Holy Cross Abbey Winery

After the bug museum, we followed Hwy 115 south to the junction of Hwy 50 to Canon City. On our way to the Royal Gorge bridge, we stopped at the place that produces one of my favorite local tasty beverages- the winery at Holy Cross Abbey. I'm sure I'll never live down the fact that I took my 15-year old nephew to a winery, but it was another one of those places I pass while part of a lengthy motorcycle procession and don't get the chance to stop and check out! I'm not sure how long the historic abbey has been there, but it has a wine making tradition dating back to around 1926.


As if marking the crossroads of the Sangre de Cristo and Rocky Mountain ranges, the church and vineyard provide a stark contrast to the arid environment by which it is surrounded. Although documents establish a history of wine making back in the 1920s, it was only as recent as a couple of years ago that the wine making tradition of the abbey was resurrected here. As a matter of fact, the winery if for sale if anyone is interested!

I always find it slightly amusing that some of the best alcoholic beverages in the world have been produced by religious institutions! At any rate, the wine tasting room was just a building over from the abbey itself. As you can see from this pic, the vineyard isn't very far from holy ground! The church is actually quite impressive. While touring the gardens, we witnessed an event that was happening all over the world on such a lucky day (7-7-07)- a wedding!


The winery produces several varieties of beverages. I've had their Chardonnay, Merlot and Riesling; all of which are quite nice. I don't profess to be a sommelier, I just drink what seems to enhance the flavor of whatever I happen to be eating. As a foodie, I certainly appreciate anything that brings out the sometimes limited flavor of the dishes I prepare (because I also don't profess to be a chef!). I guess my taste buds aren't too off track since these wines have won several awards:

2004 Merlot & Merlot Reserve
2004 Cabarnet Sauvignon & Cabarnet Sauvignon Reserve
2004 Chardonnay

Since I was already familiar with these wines, there wasn't much need for me to do much tasting! I mostly wanted to check the prices to see if I could get a better deal from the tasting room anyway!

For those of you who know my nephew Philip, you'll appreciate this picture of him standing next to the wooden bear outside the tasting room! I'm not sure what his affinity towards these creatures is, but he is certainly drawn to them!

From the abbey, we continued down Hwy 50 towards the Royal Gorge bridge. We detoured and I drove Philip over a road called Skyline Drive. We ride it every time we go through Canyon City on our Harleys, but it's not for those afraid of heights! The road is on a ridge line with sheer drop-offs on either side of the road. The views are spectacular, but it makes it hard to keep your eyes on the road! I'd love to show yall some pics of the Skyline drive and of the Royal Gorge bridge park, but my digital camera's batteries went dead and the spare rechargeables I brought were also dead! I bought a disposable at the park and snapped a few old-school film pics, but now I'll have to bring them in to get developed. It's hard to believe that in this day and age of instant gratification where we can print our digital pictures immediately that we used to consider 1-hour film processing lightening fast!!!