Colorado wine producers commanding more respect

LOVELAND – Pat McGibney is one of the pioneers in Colorado’s nascent Front Range-based wine industry.

McGibney and his wife, Geri, are Loveland area residents who have devoted themselves to growing wine grapes and establishing the Valley of the Wind Winery near Loveland. They also operate a popular tasting room next to the babbling Big Thompson River in downtown Estes Park.

The McGibneys, who started growing wine grapes six years ago, are among about a dozen or so who have built wineries along the Front Range in the last decade or so, from Snowy Peaks Winery in Estes Park to The Winery…