Carlson Vineyards

From Highway 6 east of Palisade, the way to Carlson Vineyards turns south on 38 Road. The directions published by Colorado Wine say only to follow the yellow centerline 5.5 miles. The road climbs onto East Orchard Mesa, above the town and the Colorado River, along the Fruit and Wine Byway, Palisade’s route for cruising and bicycling. The winery stands at 461 35 Road in a fruit-packing shed built in the 1930s, on ground that grew apricots before it grew grapes.

A stone bar in a packing shed

Inside, as 5280 described it in 2017, the shed is wood, and a large polished-stone tasting bar fills most of the room. Bottles on display carry medals and ribbons hung from their necks. Wine is poured by the bottle, the glass, or the tasting flight, with no reservation needed. Tables seat six, and larger parties sit at more than one. Behind the tasting room is a separate production room of fermenting tanks and equipment. The 2017 account said free tours took it in when tours were available, and that Garrett Portra and Parker Carlson were then still bottling by hand there.

Out back is a yard with a view across the Grand Valley. Dogs are welcome. The winery keeps a crew of cats, which it photographed in July 2026 sprawled like a pride of lions trying to stay cool, and a Brittany spaniel named Finn, “the fine wine canine.” In early April 2026 the winery’s buckeye tree was abuzz with honeybees.

Peaches, cherries, and a Lemberger

By Colorado Wine’s count Carlson makes more than 10,000 cases a year, which places it among the state’s larger producers. Its fruit wines are fermented from whole fruit, never from concentrate or grapes. The Peach is made from Palisade peaches and the Cherry from Montmorency pie cherries, and there is a Plum. The Tree Ripe series blends fruit with grape wine. In 2017, 5280 called the Palisade Peach the winery’s best-known bottle, a dry wine made entirely from Grand Valley peaches, and said it won a double gold at the 2015 Governor’s Cup. Colorado Wine’s record lists the 2014 Peach as a gold in the 2015 Governor’s Cup Case. The same 5280 writer sent visitors to the “Cherry ‘n Chocolate,” a cup of cherry wine with a dab of melted Enstrom’s dark chocolate on the rim.

The best-seller in 2017 was the semi-sweet Laughing Cat Sweet Baby Red, a blend of eight grapes including Merlot and Syrah, whose makeup shifts with each season. Tyrannosaurus Red is a Lemberger, known locally as T-Red. A dry rosé from the same grape was then being made by drawing the juice off the skins after 24 hours, which leaves it paler and less peppery. The Gewürztraminer has twice been named Best of the Fest at Colorado Mountain WineFest. Newer labels include NSFW, a line of dry wines; an orange wine called Contact, made from La Crescent grapes; and a High Desert Wine Lab series, one of whose bottlings, a Blaufränkisch and Cabernet Sauvignon blend, ran to only a couple of barrels.

The 2026 harvest began in the last days of August with Muscat for sparkling wine. In September the cellar was co-fermenting Syrah with a green grape it declined to name, hoping the green fruit would “bring a little acidity.” The winery also pours at a second tasting room at 545 Main Street in Grand Junction, where a bison named Carl stood watch from May 2026. On August 8, 2026, that room held a launch party for a fruit wine just bottled, a wine that had been part of the winery’s first vintage, in 1988.

From Coors Ceramics to Cap’s Orchards

In 1977 Parker Carlson transferred from Coors Ceramics in Golden to the company’s new Western Slope plant. In 1981 he and Mary Carlson planted four acres of vines on East Orchard Mesa, on land once called Cap’s Orchards. They sold their grapes to Jim Seawald at Colorado Mountain Vineyards. Their own winemaking began as a home hobby that took over every spare space in the house. Seven years after planting, they set up the winery in the packing shed and began commercial production, making about 1,100 gallons.

“From day one, we decided to make wine from the superlative locally grown wine grapes and fruit from farms in Palisade and Delta County,” Parker Carlson recalls. “We also decided that while we took the art of winemaking very seriously, we liked to have fun, too. We asked ‘Why make drinking wine complicated?’”

In the spring of 1996 the Journal of the Western Slope, published by students at Mesa State College, ran a history of the Palisade wine industry. The cover carried a drawing of Parker Carlson by Ami Turner, an art student. In 2000 the Tyrannosaurus Red was served in Chicago at the unveiling of SUE at the Field Museum. 5280 described SUE as the largest and most complete Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton ever found, put on display after a long custody battle. In 2004 the 2003 Laughing Cat Riesling was named the best in the world at the International Eastern Wine Competition, which Parker called the proudest moment of his winemaking career. The winery’s own pages and Colorado Wine both list the World Cup Riesling Award, which Colorado Wine places in New York. Over those years the Carlsons sat on the boards of the state vintners’ association, Colorado Mountain Winefest, Child and Migrant Services, and Mesa Land Trust, and helped other wineries through their start-ups.

A pipefitter in the cellar

Garrett Portra grew up on a farm in Missouri and studied environmental science at Westminster College. He and Cailin Portra came to western Colorado on what 5280 called a “Ryder truck” adventure, with no plan to stay. “I moved here in 2007 on a 6 month adventure not for the wine but for the outdoors,” he later wrote. “While here I discovered the wonderful wine and it made me stay.” Cailin worked as an occupational therapist. Garrett, a former retail sales clerk and oil and gas pipefitter, offered in 2011 to work free at any local vineyard. “Nobody was hiring at that time, so I offered to work for free just so I could get my foot in the door,” he told the Daily Sentinel. Parker Carlson took him on.

In 2014 Parker and Mary pitched him the idea of buying the business over dinner. Garrett agreed to buy it with Cailin and her father, Steve Bricknell. “The lawyers and accountants are involved — they’re battling between each other so we don’t have to,” Parker told the Sentinel in November of that year. The contract kept him on as an unpaid consultant for four years. “It’s a little surreal,” Portra said. “Customers who want the Laughing Cat Riesling will get the Laughing Cat Riesling.” The Colorado Sun and Portra himself date the purchase to 2015. 5280, writing in September 2017, placed it in the year before.

NSFW was the first brand Portra started after the purchase. The winery was known mainly for sweet wines, and he wanted a contrast: “No vineyard, no vintage just good Colorado grown, Carlson made wines for everyday enjoyment.” The Portras opened the Main Street tasting room and added yoga classes in which a warrior pose might be followed by a splash of Sweet Baby Blush. To young people who ask him about getting into the business, Portra told the Colorado Sun, he says they are “insane.” Portra sits on the board of the Winiarski Institute of Viticulture and Enology at Colorado Mesa University. The two families still share meals, and Garrett’s daughters often give Parker and Mary drawings to hang in their home.