On a warm, windy day this past April, the sandstone buttes of the Bookcliff Mountains tower in the distance as farmer Kaibab Sauvage and winemaker Patric Matysiewski stand between rows of grapevines at Sauvage Spectrum, their two-and-a-half-year-old winery and vineyard. Nearby, patrons sip glasses of sparkling rosé in the tasting room. Under the warmth of the Western Slope sun, Sauvage points out plants that were damaged by an unexpected frost in fall 2020. “It really wiped everything out,” he says.
Sauvage grows 17 acres of fruit trees and 70 acres of grapes for more than 25 wineries across Colorado—including Sauvage Spectrum, Carboy Winery, and Breckenridge’s Continental Divide Winery—via his 22-year-old company, Colorado Vineyard Specialists. But the Grand Valley’s recent weather, affected by the extreme temperature swings that are one hallmark of climate change, hasn’t made it easy. In October 2020, frost killed or damaged more than 75 percent of the state’s Vitis vinifera, the European grapevine species that encompasses familiar varieties such as Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Petit Verdot. Another unexpected cold
