Fun in Paradise, wine tasting is always the way to go. |
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| We have been wine tasting in Arizona
once before over the winter about 4 years ago. Things change,
but they also stay the same. April 10: Today, we hit the Southeastern part of the state (again), just south and east of Tucson. The state has put up a new website (which is a good thing) and I re-investigated which wineries to go tasting. I put down 7 wineries of which we actually tasted at 5 of them.
I am sorry that we missed Wilhelm Family Vineyards, but we were hungry and went back into Sonoita for some lunch. :)
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| As we drove down Hwy 83, we found this border patrol stopping point on the northbound lane. You never know when you will run into one. | First stop, Dos Cabezas. This was our first time to taste at the tasting room, it use to be over in Willcox and we never made it over there. We did taste there wine 2 years ago at the Rhone festival in Paso Robles, CA though. |
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| They are still working on their building, here is one of the temporary rooms used to stored casks where their wine is aging and a few stored bottles of wine. | Inside the tasting room. We had a great time chatting with the gal pouring (sorry, can't remember her name :P ) She and her husband are retired military. We bought a couple of bottles of red, the Toscano was really, really good. |
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| We turned down the wrong road, so we had the GPS re-route us, "she" thought this was a road to get us back onto Hwy 83. Well it did, but I'm not sure I would call it a road. | The next stop was Rancho Rossa. This winery/tasting room was not available for tasting the last time we came through, but it is here now :) |
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| Rancho Rossa Vineyards, already going through bud break. | Inside the tasting room, the three dogs were the welcoming committee. Very nicely done :) |
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| The best stop on the tasting, Callaghan's. We tasted here the last time we were here and loved it then, and we love it again :) | The tasting room, in this case, nothing changes, all is good. |
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| Lisa Callaghan poured for us, she poured for us last time too. Again, nothing changes (which is a good thing here). Kent came in just a little later and we yakked and yakked, had a great time and bought enough wine to keep me happy :) | Just next door, Canelo Hill Winery. Another new winery, not there the last time we tasted in the area. |
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| Jim was checking things out as I was taking the picture. The wind was howling outside, you could barely open or close the door. | Family pictures on the barrels at Canelo Hills. |
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| Another new stop, Kief-Joshua Vineyards. | This place was being built the last time we came through. I just knew it was going to be a winery :) |
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| It's beautiful inside and out. We kept seeing the same folks at each of the wineries, so of course, I had to stop and chat. This is a place to watch, once all of their vineyards are in full production. | We were starving by now, so we stopped here at The Grasslands, a bakery and cafe. Very natural foods kind of place, I think there was only one dish that had some type of meat in it and that was a bratwurst sandwich. We had pasta salads and they were yummy. |
| It was another successful day of wine tasting and really worth the trip. The folks are friendly, the customers are friendly and you will probably find at least one wine that you like. There are more wineries to try than what we did this time, most of them had the sweeter wines. If you can't find something, you didn't try hard enough :) | |
April 25: We are now in the
Sedona area and time to go to one of our other favorites and try a
new winery.
We did not get to say hi to Eric (we actually ran into him in TX while tasting there...) but we did have fun with the tasting room manager, Corey, and the other ladies that were pouring that day. It was still worth the trip. |
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Page Springs Cellars tasting room.
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Newly planted vines in front of the tasting room. |
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Jim inside the tasting room, perusing the tasting "menu". |
Page Springs Vineyard, now producing, the closest vines that are in bigger leaf are syrah for their estate label.
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Just up the road is a new winery, Javelina Leap. It was in the process of being built the last time we tasted here. |
The tasting room and winery; if you look closely behind, you can see a small vineyard. Until it produces, they are buying their grapes from California.
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On our way back home, we ran into a few oldie but goodie cars that were our for a drive, a Model T club. Mom is holding on to Dad's hat so it doesn't fly off :)
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Another of the cars, there were about eight of them all together. |
| April 26: On our way to visit Jerome, AZ we stopped
at a new winery,
Alcantara Vineyard and Winery *. We chatted with Barbara (the owner)
for quite some time. They bought a lot of property and have plans
all drawn up to make a small Italian style village in the middle of
the Verde Valley. If they can pull it off, it will be wonderful. You
can buy property for a home as long as you plant a few vines of
grapes that you then sell to the winery.
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You drive past a Thousand Trails RV Park to get down to where the tasting room is.
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Looking down into the small valley where Alcantara has built their tasting room, winery and planted their vineyards. |
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The tasting room is done in an Italian Villa style, it is pretty impressive, both outside... |
and inside. This is a sitting area in front of a fireplace, there is a patio off the back and the tasting bar/kitchen is to the left. Very comfy.
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It was another successful tasting trip to Arizona. Next stop, Utah :) |
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