Senior owned winery is rooted in history, flourishing in wine

Sep 03, 2025 11:09AM ● By Jen Wolfe

By Jen Wolfe

Just past the hops fields on Trout Road in Montrose, you’ll find a winery with roots deeper than its vines. At LaNoue DuBois Winery, every bottle tells the story of two families, a patch of land dating back to 1945 and a leap-of-faith dream that took shape when most people would be preparing for retirement.

“This land has been in my family since 1945, when my dad bought 300 acres and the house we still live in,” said Kathy LaNoue. “When my parents retired, they hoped my four sisters and I would continue the family farm.”

But a 300-acre farm can’t support five families, so they each took 50 acres. Some siblings sold, some leased. Kathy kept her share and spent years traveling the world before returning home, meeting her husband Rick and deciding to farm.

“My parents were thrilled,” she said.

The name LaNoue DuBois (Lah-New Dew-Bwah) means “LaNoue of the Woods” in French—LaNoue is the family name, and Woods is the maiden name of the family matriarch. The land was once part of the Woods Estate, and the vineyard still carries that name.

It was Kathy’s mother who suggested turning part of the land into a winery. She knew Rick had been making fruit wines since he was old enough to legally do so and encouraged him to try grape wine. A single acre was planted as a test.

LATE START, FRESH START

Rick spent nearly three decades working in the oil industry and gas plants, including 29 years with Chevron. In their 60s, he and Kathy began studying vineyard management and winemaking. Around the same time, their son, Lee—a master woodworker—learned he was allergic to nearly all the woods used in his trade and was ready for a new career.

LaNoue DuBois opened in 2021—just in time for a hard October freeze, followed by early spring budding and killing frosts. The family weathered the setback and now farms 15 planted acres, with more land ready for expansion.

“Kathy is the real brains behind the vineyard,” said Rick. “She figured out which grapes could survive our climate and where to source them. We’re lower in altitude than the North Fork Valley, but we get more freezes, so we needed extremely hardy varieties.”

Today, the winery grows five French-American hybrids: Marechal Foch, Leon Millot, Frontenac, Frontenac Gris and New York Black Muscat. Naturally resistant to cold and disease, they require little spraying, even in wet years.

LaNoue DuBois is the only Colorado vineyard growing exclusively hybrid grapes—a practice born from the 1860s phylloxera epidemic that devastated European vineyards and led to hardier, disease-resistant varieties.

“If the grapes aren’t good enough for my grandkids to snack on, they aren’t good enough for our wines,” Rick said.

They avoid herbicides and pesticides, weed the vineyard by hand and power both the irrigation system and the tasting room with a solar system Rick designed himself.

AWARD-WINNING WINES

The winery has won awards in every competition entered, including the 2024 Winery of the Year from the Colorado Association of Viticulture and Enology.

“Lee is an amazing scientific winemaker,” Rick said. “He tests our wines often, allowing us to use minimal sulfites. Even people sensitive to sulfites can drink our wines.”

The tasting room, finished with wood from the Woods Family Farm, hosts events for up to 35 people, with a patio overlooking the San Juans. Guests can bring their own food, hire a caterer or enjoy a charcuterie board with local meats and cheeses.

From September through mid-October, volunteers are welcome to help harvest grapes, stomp the first batch of the day, taste fresh-pressed grape juice and enjoy lunch and a bottle of wine as thanks.Visit LaNoueWines.com for harvest volunteer details.

“Rick and I intend to partially retire in the next year or two, although we’ll never fully step away from the winery,” said Kathy. “However, we do intend to travel. We’re proud to pass the mantle on to Lee and future generations.”