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Kief-Joshua Vineyards
Tasting room: 370 Elgin Road in Elgin (520-455-5582)
With a 20-acre vineyard in Elgin and 40 acres in Willcox, Kief-Joshua is helmed by winemaker Kief Manning, who takes pride in practicing sustainable farming techniques. The winery produces dry, full-bodied wines.
Tom recommends: Look for the tempranillo. It’s a great dry, full-bodied example of what can be done with the grape first introduced to Arizona by Spanish explorers hundreds of years ago. It does very well in the Sonoita/Elgin area, and this is one of my favorites.
Merkin Vineyards
Tasting room: 1001 N. Main St. in Old Town Cottonwood (928-639-1001)
Also owned by Maynard James Keenan along with his wife, Jennifer, Merkin Vineyards sources most of its fruit from Willcox. The winery has three “programs:” Chupacabra (French style), Shinola (Italian style) and Tarzan/Jane (Spanish/Iberian style). Merkin produces about 6,500 cases per year.
Tom recommends: A huge favorite since day one has been the Chupacabra. Named for the famous southwestern shape shifter, it was always envisioned to be a wine that would have a different blend of red grapes every year. The current release is a GSM blend from the Buhl Memorial Vineyard.
Page Springs Cellars
Tasting room: 1500 N. Page Springs Road in Cornville (928-639-3004)
Owner and director of winemaking Eric Glomski started Page Springs Cellars in 2004. The winery sources its grapes from its own estate vineyards in Page Springs as well as vineyards in southern Arizona and California. Page Springs specializes in Rhone-style wines.
Tom recommends: Billed as the neighborhood’s white wine, a glass of the Vino del Barrio Blanca, a unique blend of multiple white grapes from Arizona, has always provided a refreshing option for sipping on a hot summer day in our part of the world. It’s an award winner, too.
Pillsbury Wine Company
Tasting rooms: 1012 N. Main St. in Old Town Cottonwood (928-639-0646) and 6450 Bennett Place in Willcox (928-595-1001)
Film director, producer and writer Sam Pillsbury began planting grapes in Cochise County in 2000, and in 2006, Pillsbury Wine Company opened (the Cottonwood tasting room opened in 2010). All of Pillsbury’s wines are made with grapes from Cochise County.
Tom recommends: An Arizona chardonnay caused Sam Pillsbury to make his wine here in the first place, and his Reserve Chardonnay validates that decision. Aged in 50-percent neutral oak and 50-percent stainless steel with no malolactic, it is a stunner. Clean. Crisp. A Jefferson Cup Invitational Wine Competition Gold Medal winner.
Southwest Wine Center
Tasting room: 601 W. Black Hills Drive in Clarkdale (928-634-6566)
The Southwest Wine Center at Yavapai College samples wines made from students in the college’s viticulture program. Grapes are sourced from the college’s 13-acre vineyard located at the foothills of Mingus Mountain.
Tom recommends: Try the 2014 Sunlight (a blended varietal white wine). It won the gold medal and Best of Class Award at the 2017 Sunset International Wine Competition in Berkeley, California, a competition affiliated with Sunset Magazine. What a great achievement for this student-made wine.
