Talon Wines on the Move
How We Got Here and Where We’re Going
As some of you may know, we opened in 2008 as four separate brands: Talon Winery (founded in 2005), St. Kathryn Cellars, Confre Cellars, and Meadery of the Rockies. We had three locations, over 35 wines and four very different brands to work with. Over the years, we’ve made small changes to make our family-owned business more cohesive and manageable: we closed our Fruita location (Colorado Wine Room), discontinued several wines, created many new wines (including our top selling St. Kathryn Cellars Lavender wine), and changed from Talon Wine Brands to Talon Wines. Most recently, we decided it was time to consolidate all of our operations (winery, tasting room, tours, events, etc.) to our Meadery location at 3701 G Road. Our lease on the building was coming to an end, and after much deliberation we decided it was best to have everything at the Meadery moving forward.
At the end of December 2022 we closed our Talon Winery/St. Kathryn’s location for good and began the process of selling, donating, and moving everything out of the building. It was a huge team effort to get moved out of the St. Kathryn’s building, and since then we’ve been able to submit all the necessary paperwork and get approval to begin renovations at the Meadery! We hope to have the bulk of renovations completed by spring of 2023, with the remaining renovations being completed closer to the fall.
As Colorado’s first meadery, established in 1995, Meadery of the Rockies is a historic establishment in the Palisade community. We plan to continue the building’s legacy moving forward as Talon Wines at the Meadery. We’re very excited to have everything at one location so we can focus on elevating customer experiences and making our wines more accessible in stores across the state. Here are a few other things we’re excited about:
- Tasting room renovations: more seating, curated food and gift selection, new paint, flooring, and more!
- New food preparation space: we previously did not have a food license or kitchen area at the Meadery, but we will be adding this so we can continue to serve charcuterie boards and other small bites to enjoy with our wines.
- Landscaping renovations and other ground improvements: we plan to grow many bee-friendly and native plants, along with additional and replanted vineyards which we hope to harvest and use in our wines. Our parking lot will be expanded, compacted, and smoothed over. New sidewalks will be put in for increased accessibility.
- Additional seating in a refreshed gazebo: perfect for summer sipping!
- Updated porch area: new patio furniture, a fresh paint job and some other updates to the porch will give the building a refreshed and modern look without taking all of the character out of the building.
- New crush pad for production: this will allow us more space for crush in the fall, so we can process grapes more efficiently and have more room for equipment and for our winemaking team to work.
While exciting changes are coming this year, many things are not changing: Talon Wine Club remains the same, and our St. Kathryn Cellars wines are here to stay, even though we’ve moved out of the original building. We will continue to offer charcuterie boards year-round, wine slushies in the summer, and mulled wine in the fall and winter months. Once renovations are wrapped up, we will bring back tours and events as well.
We can’t wait for the year ahead, and we look forward to serving you on your next visit!