PALISADE, Colo. — Tucked just off the tasting room at Colterris Collections in Palisade, sits a museum most people don't know exists — and those who find it rarely leave without wanting to come back.
Scott and Theresa High farm 200 acres along the Colorado River, harvesting peaches from their 32,000 trees. But it's their vineyards that keep growing — and it's Scott's museum that keeps surprising visitors.
"I don't think it's been discovered," Scott said.
But when people do find it, the reaction is hard to miss.
"It's amazing," a visitor said.
"That's one of my favorite words," Scott said.
At the center of the museum is a collection of more than 5,000 corkscrews — wine openers Scott began collecting at age 16.
"This is our start. This is the first corkscrew," Scott said, pointing to the one he bought in 1971. "To have 5,000 corkscrews on display is kind of a nice accomplishment."
The reaction from first-time visitors has become a pattern.
"Locals are finding out about it. Two ladies were flabbergasted. At the beginning they said, 'We have to bring our husbands,' and at the end, they said, 'We've got to bring our husbands,'" Scott said.
Scott's passion for wine history started long before the museum. At 12 years old, he would ride his 10-speed bicycle to the Denver Public Library to check out books on wine — all to impress his father.
"At one point the librarian called my mom and asked her if it was OK that I check out books on wine, cause I was that young, and she said, 'Certainly,'" Scott said.
Scott's father died unexpectedly when Scott was 24.
"I don't think we had enough memories or enough time to share together so that he appreciated my passion for what he instilled in me, and that's an unfortunate thing for me," he said.
The collection reflects decades of dedicated searching. The museum holds all seven programs from seven wine festivals held in France in the 1930s — a set that took years to complete.
"It took me 40 years to find this last one," Scott said.
Among the artifacts is a silver wine tasting cup presented to Napoleon during his 100 days of reign. A wine list signed by Mickey Mantle from his New York restaurant prompted Scott to seek out another signature — a baseball signed by John Elway.
"The story about Elway and Mickey Mantle is they had their entire careers in the outfield for the Yankees. Mickey was there 14 years and John was there 42 games," Scott said.
For Theresa, the division of their shared enterprise is simple.
"I got the vineyard, Scott got his museum," Theresa said.
The museum is located just off the tasting room at Colterris Collections in Palisade.
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