Four Leaves Winery

The tasting room across from the train station

Four Leaves Winery occupies a storefront at 528 Main Avenue, in the 500 block at the south end of Durango’s main street, directly across from the train station. The Downtown Durango listing describes what meets a visitor inside the historic building: “the overwhelming aroma of wine.” The grapes come from elsewhere. The winery says most are brought in from vineyards around Lodi, California. Once they arrive, they are handcrafted, blended, fermented, and bottled on the premises, in view of the people drinking at the counter.

The list runs to more than twenty wines, by the count of the Colorado Wine directory. It covers white and red varietals, fruit wines, dessert wines, and port. Walk-in tastings need no reservation. A tasting starts at three samples for $8.00 and goes up to five, and wine and port are also poured by the glass. Visitors can sit in the indoor room or on an outdoor patio, where pets are allowed. The food menu lists cheese, crackers, meats, hummus, and artichoke dip, and a separate chocolate menu is paired with the wines. Soda and sparkling water are kept for children and for guests who do not drink.

Work by local artists hangs in the room. Colleen Nicholson, writing on the winery’s site, noted military memorabilia and wine-related gifts on display, and the state tourism listing records a military discount. Another visitor, Ashlyn Swayze, mentioned the music playing in the background.

The owners and two staff members, Ryan Maloney and Maddie Gerritsen, work the room. Deborah Everson wrote that Maddie poured her party a red flight and “shared about each wine we sampled.” Their favorite was a Zinfandel/Shiraz blend, and they bought a bottle of it. Jeremy Black stopped in “before a dinner reservation across the street” and left having ordered a case.

A blend and a label of one’s own

The winery calls itself “Your Personal Winery.” A customer can work with the staff to build a blend of their own. The winery asks for a few weeks to make it, and the customer then returns to bottle it under a label they design. A bottling party fills 28 bottles with two label designs for a party of twelve guests. Fruit wines need 45 days of lead time and pure varietals need 90. Staff also host tasting parties with a flight of six wines, and the whole room can be booked for private events. The Liberty School has held its staff holiday party there.

A VIP club meets three times a year for release parties, where members try new custom-blended and bottled wines. Robert Lea called the release “a fun social event with unique wines in the offing.”

The winery lists the groups it supports. Among them are VFW Post 4031, the Blue Star Moms of Durango, the Durango Cowboy Gathering, the Durango Barbershoppers, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, and the La Plata County Humane Society.

From Cresco to Main Avenue

Dean Fagner, the owner and winemaker, came from Cresco, Iowa. According to the winery’s own account, he left his hometown and “fell in love with Colorado.” In 2012 he opened Four Leaves in Durango with “his trusty sidekick, Max.” The winery says it was the first winery in the area. Kaitlin Kirkland wrote that Dean “spent time with us discussing the history and telling us about the wine in detail.”

Melinda was born and raised in Franklin, Tennessee. She was passing through Durango on a trip across the country when she and Dean met in 2019. In 2021 she came back to Durango to stay, and the winery’s account says the two “later got married that October.” They now run the place together. Their account ends with a line attributed to Max:

“Fill what’s Empty. Empty what’s Full. Scratch where it Itches.”