BIO of The Storm Cellar:

The Storm Cellar is a collaborative vision between two former Denver sommeliers, Steve Steese and Jayme Henderson. Their project is rooted within a love of Colorado and a desire to make high-quality wine from its unique terroir. The Storm Cellar is a boutique winery based at the historic Redstone Vineyard in Hotchkiss, Colorado, which produces high-elevation, aromatic white wine and rosé, farmed and crafted by the hands of this dynamic, husband-and-wife team. The Storm Cellar aims to showcase the attributes of this extreme vineyard site within its wines and strives to help bring the relatively unknown West Elks AVA into the national wine spotlight.

Together, Steve and Jayme were also selected as members of the 2019 Colorado FIVE team in recognition of their long history as leaders of the Denver culinary and beverage scene and for their work in promoting Colorado wine. The Storm Cellar was featured in a cover story for the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal this past November, and the winery was chosen by the editors of Colorado’s 5280 Magazine as Best Winery in their 2019 “Top of the Town”. All seven of their 2018 wines medaled silver or higher in the 2019 Colorado Governor’s Cup, with two of their Rieslings winning double gold medals and chosen for the Governor’s Cup Collection.

How did you get started in the wine business?

We both fell in love with wine during many years in the service industry. We love that we’re on the production side now, but in a restaurant setting, you get to share the moment of discovery and enjoyment with your guests. That is such an impactful experience – the sharing of quite possibly, the most unique agricultural product humanity has ever produced.

What is your winemaking style?

Our focus is white and rosé wines. We whole-cluster press everything into temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks, and we run long, cold fermentations, trying to preserve as much aromatic intensity as possible. Our goals are to produce focused, clean, dramatic representations from some of the most unique vineyard sites in the world.

What is one of your favorite varietals to work with and why?

We love to work with the Riesling that we grow here at our own vineyard. It is by far the most challenging grape to grow here, but the vines respond very well to the conditions here in the high alpine desert. The wild vintage swings in the West Elks AVA keep us on our toes, and since Riesling is the last of our varieties to ripen, it is always a nail-biter at the end of the harvest season, when the threat of late-season frost is high. We love how this unique climate and growing region produces lean, crisp, aromatic expressions from our favorite grape.

What is one of the most rewarding things about your job?

The time that we get to spend in the vineyard, regardless of how difficult, is what truly drives the both of us. It has been soul-reviving to rehabilitate a struggling vineyard. At nearly 6,000’ the challenges are endless, but the results can be amazing.

We currently conduct tastings here at the winery and vineyard by appointment only. We will have set hours over the summer months, but the exact days of the week and times are TBD.