About Us

Good wine. Good stories. Made this way.

The Ordinary Fellow is a craft winery in Palisade, Colorado, making wines that are expressive, thoughtful, and easy to feel at home with.

We're here to make honest wine, tell a few good stories, and leave things better than we found them.

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The Hands Behind the Wine

The Ordinary Fellow is built by people who know that good wine begins long before the bottle. It begins in the vineyard, in the cellar, and in the welcome people feel when they walk through the door.

Ben, Karo, and Juan bring the work together: wine, farming, hospitality, and a belief that Colorado wine deserves to be taken seriously.

The people behind The Ordinary Fellow wine

FOUNDER’S STORY

It started with a love for this place.

Ben Parsons came to Colorado after studying enology at the University of Adelaide and found his way to Palisade in 2001. What began as a surprise discovery of Colorado wine became a long career in winemaking, innovation, and helping shape the state’s wine industry.

After years of building, experimenting, and pushing Colorado wine forward, Ben returned to the vineyard with The Ordinary Fellow: a winery rooted in Palisade, housed in the original United Fruit Growers packing shed, and built around thoughtful wines with a clear sense of place.

Ben Parsons

Founder / Winemaker

THE ORDINARY FELLOW STORY

It started with a love for the stories in the bottle.

Karo came from Nashville by way of Los Angeles, where she worked as a costume designer before making a new start in Denver. There, inside a small wine bar, she found herself drawn to the way wine could hold a place, a memory, a meal, and a conversation all at once.

That curiosity led her deeper into the world of wine, including courses through The International Sommelier Guild. Then Ben walked into her wine bar on a sales call, and the story changed again. With more than 20 years of hospitality experience and a creative eye for retail, Karo now shapes the tasting room at The Ordinary Fellow, making sure the welcome feels as thoughtful as the wine.

THE ORDINARY FELLOW STORY

It started with a lifetime of reading the land.

Juan Adan has spent decades overseeing vineyards and orchards across the Grand Valley. Since the 90s, he has become one of the most trusted voices in the region’s fruit and wine community, helping plant and grow much of what defines this place today.

Ben and Juan first met in 2001 while working together at Canyon Wind Cellars. Years later, they reconnected to help bring The Ordinary Fellow to life. From February through November, Juan is on the road managing Box Bar, Montezuma Canyon Ranch, and other vineyard sites across Colorado with the kind of quiet experience that can only come from seasons spent paying attention.

Our Approach

Rooted in place. Guided by purpose.

Vineyard First

Our wines begin in the vineyard, farmed with care and intention.

Sustainably Farmed

We farm for today and tomorrow, protecting our land and our future.

Handcrafted Wines

Small lots, careful choices, and wines shaped by texture, time, and place.

Colorado Rooted

Proudly from Palisade and the Western Slope, shaped by Colorado's high-desert character.

Made for Good Company

Wine is better when it brings people together. That's the ordinary magic.

OUR VINEYARDS & WINEMAKING

From our land to your glass.

The Ordinary Fellow was born from a desire to return to the vineyard and make some of the very best Colorado wine. Box Bar Vineyard, a 13-acre site in Southwest Colorado planted to Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Albariño, Syrah, Charbono and Riesling, had fallen into disrepair before Ben leased it and began bringing it back to life.  

In Palisade, The Ordinary Fellow came together inside the original United Fruit Growers packing shed, remodeled into a winery and wine bar built for honest wine, good company, and a deeper connection to place.

Recognition

Honored to do what we love.

20+ Years

Colorado wine experience.

Top of Class

University of Adelaide Enology.

Top 40 Under 40

Wine Enthusiast Tastemaker.

94 Points

Decanter recognition for The Ordinary Fellow.

Colorado Wine Leadership

Former service with the Colorado Wine Industry Development Board and CAVE.

What people are saying

A point of view, shared.

Ben has made tremendous contributions to the Colorado wine industry over his many years here and in his many different roles.

He has probably done as much as any other single person to bring high-quality Colorado wine to the attention of Colorado consumers at restaurants, in liquor stores, and especially in fun, fanciful packaging. He pioneered can wine for the entire country, and took Colorado's reputation to the next level. He made wine fun.

The Infinite Monkey Theorem has played an instrumental role in the successes of the Colorado wine industry. From being the first winery to can wine to one of the first wineries located in a city, Ben Parsons is the force behind these innovative risks.

These decisions have assisted in elevating the Colorado wine brand and this ripple can be felt today in our growing industry.

I first met Ben a decade ago in a graffiti-riddled Quonset hut to discuss his “crazy” idea to can wine. Since then, I have watched with admiration as he built the TIMT brand, crafted highly-respected wines and single handedly changed the approachability of the space through packaging innovation...cannot wait to see what he does next.

I’ve known Ben since 2008 when his Infinite Monkey Theory wines first came across my tasting table at Wine Spectator. I was impressed with their quality and style from the start.

From there, I charted his progress as he explored new grape varietals, new grape sources from outside Colorado, alternative packaging and the development of an urban winery in downtown Denver. All of this helped bring Colorado wine into the mainstream for wine lovers. Ben is an innovator who believes in quality and I look forward to seeing what he works on next...

I admire Ben Parsons. He is an individual—an innovator and a risk taker. He has pushed boundaries, ruffled feathers and introduced Colorado wine to so many local consumers. He helped realize Colorado’s potential by making high quality wine that’s also fun, relevant and a vehicle for community. Ben Parsons has been an instrumental figure in Colorado wine's becoming.

Press

In good company.

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