40: A Surprise Visit with Dan and Michelle of Continental Divide Winery

Denver Wine Radio

Fate and a combined passion for the wine industry brought two families together to create Continental Divide Winery.

Part-time Breckenridge residents Jeffrey and Ana Maltzman owned two successful wineries in California. Ten years ago the Maltzmans, their two daughters and their two Australian Shepherds were walking down Main Street in Breckenridge when they spotted Colorado winemakers and Alma residents Kent Hutchison and Angela Bryan, their two daughters and their two Australian Shepherds walking the other direction. The couples and their girls have been fast friends ever since.

The families quickly discovered their mutual passion for the art and science of wine. Today Continental Divide is owned and operated by the Maltzman family with Kent and Angela serving as contributing winemakers producing some of our most acclaimed Colorado reserve wines.

By tasting different wines crafted from both California and Colorado grapes, guests can learn and experience the differences that altitude, soil and weather make on wine.

They produce all of their wines in a state-of-the-art winemaking facility in Fairplay, making Continental Divide the highest altitude winery in the world. Crafting and aging wines at over 10,000' altitude minimizes oxygen exposure and results in a slower and more gentle fermentation that allows the true flavors of the fruit and land to come through. To further capitalize on our unique alpine location, they use a patented winemaking system to craft many of the wines in a nearly zero oxygen closed-cell environment as well as the use of snow and the extreme temperatures of the alpine environment to control fermentation instead of mechanical and artificial cooling.

Continental Divide Winery invites you to come visit our tasting rooms in both Breckenridge and South Park (Fairplay) and experience first-hand our award-winning wines.