The Storm Cellar

The Storm Cellar is a boutique winery in Hotchkiss, Colorado, founded in 2017 by husband-and-wife team Jayme Henderson and Steve Steese. Both trained sommeliers, they left city restaurant careers to become first-time farmers and winemakers in the North Fork Valley of the West Elks AVA. The winery specializes in crisp, aromatic white and rosé wines made from classic European varieties and cold-hardy hybrids grown in western Colorado's high-desert terroir. Their approach emphasizes slow, cool fermentations, careful oxygen management, small-batch production, hand-sorting, extended cold soaks in temperature-controlled stainless steel, minimal oak, and minimal sulfur. The vineyard is being converted from conventional to organic farming, with projects including a pond for temperature moderation, rotational grazing, plantings that attract beneficial insects and pollinators, and more efficient water delivery. In 2023, the Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology named The Storm Cellar Colorado Winery of the Year. Visitors taste at an outdoor tasting room adjacent to the estate vineyard, perched 500 feet above the valley floor with views of the West Elk wilderness and the Gunnison Gorge. The winery offers guided tastings and hosts chef-led wine dinners and food pop-ups. Farm dogs Murphy and Leela often greet guests on arrival.

Written by Ava from public sources. Not written or reviewed by the winery.