The history of Uncorked Wine & Spirits

We have been residents of Water Valley for 5 years, and have come to love this growing community. Our love of wine started with the opportunity to travel to a number of vineyards from around the world including Napa Valley. We want to share our passion for great wine with you through our store Uncorked Wine & Spirits. Our goal is to provide a variety of wine tasting opportunities so you can learn and experience a variety of great wines.

We are proud to have Grant Croot as our manager, and Frank Melis as our Napa Valley wine consultant. We're sure you will enjoy their extensive knowledge about wine as much as we have.

Meet Our General Manager - Grant Croot

Grant started in the business at the age of 21 working for Aggie Liquor in Fort Collins, while he attended Colorado State University. After graduating from CSU, Grant went to Napa Valley to experience one of his passions in life, wine. While touring the beatuiful countryside and tasting nearly everything Napa Valley had to offer Grant was offered a job working for a small but amazing winery.

The winery employed a five man crew which meant Grant had to learn every stage of the wine making process. The winery specialized in custom-crushing, meaning any grower in the Napa Valley could send their grapes to have their wine made. This geve Grant exposure to winemakers from all over California.

The fact that Grant was surrounded by beatuiful scenery in Napa Valley was quite a benefit but the real benefit was he worked hand in hand with over a half dozen different winemakers on a daily basis. This gave him the opportunity to ask questions and pick their brains on any aspect of winemaking. What each winemaker did and how their decisions affected the outcome of the wine. Grant tasted about 40 wines a day to determinehow they were dooing and if the winemakers needed to make any changes.

You ask, why would Grant want to give up his Napa Valley job? He couldn't pass up this opportunity to be a part of Water Valley, and to share with others his passion, and knowledge of wine through Uncorked Wine & Spirits.

Meet Our Wine Manager - Aaron Gonzales

A Fort Collins native, Aaron has always had an affinity for food and wine. During his college years he split his time between teaching tennis and working at Aggie Liqour. At the Aggie, he developed a love (almost infatuation) with wine. Everyday he challenged himself to learn more and more about the world of wine.

After 3 years, Aaron became a sales rep with Beverage Express where he honed his sales and people skills into one of the companie's best sellers. After Beverage Exprss closed their doors, Aaron was rehired at the Aggie to manage and maintain their wines a second time. It was then he met Grant Croot. Aaron and Grant worked together for the next 2 years where a mutual respect for each others' work ethic developed. When Grant offered the job to help manage Uncorked, Aaron jumped at the opportunity. Aaron takes great pride in helping all of our customers. Whether its a big oaky Cabernet or a crisp Sauvignon Blanc, Aaron will find the right wine for you.