Community Highlights: Meet Lee LaNoue of LaNoue DuBois Winery

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lee LaNoue.

Hi Lee, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My parents always had a dream of owning and operating a small winery in retirement. They started planting a test vineyard on the family farm in 2001, by 2008, we started the infrastructure for our main vineyard of 14 acres. It took us ten years of working weekends and taking two weeks off in May, every year, from our regular jobs to plant little sections at a time, finish the trellis, and get the irrigation system going. In 2018, I quit my career as a custom woodworker to pursue a degree in Viticulture and Enology in preparation of opening the winery. My dad and I made good homemade wine, but we had little to no knowledge of the chemistry and microbiology that went into commercial winemaking. I knew that if I was going to put all my eggs in this basket and build a legacy to hand down to my children, I had to quickly learn as much as I could to make this a success.

We opened our winery in May of 2021 after making my first commercial vintage in 2020. There were a meager three wines on our menu, and none of them were aged to my satisfaction. I didn’t have my own style of winemaking dialed in. I didn’t know how the wines would age. I didn’t know if people would even like them. I lost a lot of sleep in those first couple of years, fretting over every minute detail of every wine. But, something unexpected happened – The vast majority of people who tried my wines, loved them.

Fast forward 4 years and we usually average 10 wines on our menu at a time. All made in my signature style that my customers have come to expect and love. We have medaled in every wine that we have submitted to competitions, and we just won The 2024 Winery Of The Year award by the Colorado Association For Viticulture and Enology.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Starting a business is never a smooth road, but that’s what makes each success so gratifying.

I would say my biggest struggle has been inventory. We always sell out of our estate grown wines months before I can bottle the next vintage. Because of this, we are expanding our vineyard with another 3 acres next year. So hopefully in the next five years I will be able to age my red wines for as long as I would like before having to release them to the public!

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about LaNoue DuBois Winery?
Our winery specializes in French-American hybrid varieties of grapes from our estate vineyard in Montrose, CO. The vineyard sits at 6000′ elevation which poses some unique challenges to growing vines. That is why we grow hybrid varieties that are more cold tolerant and disease resistant. We are pesticide and herbicide free, vegan, gf, and may still be the only fully solar powered vineyard in Colorado.

Our wines are known for a higher acidity, lower tannin content, wide range of food pairing options, and overall drinkability.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I would have to admit I’ve had some good luck so far. Some of those mistakes I lost sleep over early on ended up being some of my most popular wines, and that changed my winemaking style for the better.

Pricing:

• Marechal Foch $37
• Leon Millot $37
• Woods Red Blend $27
• Owl Creek Blend $29
• Sweet Black Muscat $29

Contact Info:

• Website: https://LaNouewines.com
• Instagram: Lanoueduboiswinery
• Facebook: Lanoueduboiswinery