As winemakers from California, France, Oregon and more traveled from afar to set up for the Taste of Vail festival, Colorado wineries packed up their vehicles and merely drove a few hours to make themselves known at this year’s event.

It all started with the Debut of Rosé tasting on Wednesday where the first bottles were popped to kick off the festival. In a packed room with dozens of wineries, three of our state’s vendors — Buckel Family Wine in Gunnison, Sauvage Spectrum in Palisade and Carboy, which has multiple locations across Colorado as well as in Washington state — were pairing their pours with local history lessons and authentic Colorado hospitality.

“It’s an honor (to be here),” said Kaibob Sauvage, co-founder and wine grower at Sauvage Spectrum. Sauvage was born and raised in Palisade, the son of a peach farmer and water chemist, and has witnessed firsthand the growth of Colorado wine country.

“I’ve been in the business for 24 years, and the trajectory of Colorado right now is phenomenal,” he said. “I mean, everybody’s stepping up and we’re all pushing each other.”

More wineries from the state started to show up throughout the festival, culminating at Friday’s Colorado Wine Seminar & Tasting event at the Grand View Room in Lionshead. Kyle Schlachter, executive director of the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board — which promotes the state’s wineries, cideries and meaderies as part of the Department of Agriculture — was in attendance. Schlachter filled in the blanks on the state’s history with wine, which started in 1968 with a Denver winery that used California grapes, years before the Western Slope’s winemaking potential was discovered.