“Don’t Fear the
Reaper” blares into the brick-walled building as cellar workers tend to the punch
downs of eight bins of fermenting petite verdot grapes; all of this happens
under the carefully-painted graffiti wall, showing from the start how cool this
space is. Peeking through the graffiti
art is the painted replica of the Denver skyline, its “cash register” building clearly
visible as it overlooks the end-of-harvest work happening below.
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| Cool and hip, Denver skyline in the graffiti. |
This is The Infinite Monkey Theorem in Denver,
Colorado. A true urban winery in all
senses of the term.
Just as the monkey on the labels of Infinite Monkey wines symbolizes
evolution, the cool, modern winery also symbolizes this—the evolution of
the modern wine world in what would be considered non-traditional areas using
non-traditional techniques. Winemaker
Ben Parsons is the theorist behind this movement, a movement that he also had
to develop through an evolution of his own.
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| The Infinite Monkey Theorem monkey. |
In the early 2000s, Ben lived and worked in the United
Kingdom selling high-end, expensive wine to other people. One day he woke up feeling the $1500 bottles
of wine were just not accessible to the average person, and he wanted to
change this. In order to do so, he made
a drastic lifestyle transformation.
First, he traveled to the Adelaide region of Australia and
received his degree in wine making. Next,
he spent time in New Zealand furthering his knowledge of the craft. Then, Ben applied for and accepted a job on
the Western Slope of Colorado, an area once known for growing peaches. Here he made and sold Colorado wine, often
making trips to the consumers in Denver who were definitely intrigued by their “local”
vino.
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| Winery work in the urban setting. |
Ben and his father always dreamed of Ben having his own
winery; sadly, Ben’s dad died in 2007, and Ben decided he had waited long
enough to fulfill the next step of his dream.
With his dad’s memory close to
heart, Ben and his wife embarked on a 25,000 mile road trip to buy used winery equipment
from all over the country. They returned
to Denver and bought a Quonset hut in the up-and-coming Sante Fe arts
district. The Infinite Monkey Theorem
was born.
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| Infinite Monkey, building 2.0. |
Ben uses 65-80% Colorado grapes, primarily from the western
side of the state, trying to be true to the unique growing seasons and terroir
of Colorado. However, it is this unique
growing season that often sends him to states like California and Washington
for grapes to supplement his crops in years where weather is not conducive.
Even when adding grapes from other states, Ben does not then
attempt to make a California Syrah in Colorado.
He uses the additional grapes mostly in his large production wines that
he does not plan to bottle in the traditional manner (more about this
later). When he does use these
out-of-state grapes in his other bottlings, he continues to stay true to the
Colorado style of the overall end product.
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| Pressing, aging, and fermenting in the middle of the city. |
Ben owns no vineyard land himself; to attempt this would
totally go against the true urban winery concept he has developed. He also has embraced the urban setting in
many other ways, such as canning and kegging wine. Yes, that is correct—canning wine. Only a proper city winery would have such a
modern way to package wine, and TIMT does not disappoint.
Ben chooses his keg and can wines very carefully. Obviously, he is not canning his traditional
method sparkling wine or his petite sirah that has been on oak a year and a
half. He cans his younger wines, like
sauvignon blanc, or his large lot wines made especially for canning. A rosè, a white, a red, and a moscato are all
made specifically to be canned, which happens right there in the winery with a
canning line made in nearby Boulder. The
wine is carbonated with carbon dioxide and then sold in the tasting room or distributed
in forty-one other states. This number
will only keep increasing as Whole Foods will soon be selling Infinite Monkey
in its stores. That is quite a coup!
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| They CAN do it! |
It is this canning and kegging business that is booming so
fast Ben can hardly keep up with it.
From the original small Quonset that Ben and company outgrew, they moved
into a much larger space…which is already filled to the brim in just three
years. To give an idea of how high the
demand for canned and kegged wine is, Ben is producing the equivalent of 50,000
cases of wine, all under that watchful eye of the graffiti wall.
Ben also started Iron Monkey, a wine kegging business. Other producers send wine to be kegged by
Iron Monkey at the Infinite Monkey location.
Though many may turn their noses up at keg or can wine, the market tells
quite a different story. TIMT supplies
keg wine for Snooze—a Denver area brunch hot spot—mimosas. Snooze pours through four kegs…a
weekend! At least a dozen other Denver
restaurants, including popular stalwarts like Old Major and Rioja, also serve
Infinite Monkey keg wines.
It seems many are interested in getting on the green
bandwagon to support the environmental impacts of saving glass bottles from
wine consumption. Aluminum is easier and
cheaper to make, from both an economic and an environmental standpoint. Aluminum is also easier and cheaper to
recycle and can be recycled an infinite number of times—pun intended. Producing certain wines in kegs also saves
thousands and thousands of bottles a year, not to mention the manpower to
bottle and handle those products.
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| Iron Monkey kegging system. |
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| Kegs of wine for Snooze. |
Don’t be fooled into believing that a super cool and modern
winery in the middle of a city with graffiti on the walls can’t produce great
wines. Quite the opposite is true; many
standout wines make themselves known when sipping here.
The Riesling—from grapes grown in Cortez, Colorado—has just
a slight hint of residual sweetness. It
shows fabulous peach and pear on both the nose and palate, adding a very interesting
green grass and floral characteristic on the finish.
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| Good wines everywhere...in the bottle and on tap. |
The Petite Sirah, also from Colorado fruit, is a great
example of what this grape can produce.
I gained an appreciation of these wines this summer, and Infinite Monkey’s
is also worth respecting, too. Under-ripe
cherry, fresh strawberry, and white pepper dominate the aromas and flavors and
then lead to very smooth tannins.
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| When TIMT bottles, it does it in style. |
Finally, Ben’s traditional method sparkling wine from Colorado
albarino grapes is a show stopper.
Perfectly crisp and refreshing, with tart lemon and bread dough, this
wine sips as a beautiful bubbly should…too easily!
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| Bubbles! |
The Infinite Monkey Theorem proves evolution is real…evolution
in the wine industry at least! The
concept of the urban winery works for Ben Parsons, the people of Denver, and
the residents of Colorado. The growth of
this winery in the heart of a city is so great that a second Infinite Monkey
Theorem is getting ready to open in Austin, Texas—another trendy area—predominantly
using Texas grapes for wine production.
Canning and kegging, graffiti and art, loud music and good
wine all show that progress in the New World wine industry is fun and
funky. It can take place in beautiful,
rural vineyards or in hip, cool neighborhoods.
The monkey on the label of The Infinite Monkey Theorem bottles, cans, and
kegs is the perfect symbol for this evolution, an impeccable way to show that
those willing to change with the times will be rewarded…in an infinite number
of ways.
