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Chateau Tumbleweed
Tasting room: 1151 W. AZ-89A in Clarkdale (928-634-0443)
Sourcing from seven vineyards in Arizona, the two husband-and-wife teams who own Chateau Tumbleweed have more than 30 years of combined winery experience. They began making wine at the Four Eight Wineworks co-op before opening one of Clarkdale’s first commercial wineries and tasting rooms two years ago.
Tom recommends: No doubt the most fun, serious winery in Arizona. See the labels or talk to one of the four partners, and you’ll understand what I mean. The Cousin Id, an Arizona version of a Bordeaux blend, is a good example of a fine wine with a label that conveys the winemakers’ sense of humor.
Fire Mountain Wines
Tasting room: 1010 N. Main St. in Old Town Cottonwood (928-649-9135)
The first Native American-owned winery in the Verde Valley began producing wine in 2011. Fire Mountain sources its grapes from vineyards in Arizona, New Mexico and Central California. The winery also offers one of the largest selections of white wines of any northern Arizona winery.
Tom recommends: The Cicada has proven to be a very nice addition to the lineup. One-hundred-percent sangiovese from Cochise County, it won the gold medal and was named Best Sangiovese at the Arizona Republic Wine Competition, and it received a Medal of American Merit at The Jefferson Cup Invitational Wine Competition.
Four Eight Wineworks
Tasting room: 907 Main St. in Clarkdale (928-649-2007)
Named after Arizona’s status as our nation’s 48th state, Four Eight Wineworks is a cooperative where fledgling winemakers can garner experience at the co-op’s Camp Verde facility and then share the results in the Clarkdale tasting room.
Tom recommends: Try the Oddity Wine Collective’s Unsanctioned. It’s a 50-50 sangiovese and petite sirah blend with fruit from Cochise County. It’s aged for 10 months in mixed French and American oak and is one of the first releases from this new Verde Valley-based producer.
Four Tails Vineyard
Tasting room: Call 623-693-6547 to schedule an appointment.
Nestled at the base of the Dragoon Mountains in Pearce, Arizona, Four Tails Vineyard gets its name from its owners’ fur babies. All of the wine labels are dog themed, and all of the fruit is sourced from Arizona.
Tom recommends: From the winery named to memorialize the four canine members of the family, look for the Big Paw Syrah. Made with 100-percent Cochise County fruit, it was aged for 18 months in French oak. It’s a big wine meant to be served with bold-flavored food.
