Azura Cellars

About a mile north of Paonia on Highway 133, a sign reading AZURA marks the turn onto Farmers Mine Road. A mile farther on, a second sign stands at the driveway. The drive is gravel, with tight turning room for a large RV, and it ends on a 21-acre parcel on a south-sloping mesa that borders public land. From the terrace the North Fork Valley opens wide beneath the West Elk Mountains. A still pond lies below, and vineyards and orchards run off into the distance. The real estate listing for the property called the valley the “American Provence.”

Two terraces and five wines

Most of the seating is outdoors. The upper terrace holds bistro tables, one four-top and several two-tops, and has the best vantage on the view. The lower terrace has high-top tables, shared picnic seating, and umbrellas against the sun. Tastings come as flights or by the glass, and bottles are sold to open on the terrace or to carry home. Outside food is not allowed. Yellow Table caters the food, with grazing plates and boards. The High Country Spotlight reported in May 2026 that charcuterie would be on offer and that the owners planned to bring back the chocolate that once ended a tasting. Pets wait in the car.

The list is short: two reds, two whites, and a rosé. According to the Spotlight, these were drawn from the most popular of the old blends.

• Yacht Club Red is 40 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, 40 percent Merlot, and 20 percent Cabernet Franc. The winery describes it as soft with a hint of smoke, dark chocolate, plum, and black cherry.
• The Great Loop is a slightly dry seasonal blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and 5 percent Malbec, named for the 6,000-mile boat trip of that name.
• The rosé is all Malbec, served chilled.
• The Pinot Gris and the Riesling are made entirely from Grand Valley fruit. The Riesling carries a touch of sweetness.

The fruit comes from the North Fork and Grand valleys. Bret Neal has made the wine since 2016, and the winery calls him a second-generation winemaker. The Spotlight spells his name Brett, places him at Stoney Mesa Winery, and counts the arrangement as a long-standing part of Azura’s identity.

Carved hulls in the gallery

The tasting room is Tuscan in style and sits inside the gallery. A 2017 profile in 5280 Magazine found the long counter confined to one corner. The rest of the sunlit building held intricate sculptures and ornately carved decorative boat hulls made by the founders, Ty and Helen Gillespie. Much of the art the couple made and collected remains in place under the present owners. Uncover Colorado also listed sculptures and jewelry by local artists for sale in the gallery.

The hulls began at sea. The winery’s history page says Ty spent quiet hours at anchor making small boat models aboard the couple’s 38-foot sailboat, Azura. Once they were back in the Colorado mountains and freed from the confines of a small boat, the two produced the larger hulls now in the gallery.

From a cutter to a burro farm

By Thirst Colorado’s account, the Gillespies originally came from San Francisco. Ty was an artist-architect and Helen a well-known artist. The 5280 profile says that after 13 years in the Vail Valley they decided they needed a change. They sailed around the world on Azura, a 38-foot cutter, and the sources differ on the dates. Thirst Colorado gives 1989 to 1995, the winery’s history gives 1989 to 1996, and 5280 says they lived aboard for five years.

Back in Colorado, they wanted to move their design and art studio out of Minturn. They found an abandoned miniature burro farm for sale in Paonia, and Thirst Colorado puts the purchase in 2006. Three wineries already operated nearby. A neighbor, Steve Rhodes, one of the original winemakers in the valley, offered guidance, and Thirst writes that the winery side of the business “was inevitable.” With help from new friends, Ty scaled up his wine-kit experience into a commercial operation.

The opening date is also given two ways. 5280 and Uncover Colorado say 2004. The winery says 2007, when Azura opened to the public as both a working studio and a winery.

In those years Ty made the wine himself. He used Colorado grapes, mostly from vineyards around Palisade, and kept the list short to leave time for his art. Tastings were complimentary. In 2017 the Yacht Club Red was a peppery blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Syrah. By 5280’s account, the best-known product was a Merlot Wine Sauce made with a Napa winery, for pouring over ice cream or fresh fruit. Ty also designed a terracotta-tiled guesthouse on the property where visitors could stay a night or a week.

The Azura Yacht Club

The pond below the main building is an irrigation pond of about one acre that the Gillespies made. On it the Azura Yacht Club raced Micro Magic sailboats, radio-controlled models that maneuver like full-size boats. The remote works only the sail and rudder, and there is no motor. Ty told 5280 that, to the best of his knowledge, Azura was the only vineyard in the country with its own yacht club. Writing in 2023, Thirst Colorado counted it as one of three model yacht clubs to have an actual clubhouse, along with clubs in San Francisco and New York. The small building held the guest fleet and a refrigerator full of beer.

That year about six members raced on Wednesdays and Sundays through the warm season. Thirst says Sunday racing began at 1:00 p.m., while 5280 had the group gathering on Sunday evenings. The racers chose a course by the wind and ran about 15 races over roughly two hours, then had a glass of wine or a beer. The Gillespies kept 20 to 30 boats to lend free to beginners, who learned from the shore. “Learning to run the boat is just the beginning, learning to sail is the next step and learning to race is a whole other thing,” Ty said. “It’s an intellectual game.”

The commodore, Greg Norris, is a U.S. Class Secretary for Micro Magic. He raced small sailboats in Michigan and Wisconsin before moving to Colorado. “There’s no real small boat racing on the Western Slope,” he told Thirst. His wife heard about “some guys up at Azura” racing radio-controlled sailboats, and he went up to try it and was hooked. “It is a remarkably fun, engaging, and affordable hobby. The first two adjectives apply to real sailboat racing, the third doesn’t.”

In 2021 Azura hosted the Micro Magic national championship. “We had a dinner for our participants on our terrace and that was quite unusual for them, who are used to having a cold sandwich by a pond,” Ty said.

Closed, licensed, reopened

Azura closed after the Gillespies retired. The winery’s own count puts the dormancy at a couple of years. On March 3, 2026, the Delta County commissioners unanimously approved a permanent liquor license in the Sales Room Limited Winery category for Azura Cellars, whose new owner was seeking to reopen the tasting room. The Spotlight names the new owners as Tom Murphy and Gail Paxton, and the winery’s history page gives the second name as Gail Saxton. According to the Spotlight, the couple had not come to the Western Slope intending to buy a business. Jordan Reilly is the general manager.

Azura returned on the old schedule, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wednesday through Monday, closed Tuesday. In 2026 it rejoined the valley’s two wine weekends: North Fork Uncorked in early June and the West Elks Wine Trail later in the season. The Spotlight reported that on occasional evenings Azura may stay open later, so visitors can watch the sunset from the terrace as the West Elks take on their alpine glow.