Terror Creek Winery

Great location and the owner was so much fun to talk to. Worth stopping just for the conversation. Stone Creek down the road is also great. Beautiful views!

The Traveling Winers on Colorado Wine Trail
Terror Creek was a fun winery! John and Joan are the owners and have been here for years, planting first in 1989 and bottling in 1992. Joan learned the wine craft in Switzerland!
The estate is small, producing only 500 – 800 cases per year, all estate grown. They also told us that they are the highest estate winery in the world and stressed…“as far as they know”! Very cute!
We asked how the Vineyard got its name and learned that in the springtime that the creek nearby can be a terror! In addition, when they were building a ditch on the hillside years back, boulders kept falling down on the workers… hence…Terror Creek.
This is a fun stop and worth the visit. Tell John and Joan that The Vineyard Trail says «hi»!
The Traveling Winers at The Vineyard Trail

TAKE THE OTHER ROUTE. There is a sign off the highway for this winery and another but there is a back road that is not so scary and treacherous. They really should advertise this.
That being said, it is worth it to go here! The location has stunning mountain and vineyard views all around. The buildings are vintage and quaint. There is a gorgeous area to hang out and drink your wine.
The tasting room is small and cramped if you have more than a few people. It was awkward to wait for the group before us to finish.
We ended up purchasing a couple bottles of wine and learning about grapes.
If you are visiting Paonia, there are several wineries in this area. Make this part of your tour.

Lovely couple, very interesting. Turns out this area of Colorado’s hot days and cold nights are perfect for grapes (and for fruit in general) because the temperature variation helps concentrate the flavors/​sugars.

We visited on our trip through Colorado Wine Country over Labor Day Weekend 2013. We really enjoyed Terror Creek and the adorable owner. She made our tasting more fun. They do themselves a disservice stating that the roads are treacherous on the way up. We were going to pass on it (in our new car) until we found that we had already traveled the difficult roads (just gravel) on the way to Stone Cottage that is just down the road.

A very quaint winery (the highest in altitude in the Northern hemisphere, if I remember correctly) run by an very friendly, kind, and knowledgeable couple (the wife had studied viticulture in Switzerland, a great climate match for Colorado!). The drive up is a bit dicey compared to the downtown streets, but between the destination and the vistas along the way, completely worth it!

Another friendly Paonia winery. Definitely worth the trek up the hills above Paonia. The staff is very friendly and knowledgable about their product. The buildings are very cute and worth the stop.

Ok, this is a must see if you’re checking out the wine country of Colorado. Wine country??? Not kidding! it’s actually really awesome.
The drive up to Terror Creek is, well, a terror. So, hence the name. But once you’re there, the views are simply incredibly. The owner lady was incredibly kind and spent years in Switzerland learning about wine making. Oh, and it’s free, like all the other wineries in the region. Score!
Drop a vineyard in the mountains of Colorado, and you have a simply amazing place. The Pinot Noir was awesome! Highly recommended.