Photography by: Jeremy Swanson
HANDCRAFTED AND HANDPICKED
Steve Humble’s wine list at the Roaring Fork Club is worth traveling for.
by KELLY HAYES
Handcrafted and handpicked. These words best describe the eclectic wine list Steve Humble, wine director at Basalt’s Roaring Fork Club, has assembled for the club’s members.
“I believe that all of the world’s finest wines are handmade,” says Humble. As opposed to the vast majority of wines that are machine-harvested, machine-sorted, and based on formulations, “handmade” wines rely on taste and intuition. “Winemakers who touch every vine, every barrel,” he says, “those are the guys who make really good wines.”
With a captive and discerning audience of approximately 500 members, he pours only wines he considers extraordinary. Fine wines from the likes of Cargasacchi Estate, Ken Wright, and Kosta-Brown stand out amid the large section of Pinot Noirs sourced from the most passionate producers in California and Oregon. Nine different single-vineyard Zinfandels from Turley Wine Cellars, perhaps the greatest collection outside of Larry Turley’s personal cellar, also
make the grade. Spanish wines from the treasured Priorat
region include classics like a 1999 Alvaro Palacios L’Ermita-Velles Vinyas.
With just 400 to 500 selections that change regularly as new wines replace those that sell, Humble has an advantage selecting wines for a private club. “Because the wine program is...
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