Colorado Wine Grapes

The Colorado Climate Center partnered with the Colorado Wine Industry Development board to create a map of Colorado areas best suited for viticultural exploration. Three major considerations for aspiring Colorado viticulturists are 1. Severity of cold winter temperatures (particularly in the late fall and early winter), 2. Soil texture, and 3. Access to irrigation water.


Please note that A) raising grapes in any of the potential areas is not a guarantee of a successful crop, and B) raising grapes in unrecommended areas is not a guarantee of a failure. Local conditions may vary.

Updated Colorado Viticultural Exploration Opportunity Categorization using downscaled PRISM data 1981-2023. Shading based on locations experiencing an estimated average of fewer than two Low Temperature Injury Event (LTIE) years/decade using the table below.

  • Yellow = best potential for European grapes
  • green = potential for hybrid grapes
  • blue = potential for cold hardy hybrid grapes
  • purple = not recommended.

Low Temperature Injury Event Thresholds

European Grapes Hybrids Hardy Hybrids
Type I Tmin < 10°F prior to November 1st Tmin < 8°F prior to November 1st Tmin < 3°F prior to November 1st
Tmin < 5°F prior to November 16th Tmin < 0°F prior to November 16th Tmin < -6°F prior to November 16th
Tmin < 0°F prior to December 1st Tmin < -8°F prior to December 1st Tmin < -15°F prior to December 1st
Type II Winter (DJF): Tmin < -8°F Winter (DJF): Tmin < -13°F Winter (DJF): Tmin < -22°F
Type III Tmin < 28°F after May 15th, but before July 1st Tmin < 28°F after May 15th, but before July 1st Tmin < 28°F after May 15th, but before July 1st
Type IV Preharvest: Tmin < 28°F after July 1st, but before October 1st Preharvest: Tmin < 28°F after July 1st, but before October 1st Preharvest: Tmin < 28°F after July 1st, but before October 1st

Weather data in this study were from the Parametrized Regression on Independent Slopes (PRISM) Model developed at Oregon State University. Data resolution is 800m (~one half mile). Soil texture data used are from the Soil Survey Geography (SSURGO) dataset courtesy of US Geological Survey.

For more information on this project, please contact Peter Goble.