Raise A Glass To Community: Social Happenings At Local Wineries
Wine is best enjoyed with friends — exchanging stories, exploring creative potential, strengthening your body and mind, all while sipping from your favorite glass of wine. This is the feeling that a handful of local wineries are working hard to emulate through community-driven events that pair good wine with meaningful connection. Check out how three Grand Valley wineries are bringing people together one sip at a time.
CARBOY WINERY
Carboy Winery hosts a plethora of community-driven events that meet year-round, not just confined to the summer months. Out of all these events, two stand out as exemplifying the connectivity that Barbie Graham, Carboy sales and hospitality manager and tasting room manager, works to build and strengthen. The Pen and The Glass, which takes place every fourth Friday of the month, is a spoken word open mic night that collaborates with the Western Colorado Writers’ Forum to foster fun and confidence while supporting local writers. Paint and Sip, which takes place every third Friday of the month, is run by local artist Shannon Vialpando, who guides participants through the process of creating a beautiful painting, no prior experience required. Both events offer a wide selection of delicious wines to be enjoyed throughout.
“I wanted to have a sense of authenticity; we’re not doing it to just create revenue. I wanted to create a network of micro-connections and build a sense of community in the Western Slope,” says Graham. “For The Pen and The Glass, people get out there and bare their hearts and souls; it’s such an intimate experience and there’s a big community response. For Paint and Sip, not only do you get to sip wine, but you get to make something that you get to take home with you. A lot of people are nervous at first, like ‘oh I can’t paint, I don’t know how to do this,’ but it really helps people get out of their shell. At the end of the day, if we can be a space that hosts connectivity in the community, that’s serving a greater goal than dollar bills.”
MAFIA PRINCESS WINERY
Mafia Princess Winery also works to foster connectivity in Western Colorado with their Corks + Chronicles and Sunset Sips events. Corks + Chronicles takes place every second Wednesday of the month and offers participants a lively book club discussion while enjoying a discount on finely crafted wines. Sunset Sips is held every last Friday of the month and invites participants to enjoy live music from local artist Clayton Yeazle, mouth-watering food from 505 Fix Food Truck and signature wines from the winery itself. Mafia Princess also hosts an annual fall event, the Italian Family Style Dinner, where 25 guests gather around an oversized table to share authentic homemade Italian cuisine made with locally sourced ingredients, Mafia Princess wines and the intimacy that family dinners inspire.
“Making a space open and inviting to bring people together is part of our mission as a business,” says Hillary Eales, founder and winemaker of Mafia Princess. “When we started the winery, we prayed a lot about it and had a vision for the place — that it would be more than a business, that it would be a place of community. A place people could come and feel at peace. Where they could get involved, get their hands dirty in the vineyard and slow down. We live in a hectic culture; we wanted to make a place that people could find rest for their very souls, through community, working with their hands during harvest or just pausing for a sunset.”
RESTORATION VINEYARDS
Restoration Vineyards makes the most of its sunset views with a weekly community event on the Western Slope. Wine Down Fridays pairs discounted selections of the winery’s favorite pours with fresh, authentic Thai cuisine from Pali-Thai. Held every Friday, the event offers a relaxed atmosphere for guests of all ages. With 16 different wines, such as their 2023 rosé and 2021 fumé blanc, plus seasonal selections, Restoration Vineyards has something for everyone. Restoration Vineyards also offers exclusive wines for wine club members.
“We’re not just a winery, but we’re a gathering place for the community as well,” says Gary Brauns, owner of Restoration Vineyards. “This event, it’s really just an ideal setting, and it’s very local-centric. The view and the food — it’s a pairing made in heaven.”
Through an array of creative social events that take advantage of the Western Slope’s beautiful scenery and the intimate nature of sipping wine with friends, these three wineries are taking connectivity to a whole new level, fostering a deep sense of community and belonging in every patron.
Carboy Winery
3572 G Rd., Palisade
THE PEN AND THE GLASS
4:15 – 6 p.m. every fourth Friday.
(September 26, October 24, November 28, December 26, January 23)
PAINT AND SIP
5 – 7 p.m. every third Friday. (September 19, October 17, November 21, December 19, January 16)
carboywinery.com
barbie@carboywinery.com
Mafia Princess Winery
221 31 3/10 Rd., Grand Junction
CORKS + CHRONICLES
6 – 8 p.m. every second Wednesday.
(September 10, October 8)
SUNSET SIPS
5:30 – 8:30 every last Friday. (September 26, October 24)
ITALIAN FAMILY STYLE DINNER
6 – 9 p.m. every fall. (September 18, 19)
mafiaprincesswines.com
hillary@mafiaprincesswines.com
Restoration Vineyards
3594 E 1/2 Rd., Palisade
WINE DOWN FRIDAYS
3 p.m. to 8 p.m. every Friday. (September 5, September 12, September 19, September 26, October 3, October 10, October 17)
restorationvineyards.com.
gbrauns@restorationvineyards.com
Originally published in the fall 2025 issue of Spoke+Blossom.