Grande River Vineyards in Palisade has started bottling and labeling five new wines for release.

The winery also has launched a new wine club and scheduled an event for members.

Richard and Jean Tally, owners of the Wine Country Inn in Palisade, purchased Grande River Vineyards earlier this year from Stephen Smith. 

Smith, an industry pioneer who at one time owned the largest wine grape-growing operation in Colorado, retired after operating the winery since the 1990s.

The Tallys and their staff upgraded infrastructure as well as renovated and refurbished the tasting room and loft.

“While we honor our legacy as an historic winery, we are a totally new operation,” said Daniel Vice, manager of Grande River Vineyards. “I think our patrons will be happy with the upgrades.”

The winery is bottling a 2018 sauvignon blanc, 2019 aromella and cabernet franc, a 2020 merlot and nonvintage rieseling. A primitivo will follow to allow for aging.

Richard Tally said delays in receiving goods slowed the original schedule for bottling. “Just like everybody else, we’ve been dealing with supply chain issues.”

Grande River Vineyard also launched the Legacy Wine Club. Membership is available at the website at www.GrandeRiverVineyards.com. 

Former Grande River Vineyard wine club members must log on to the new website and join as new members.

The inaugural Legacy Wine Club dinner is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Jan. 22 at the Wine Country Inn. 

“We’re giving our new wine club members a preview of our first releases, for which our executive chef Chad Griffith is designing a menu especially to showcase those wines,” Tally said.

The event will be open to Legacy Wine Club members only. Admission is $80. A room rate of $108 also will be available for lodging. Reservations are available only by telephone by calling 464-5777.

While Winemaker Rainer Thoma and his crew bottle and label wine, tasting room staff has put the finishing touches on merchandise displays of  wine paraphernalia, cooking aids, specialty gourmet foods and logo goods. The tasting room is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

Vice said the loft upstairs has been renovated to create a lounge area where guests can enjoy a flight of wine with winery food service created by Griffiths. The loft will be available for rental to groups for lunch, card games, social clubs, meetings or friends who want to enjoy wine together.