Wilcox, Arizona
I discovered this unique Terroir in 1999 after tasting a Chard from grapes growing across the road from my current vineyard, simply the most extraordinary Chard I had tasted in 25 years. I planted 20 acres there in 2000 and subsequently sold that partnership and planted 14,000 vines in the 100 acres I bought across the road. The igneous alluvial soil and 4350 ft high elevation gives us perfect volcanic sandy loam and 40% more UV than most vineyards in the world, and the endless sunshine and 30-40 degrees cooler nights slows ripening and makes for elegant ‘Old World’. We have Tasting Rooms at the Vineyard, and in a 116 year old manor with a Kitchen in Cottonwood AZ, right near Sedona, and we do wine-pairing dinners in both locations. Willcox is 75 minutes SE of Tucson on the I-10.
We grow 12 mostly Rhone varieties, and in opposition to all the Generic food and wine out there, we only source grapes from our own vineyard, we ferment all our wines with the wild yeasts that come from our vineyard, and we make ‘food wines’ rather than ‘cocktail’ wines. As close to ‘Natural’ as possible, we use minimal SO2, we ferment and age in neutral oak and stainless barrels, not tanks, and all winemaking and bottling is done in our winery at the vineyard. The whole operation is analogous to winemaking in the French Villages I have visited. I don’t
want to make ‘perfect’ wines, I want interesting wines, wines that come from a place, and are made by a person. This may help explain why we have 100 medals in the San Francisco Chronicle American Wine Competition in the last 7 years, including 2 Best of Class, 9 Double Golds, 12 Golds and 56 Silvers.