Arizona Wineries Ramp Up

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So there are these two guys who keep popping up everywhere in the Arizona wine industry. One’s a winemaker and the other is a rock-and-roll musician, and between the two of them they’ve created three cutting edge wineries. They’re also trying to jump-start Arizona’s position in the national wine scene.

I should back up here. I may have lost some of you when I referred to the “Arizona wine industry”. What… you didn’t know there was one? If you’d read my earlier post about the Arizona wine industry, you’d know there are several winemakers producing some good wines from select micro-climates in this (mostly) desert state. And Eric Glomski and  Maynard James Keenan are right out in front, leading the pack and running like hell.

Glomski has an impressive resume, having been co-winemaker at California’s David Bruce winery where he made Pinot Noirs that became a standard in the industry (before it was discontinued, David Bruce Central Coast Pinot Noir was one of our all-time favorites). When he went home to Arizona, he found isolated regions where the right wine grapes would do well (mostly Southern Rhone varietals)  and founded Page Springs Cellars in the Verde Valley (between Phoenix and Flagstaff).

Enter Maynard Keenan, known by fans everywhere as the front man for the band Tool. His love of wine and passion for creating an Arizona wine industry have whipped up a critical mass of interest around his and Eric’s joint venture, Arizona Stonghold and a higher-end label, Caduceus Cellars.

We tasted many of their wines when we visited their tasting rooms in northern Arizona. The Arizona Stronghold place in Cottonwood looked very edgy (in a good way) and the guy manning the counter did a great job of telling the Stronghold story. At Page Spring’s winery and tasting room outside of Cornville, we thought we’d been transported to Sonoma County (“Beam me up, Scotty”). The whole property was lovely, and again, every person in the place was not only knowledgeable, but passionate about their wine. I just love that…

And, oh yeah — the wines. I’ll just cut to the chase. We brought back a wonderful Syrah (Page Springs Cellars Syrah Clone 383 2008) with the express intention of brown-bagging it and serving it to our friends who won’t suspect it’s from Arizona. They’ll Ooh and Aah, and then we’ll do the Big Reveal and show them they’ve been enjoying — wine from WHERE?…..

Cheers!

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3 Responses to “Arizona Wineries Ramp Up”

  • Real nice ! Many thanks !

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