We had the good fortune of connecting with Julie Bennett and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Julie, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind the success of Qutori Wines and Root and Vine Market is creating a good product. Focusing on creating excellent wine and sharing a beautiful place and high elevation vineyards.
Creating good wine and good food is key to our business. We strive to make our customers happy. In addition to well made products our location is our business. We are located in the WestElks AVA with high altitude grapes.
We sit at the base of the West Elk Mountains along the West Elks Scenic Byway.

What should our readers know about your business?
Qutori means creativity and leadership. We strive to lead our winery by this definition. I create all of our wine labels as a creative outlet for me. Creativity is the way we think about wine making also. We are very proud of our award winning wines. Our 2017 Qutori Syrah won the Colorado Governor’s Cup Best in Show Award. We medaled in the San Fransico International Wine Competition with a Gold medal for our 2019 Syrah. Our business is hard work managing the vineyard, winery, the cafe and the tasting room however we love sharing our wine with people. It is so rewarding when our guests love our wine as much we do!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The WestElks AVA(American Viticultural Area) is the highest elevation AVA in the US with 10 wineries. I would recommend that they visit all of them. They are all very unique and offer different experiences. Our Qutori Wines offers 12 different varietals focusing on Pinot Noir with lunch and an outstanding happy hour with wood fired pizza. We also offer a private Cabana for rental to enjoy a special birthday or Bridal shower event. Mesa Winds is a favorite that offers dinner as you watch the sheep playing the pasture. Black Bridge Winery is located along the North Fork of the Gunnison River and is a fun working farm and winery with peaches and u-pick fruit. Stone Cottage is a lovely winery with delicious wine. The Storm Cellar is an award winning winery focusing on White and Rosé wines. The Painted Vineyard is a new winery opening their tasting room this year. Azura Cellars and Gallery has amazing views tof the valley while you sip their wine. Big B’s Delicious Orchards is a cider, restaurant and campground that offers live music events weekly. There are several other wineries that are appointment only.

Our area boasts the highest concentration of organic farms in the Colorado. One fun thing is to visit Western Culture Farm and Creamery. It is a goat cheese dairy and you can pet the goats and buy delicious local goat cheese.
We have a fantastic farmers market on Tuesdays with all local products from our may organic farms.

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison National park is within an hour of here. This Park is an amazing and under explored park.
It is Steep, Deep and Narrow. Great hiking.

A wonderful place to stay is the historic Bross Hotel Bed and Breakfast. Paonia has many AirBNB options as well from Yurts to Winery Stays.

Paonia has many festivals, live music events and art walks. Check calendars for the dates.

Downtown paonia has 2 breweries, and many shopping option,

Dining out – The Flying Fork Cafe is an Italian Restaurant featuring local ingredients. The Simple Cafe is a delicious gluten free restaurant, Root and Vine Market offers Breakfast burritos, and lunch with happy hour and Qutori Wines on the patio with amazing views of the West Elk Mountains. Espresso Paeonia, Paonia Breadworks and Sweet Grass all offer Espresso drinks.and breakfast options. Louis’s Pizza often offers live music.

Dana’s place is a new wine bar in town that carries local wine… Open 4-9pm. Most of your wineries close at 6pm.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Kyle Bennett, my son is our winemaker. He is key to our business and has learned so much to create great wine for Qutori Wines. Qutori Wines is a family business. The local winemakers of the West Elks AVA helped mentor us in the beginning of our business regarding grape growing and wine making out up.

Website: https://www.qutoriwines.com. https://www.rootandvinemarket.com

Instagram: @qutoriwines. @rootandvinemarket

Facebook: @rootvinemarket @qutoriwines

Image Credits
wildbearmedia

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