Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria is new Arizona destination
Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria was four years in the making. Musician Maynard James Keenan shares his vision for the new destination.
Megan Mendoza/The Republic
While southern Arizona is well-known for saguaros and breathtaking desert landscapes, it also features a thriving wine industry.
Dozens of wineries can be found in the primary winemaking regions Sonoita-Elgin and Willcox — the latter produces 74% of wine grapes grown in Arizona. Wineries can also be found in towns like Patagonia, Pearce and McNeal.
The region’s higher altitude and heavy rains, paired with cooler nights and warmer days, make for great winemaking. The region’s rolling hills and majestic mountains make southern Arizona vineyards must-visit spots for any wine enthusiast.
If you’re looking for a new favorite vintage, check out these local favorites.
Wineries in Sonoita and Elgin
Located in Santa Cruz County, Sonoita and Elgin are the epicenter of southern Arizona wine country. Sonoita was the first area in Arizona to earn the American Viticultural Area designation. With the area’s rolling hills and picturesque landscapes, visitors can experience wine tasting with beautiful views.
Sonoita Vineyards
Located in Elgin, Sonita Vineyards is the oldest commercial vineyard in Arizona, founded in 1974 and opened in 1983.
With award-winning wines and sustainable water harvesting practices, Sonoita Vineyards aims to preserve the area’s ecosystem. The winery also recycles its bottles and cardboard and composts all wine-making byproducts for use as fertilizer.
Sonoita Vineyards’ tasting room is large and spacious, capable of holding 40 to 50 people. Visitors can sip on wine while watching winemaking in action, with views into the production room. On Saturdays from August through September, visitors can help harvest and watch the grape-crushing process in person.
Details: 90 Elgin Canelo Rd, Elgin, AZ. (520) 455-5893. www.sonoitavineyards.com.
Rune Wines
Rune Wines is an off-grid, solar-powered winery in Elgin. Visitors can enjoy the winery’s outdoor tasting room located under a shade canopy and sip on wine while enjoying the panoramic views of the surrounding mountain ranges and high desert grasslands.
The winery had its first vintage in 2013 and opened its tasting room in 2015. The tasting menu rotates regularly but typically includes five to six wines, including a rosé and a selection of white and red wines. Guests can choose from a range of fresh, seasonal small bites, mezze platters, and sandwiches to pair with their wine or non-alcoholic beverages.
The winery also has an artistic flair, producing stories on its labels about each wine. The story unfolds with each vintage, told through an excerpt on the back of the bottle and an original artistic rendering by artist Daniel Helzer on the front. The full narrative for each type of wine can be found on the Rune Wines website.
Details: 3969 AZ-82, Sonoita. 520-338-8823 www.runewines.com.
Callaghan Vineyards
Callaghan Vineyards in Elgin is a pioneer of Arizona winemaking. It has been making waves since the mid-1990s, and its wines have been served at the White House four times.
The winery’s list of accolades continues to grow. In the azcentral 2024 wine competition, Callaghan Vineyards won top honors among Malvasia Bianca wines for its Callaghan Love Muffin White 2022. At the winery’s tasting room, visitors can choose to sit inside or outside, overlooking the vast expanse of rolling greenery.
Details: 336 Elgin Road, Elgin. 520-455-5322. www.callaghanvineyards.com.
Dos Cabezas WineWorks
With two farms in southern Arizona’s high desert, one in Cochise County and another in Sonoita, Dos Cabezas WineWorks offers visitors a range of wines and a wide array of food.
Serving pizzas and a full menu of food, this is a must-visit winery located 45 minutes southeast of Tucson. The winery won silver in azcentral’s 2024 wine competition for its Águileón 2020 and Pink 2022 wines. The winery also offers some of its wines in cans, making them camping-trip friendly. The sparkling wines usually sell out every year.
Details: 3248 Hwy 82 / PO Box 871, Sonoita. 520-455-5141. www.doscabezas.com.
Flying Leap Vineyards
Located in the heart of scenic southern Arizona, Flying Leap Vineyards has a distillery, barrelhouse, tasting room, and event center. Flying Leap’s distillery produces grape-based spirits, like vodka, brandy, and grappa, a grape brandy made from the leftovers of winemaking.
Flying Leap began producing wine in 2013. Increased demand led the winery to collaborate with growers and vintners in Mendoza, Argentina, for their Malbec and Chardonnay wines and in Walla Walla, Washington, for their Syrah and Sangiovese wines.
Details: 342 Elgin Rd. Elgin. (888) 431-5777. www.flyingleapvineyards.com.
Los Milics Vineyards
Los Milics Vineyards sits on a 20-acre estate in Elgin, surrounded by miles of vineyards and majestic mountains. The winery also has 50 acres of vines planted 20 miles east in Elfrida.
The vineyard’s founder, Pavle Milic, the co-owner of FnB Restaurant in Scottsdale, opened the winery’s Elgin tasting room in 2022. The winery also has a tasting room in Old Town Scottsdale.
Los Milics grows 17 different grape varieties and made the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 for having one of the best tasting rooms in the country. The tasting room offers small plates and tapas to pair with Los Milics’ wines.
Los Milics also has nine one-bedroom, one-bathroom casitas on the vineyard, and a restaurant for guests staying in the casitas. Its Rosé wine called Sandra’s, named after the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, won the Governor’s Cup in the azcentral 2024 wine competition.
Details: 423 Upper Elgin Road, Elgin. 520- 221-0180. losmilicsvineyards.com.
Autumn Sage Vineyards
Autumn Sage Vineyards is an award-winning vineyard with a tasting room, a park and a patio space for outdoor events.
The vineyard’s outdoor space boasts a gazebo and a fishing pond where the winery hosts weddings, anniversaries, festivals and corporate events.
The winery won gold in the azcentral 2024 Arizona Wine Competition for its Albarino 2022, a white wine, and its Sagrantino 2021, a red wine.
Details: 90 Elgin Road, Elgin. (602) 904-2120. autumnsage.com.
Arizona Hops and Vines
Arizona Hops and Vines is a woman-owned winery in Sonoita with a popular outdoor space and a petting zoo. Visitors can enjoy wine tasting and delicious and interesting food pairings like Cheetos and other small food items. Hops and Vines also offers daily sangria and sangria slushies.
A visit to the winery’s tasting room, located in a converted farmhouse, is not complete without making a wish at the wishing barrel. Guests write a wish onto a piece of paper, put it into the barrel, and ring the bell above the barrel. When the bell rings, everyone in the room toasts the wish.
Details: 3450 Hwy 82 Sonoita. 301-237-6556. www.azhopsandvines.com.
Wineries in Willcox
A historic agricultural town with numerous wineries to choose from, Willcox in Cochise County has everything from epic hikes and beautiful mountain vistas to relaxing wineries.
Coronado Vineyards
Coronado Vineyards sits about 20 minutes down the Interstate 10 highway from the historic ghost town of Cochise. The winery has a spacious tasting room with outdoor seating overlooking its vineyards and the rolling desert landscape. It boasts award-winning wine and a sprawling menu of tapas, charcuterie boards, sandwiches, and more.
The founders, Rhona MacMillan and Mark Jorve, planted the vineyard’s first vines in 2010, growing the vineyard over the years to more than 5,000 vines.
Details: 2909 E Country Club Dr, Willcox. 520- 766-2993. coronadovineyards.com.
Zarpara Vineyards
Zarpara Vineyards is nestled under the Dos Cabezas Mountains.
Zarapara is located just south of Willcox and offers visitors the chance to stroll through the vineyard and bring along a picnic to pair with its wines. The winery also boasts an outdoor terrace and allows walk-ins.
Details: 6777 S. Zarpara Ln Willcox. 520-222-7114. www.zarpara.com.
Golden Rule Vineyards
Golden Rule Vineyards consists of 26 acres located north of the Dragoon Mountains and grows 11 grape varieties of both French and Italian origin. Guests can sample a variety of white and rosé wines, as well as medium to full-body red wines.
One of the winery’s tasting rooms is in a historic former Chevrolet building. The building was built in 1946 and is a Willcox landmark.
The winery also has a tasting room for appointment only located at a farm on the northern end of the Dragoon Mountains, with a view of the sprawling vineyard. At this location, Golden Rule offers wine tasting and vineyard and pistachio tours.
Details: Willcox tasting room: 469 S Haskell Ave, Willcox. 520-766-0001. Vineyard tasting room: 3525 N. Golden Rule Rd. goldenrulevineyards.com.
Pillsbury Wine Company
The Pillsbury Wine Company produces sustainably farmed vegan wines fermented with wild yeast from the grapes and uses soil fed with organic Gypsum and compost, which balances the soil’s pH.
The winery also treats its vines with organic sprays and hand weeds instead of using a machine. Employees also mow between the rows instead of using a harrow, a machine with spikes or disks to drag through the earth to allow the nutrients to return to the soil.
Details:6450 S Bennett Pl, Willcox. 310-508-3348. www.pillsburywine.com/contactus.html.
Birds and Barrels Vineyards
The family-owned and operated Birds and Barrels Vineyards was founded in 2015 and is surrounded by majestic mountain vistas, gently rolling hills, grain fields, vineyards, and orchards. Visitors can stroll through the vineyard and choose a grapevine to adopt.
The tasting room is open Friday and on weekends and by appointment Monday through Thursday.
Details: 5000 E Arzberger Rd., Willcox. 520-507-0354. birdsandbarrels.com.
Bodega Pierce
Bodega Pierce is a family-owned and operated winery run by two generations of award-winning Pierce family winemakers. The vineyard produces wine made from 18 varieties grown on the family’s 80-acre estate, 27 of which are in production.
The winery is located 15 miles southeast of Willcox.
Details: 4511 E Robbs Rd, Willcox. 602-320-1722. bodegapierce.com.
A sustainable winery in Patagonia
Patagonia is a quaint town known for its biodiversity, and location as a migratory corridor for many rare animal species. Matching the town’s overall ethos, Patagonia has a winery committed to sustainability.
Queen of Cups Vineyards
Queen of Cups offers artisanal, low-intervention wines from grapes grown in Arizona and Sonora. Queen of Cups won Bronze for its 2022 blend of Barbera and Viognier and its 2022 Paziños in the azcentral 2024 wine competition.
The winery was started by Emmett Rahn-Oakes and Lily Christopher, who met in Patagonia and moved to Spain, where Rahn-Oaks made wine. The couple moved back to Patagonia in 2020.
By opening the Queen of Cups two years later, the pair accomplished their dream of creating a cozy, unpretentious space where they could have good wine and be surrounded by good friends.
Details: 320 Smelter Ave, Patagonia, AZ 85624. 520-300-0815. www.queenofcupswines.com.
Although Willcox and Sonoita are well known as epicenters of wine country, Pearce should also be a visit on a southern Arizona wine tour. The town boasts a handful of can’t-miss wineries.
1764 Vineyards
Family-owned and operated, 1764 Vineyards is an award-winning winery.
Its tasting room is located on the vineyard with panoramic views of the Willcox basin and Cochise stronghold. In the 2024 azcentral wine competition, the winery won the Growers Cup for the best red wine for its 2021 8 Years Later, a red blend consisting of an unconventional mix of Petite Sirah, Sangiovese and Petit Verdot.
Details: 357 W Treasure Rd, Pearce. 520-329-2950. www.1764vineyards.com.
Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republic’s coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.
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Publish date : 2024-09-29 03:52:00
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