Paul Bonacquisti was "a little shellshocked" when he lost his job as a Denver disc jockey in 2005.

What did he do for a new job?

Bonacquisti opened a winery, Bonacquisti Wine Co., in northwest Denver — in a "funky urban industrial condo," just down from a Quizno's sandwich shop.

"I was looking for something to do," said Bonacquisti, whose on-air name was Paul Vincent when he worked for the classic soul station KDJM. He lost his DJ post after KDJM's format switched to country music.

Bonacquisti, who learned to make wine from his father, is among the latest to join the swelling ranks of the state's Front Range wine industry.

Located in such venues as a home basement, the grounds of an abbey or in clear sight of a huge power plant, the Front Range wineries are emerging as a growing force in Colorado's wine industry. And they're producing award-winning wines, while capitalizing on Front Range's big customer base.

Since 2000, the number of wineries scattered up and down the Front Range has nearly tripled, to 22, accounting for about a third of the state's 65 wineries.

Their share of the state's total wine output has more than doubled in that time, to 31 percent in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2006, according to the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board, a state agency.

By contrast, the state's largest wine region, the Grand Valley — including the Palisade and Grand Junction areas — has watched its share of production fall to 54 percent in fiscal 2006 from 75 percent in fiscal 2000.

"There is some concern in the Western Slope that the growth of the Front Range wine industry will siphon off some of the customer base from the Western Slope," said Doug Caskey, executive director of the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board, a state agency.

"Maybe, maybe not," added Caskey. "You talk to the Grand Valley wineries and most of their sales are way up over previous years."

Is there friction between the two regions?

"There's some good-natured tension," said Caskey, choosing his words carefully.

But John Garlich, owner of BookCliff Vineyards in Boulder — and whose winery is in his basement — said: "On the east side, we don't see it. The way I see it we're the portal to the industry."

That said, the Front Range wineries generally depend on vineyards in Palisade and elsewhere on the Western Slope for grapes. The Front Range's colder climate and temperature swings make it a tough area for grapes.

Front Range winery owners appear content with the situation.

"I wanted to be an urban winery because I wanted to be closer to more people," said Bonacquisti.

Tim Merrick, winemaker at Trail Ridge Winery in Loveland, echoed that: "Our decision was to locate the winery near the wine market in Colorado and source the vineyards from the Western Slope."

Trail Ridge, which produces about 3,000 cases a year, is located along U.S. 34, the highway leading to the popular mountain town of Estes Park.

"We're seeing 75 percent to 80 percent of our wine out the front door," said Merrick, co-owner of the winery.

And at least one Western Slope winery, Palisade-based Canyon Wind Cellars, has set up a branded Front Range tasting room, in Georgetown, to attract more Front Range oenophiles.

"That was a brilliant stroke," said the wine board's Caskey.

Having operated in the shadows of the longer established Western Slope wineries, the Front Range winemakers have taken steps to elevate their profile.

The Front Range Winery Association was founded about three years ago. It's first major task: Publish a brochure detailing the area's wineries.

The group also has organized this Sunday's Boulder Food & Wine Festival, featuring about two dozen Colorado wineries from the Front Range and elsewhere.

Other wine areas in the state have formed associations, too: the Grand Valley Winery Association and the West Elks Winery Association, which represents wineries along the North Fork of the Gunnison River between Paonia and Hotchkiss.

Other than typically relying on grapes from elsewhere, the Front Range wineries differ in other ways from their Western Slope counterparts.

"The wineries on the Western Slope are tied to a grape or an area," said the wine board's Caskey. "Over here, there's much more diversity of styles and backgrounds."

Three Front Range wineries — Spero Winery, Bonacquisti and Balistreri Vineyards — bring their Italian heritage to their winemaking, noted Caskey.

The offbeat Augustina's Winery in Boulder — with the Web site winechick.biz — produces such wines as WineChick White and Venus de Vino Rosé. The owner and winemaker is Marianne "Gussie" Walter.

The Front Range winemakers' urban locations also are in contrast to the more picturesque rural settings across the Western Slope.

Balistreri Vineyards, in unincorporated Adams County, produces award-winning wines in close proximity to Xcel Energy's Cherokee generating station.

"Our winery is in a strange place for a winery," laughed Julie Balistreri.

fillionr@RockyMountain

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