and said, ‘Your winery has been involved in an accident and there’s some damage,’” he told Westword. “He didn’t tell me the extent.” He told CBS4: “I came around the corner and realized right away there’s nothing there.” In Westword’s account, Marcel saw the crumpled building at sunrise, with wine streaming across the parking lot into the South Platte. CBS4 reported that wine from ruptured tanks flooded the nearby creek and that crews worked through the night to stop the flow. The State Patrol’s hazardous materials team contained the truck’s diesel and oil. The crash destroyed the building, the winemaking equipment, the new music stage, and the equivalent of about 25,000 bottles of wine in barrels and bottles. Westword reported that the trucking business had no insurance.

That morning the winery posted on Facebook: “Sorry to inform our winery is a total loss. Semi hit it last night. Driver in hospital but alive. Nobody was in the building. Thank God!”

Park County Sheriff Fred Wegener told CBS4 that the hill had a record. “We’ve had an oil tanker years ago that rolled right here. We’ve had Coors truck that went into the river right here. We had a truck hauling cardboard for recycling hit the old fire house which used to be right here.” Marcel told the station: “With no additional safety features on this highway I think we’re going to be for a lot of trouble.”

Turned ninety degrees toward the river

According to Westword, townspeople raised $25,000 to rebuild, some of it through a GoFundMe campaign. They bought the 3,000 bottles that had not broken, and they volunteered to paint and help with construction. Other Colorado wineries sent grape must and juice. While the new building went up, the Flukigers made wine in a building in Pine Junction. The Sasquatch Outpost, a Bailey museum and gift shop dedicated to Bigfoot, housed the tasting room.

The new building stands on the same lot, turned 90 degrees so that it faces the river and leaves room for the patio. Westword dates the reopening to the last weekend of 2017. The winery’s own history gives January 2018, and The Flume gives 2018. It reopened as a full-service winery and bistro with a full kitchen. “Those challenges reshaped our path, but they never changed our purpose,” Marcel Flukiger said in 2026. He also said, “We’re also happy that we can employ local staff and make a living for people up here without them driving down to Denver.”

Aspen Peak Cellars turned 17 at the start of 2026. Not long before, the Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology had named it the 2025 Colorado Winery of the Year. “This award belongs to our team, our patrons and our grape growers,” Julie Flukiger said.