Telluride Sleighs and Wagons: A Culinary Treasure Transports You To The Basque Country

Photos courtesy of Telluride Sleighs and Wagons

There’s a saying amongst the Basque people, those who are indigenous to an autonomous region straddling France and Spain and known for their many proverbs: “A foreign land is a land of wolves.” The expression reveals a distrust of foreign people and places, and indeed when Basques first came to settle Western Colorado, they were met with a largely inhospitable welcome. 

Frontier life was both dangerous and lonely for Basque settlers here in the late 1800s and early 1900s. They worked as sheep herders and contended with hostilities from ranchers and cowboys competing for land. They didn’t speak English and, in the 1930s, were banned from entering Grand Junction’s restaurants and dance halls. 

But as is so often the case when it comes to new arrivals chasing the American dream, the long story of these settlers is one of endurance, loss and triumph on the road to becoming an integral thread in the rich tapestry that is Colorado life and culture. 

It’s a warm June evening in Telluride when I am introduced to this chapter of Colorado history. I’m in town on a writing trip and the place is abuzz with throngs of hopped-up tourists swarming the streets while busy locals make hay and whisper rumors about the latest celebrities spotted in town.

A couple of hours before sunset, I am picked up outside my hotel by a horse-drawn wagon along with 10 other visitors for an evening with Telluride Sleighs and Wagons on the Aldasoro Ranch north of town. We trundle up the dirt track to the 1,550 acres where Ashley Story, the great granddaughter of pioneering Basque rancher Joaquin Aldasoro, serves up intimate farm-to-table style cuisine using family recipes along with family stories that transport you to a distant place and time. 

“I get people up here who have vacationed in Telluride for 20 years and didn’t know about the Basque sheep herding in the area, which actually has a pretty big history here, as much as mining,” says Story, who started the outfit with a view to treat visitors to a taste of her cultural heritage through a memorable, intimate experience. Distinct from both Spanish and French culture, the Basques are one of the oldest ethnic groups in Europe, yet elements of its culture merge seamlessly with the New World. Basque culture is known for festivals and folklore, but it’s their love of food and wine that captures the imagination today. The late TV chef Anthony Bourdain described their approach to food as a “mania” upon visiting San Sebastian, which has one of the highest concentrations of Michelin starred restaurants in the entire world. 

Just after 7 p.m. we pull up to a sturdy white tent decorated with sun-bleached antlers that houses a single long dinner table set for 12 guests. Wooden boards are piled high with tapas of cured meats, local cheeses, cherries and stuffed red peppers for grazing on, and cocktails are passed out to enjoy around the fire pit with the last of the sun and unparalleled views of the San Juans. 

A short while later, our group of strangers is well on the way to becoming friends and we’re gathered around the table, now groaning under the weight of platters of hot food. Basque cuisine is essentially peasant food: hearty and rooted in what’s good locally. Story’s nod to this heritage is evident in Colorado lamb meatballs topped with quail eggs, thick slices of succulent slow cooked Colorado beef, braised local greens, crispy brussels sprouts and honey poached carrots. We pass the plates around, serve ourselves, pour wine and tuck in. 

This group dining experience is another aspect of Basque culture that Story recreates for her guests. Though she grew up here on the ranch, leaving only for five years to attend college in Denver and work for the Sheridan Opera House, she visits the Basque Country often and takes much of her inspiration from the country’s renowned cider houses, called Sagardotegis. 

“They are these big dining halls where they have these big long tables where everyone sits, families next to families, and eats a meal all together, even if they’re in different groups,” she says. 

As we feast, sitting elbow to elbow, Story recounts for us the unlikely tale of how her family came from being sheepherders without a country to landowners in one of the wealthiest towns in America. 

“The Pyrenees mountains are very similar to the area where the ranch is so they were very comfortable in this mountainous terrain,” she explains. Back then, ranching was a lucrative business, providing the miners with lamb and wool. Aldasoro’s son Albert, Story’s grandfather, carried on the family tradition, but as the mining boon died down, so did the need for ranchers. 

In the 1980s, with property values rising and business dwindling, Story’s grandfather struggled to pay taxes and repay federal loans and lost the ranch. This was, according to Story, something that happened to a lot of ranching families throughout southwestern Colorado at the time, but this story has a happy ending, with her grandfather buying the property back at auction on the courthouse steps for $1.2 million. 

After that, Story’s dad Bill and his brother Joe started hosting sleigh ride dinners on the property in the early 1990s and ran it for four seasons. The land stayed in the family and is used for ranching to this day, rejuvenated by the success of the ski resort. Upon returning to Telluride in 2014, Story started wracking her brain to come up with ideas to utilize the property herself. 

“I remember having a sleigh ride dinner there when I was a kid and it was something that I had fond memories of. People would say, ‘Oh I remember when your dad had that sleigh ride dinner, it was so great!’ and so that was my inspiration, to recreate that with my own twist on it.” 

Telluride Sleighs and Wagons was born, with an eye to sharing their spectacular views and rich history with guests. In just a few short generations, the Aldasoro family has gone from being at the very fringe of Colorado society to receiving locals and guests into their home for a truly unforgettable experience. Today, Story’s parents and aunt are partners in the business, living on the property and often dropping by the dinners to wash dishes, meet guests and share a glass of wine. 

“I want people to feel like they’re part of the Aldasoro family for one night. Our family is pretty private and we don’t have a bunch of people up on the property all the time; I like being able to invite people to come up and feel at home.” 

After rounding out dinner with warm peach cobbler, the evening starts to wind down, and we move outside where the horses are hitched up to take us back to town. The sun has dipped behind the mountains and the moon has risen in its place. Soon enough, we are in the wagon once again making our way back to the present era and the bustle of Telluride under the stars. As another Basque saying goes, time flies when you are among friends. 

Originally published in the Summer 2021 issue