Prison's grapes go to winery at abbey

Each June, a former abbot comes to bless the Riesling grapevines that grow on a 1 1/2-acre plot at the winery in this southern Colorado town.

"He'll throw holy water out onto the vineyard," said winemaker Matt Cookson.

But some of the Riesling and chardonnay grapes that get crushed at the winery and made into wine have very different roots. They're more penal in nature.

Prisoners at the nearby East Cañon Complex prune and tend the vines for these grapes and harvest them in the fall. The grapes grow in two vineyards totaling 28 acres inside the vast state prison complex.

It's not California-wine-country conditions at the prison, to be sure.

"It's still a work in progress," said Cookson, who worked in California's Napa Valley as a winemaker and consultant. "Every year gets better."

The winery gets its grapes mainly from Colorado's Western Slope, as well as local Fremont County and California, but it has been using prison grapes since 2003.

The prison grapes go into the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey's Wild Cañon Harvest. It's an unusual blush wine made from red and white grapes harvested locally.

The 21 varieties are grown in residents' home plots as well as other sources, such as the prison.

"We're not discriminating," Cookson said. "Whatever variety we get in."

Concord grapes are the predominant variety that goes into the blend.

Almost 1,200 cases of the blush wine were made last year. In total, the winery produced about 10,000 cases of wine last year, including Riesling, chardonnay, syrah, merlot and cabernet franc. The wines have garnered national and international awards.

The winery struck up a relationship with the prison in 2001, a year before it began producing wine.

At the time, the farm manager for Colorado Correctional Industries — Jim Hartman — approached a retired wine salesman who lived in the area about growing grapes at the East Cañon Complex.

The former salesman "came and told us what the best fields would be," Steve Smith, in charge of CCI's agricultural ventures, recalled.

The vineyards previously were a cornfield. But the conditions weren't good for corn.

"It was too steep," said Smith. "The irrigation water ran too fast, and we couldn't control it."

Aside from chardonnay and Riesling, other wine grapes grown at the East Cañon Complex include merlot and cabernet sauvignon. The vines are irrigated through a drip system.

Cookson, co-owner of the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey, dreamed up the idea of the Wild Cañon Harvest back in 2002.

"The whole point of it is to bring community back to agriculture," Cookson said. "I don't know of any other winemaking community or area that produces such a wine."

Indeed —when prison grapes get thrown into the mix.

Aside from chardonnay and Riesling, other wine grapes grown at the East Cañon Complex include merlot and cabernet sauvignon. The vines are irrigated through a drip system.