Nice man, love this note! Haven’t had a Page Springs wine in a bit (had to drop off their wine club some years back as they got a little pricey for az wine and their customer service took a serious nose-dive unfortunately), but this one sounds like it’s worth seeking out. Thanks for posting Brig!
So you’re saying wines and tasting visits are better in Tuscany and Piedmont than Arizona? Really staking out a bold position there. 
Even FMIII and Seiber tasted this wine!
Blind of course.
Here’s Frankie’s note.
“11/8/2017 - FRANK MURRAY III WROTE:
Poured blind. The aromas on this were distinctly honeysuckle and peach, which led me down the path of Viognier. Yet, it also mixed in a bit of an oily texture, so I had thought a white rhone varietal, perhaps. Guava, peach, tangerine, all showing nicely together. Enjoyed this”
Wondering if anyone has any updates on some tasting rooms worth hitting up in 2018? I’m heading down in a week, will be spending time in both Sedona and Tuscon. Cheers!
Jason in Sonoita/Elgin (an hour or so from Tucson), I would rec Callaghan and Dos Cabezas. I think they are the best producers in the area.
Downtown Cottonwood is fun. We were there a month or two ago and tasted at Merkin/Pillsbury/Burning Tree and they all had some decent stuff. Most of the fruit is from southern AZ. Jerome is a cool town and they have Caduceus cellars which makes some good wine as well (a bit overpriced though).
How about this one for Easter, speaking of rising from the dead. Family in AZ opened. Not good. It’s got to be old. Oh, and hot peppers added…
San Dominique American Chablis Select NV Arizona
Every heard of it?
1 Like
At first I thought you meant you had it with hot peppers. And then I read the label.
Wow. I have never heard of/seen this winery out here before…which looks to be a good thing. Man, how much of this were you able to take down Brig?
My uncle in PV opened it. Their friend had it sitting in a cabinet so they pulled it. Immediately dumped it.
I Googled the winery… Gone like that wine. I guess hot pepper flavored wine was just a passing fad. ![[cry.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/853b6e76c6e8406be77a6727c2a27ad1672678b3.gif "cry"){kind=small}
Old AZ hot pepper wine. I mean…not sure if I can think of much worse.
Props for at least taking a sip!
1 Like
Big writeup
The New York Times: In the Arizona High Desert, Taking the Temperature of a Wine Boom.
I watched Blood into Wine last night - first time I’d turned on the big screen in a few months - and actually quite enjoyed it. There was a good balance between the wine commentary, humor, and Tool/Maynard material. Not a fan of their music, but appreciate the intensity Keenan seems to bring to his work.
The part with James Suckling was awesome. He seems to speak with a curious accent/intonation that I could not tell if it was some affectation, or an impediment he has managed around. I wish he’d worn his cravat for the film though.
I agree with other commenters that Glomski stole the show; he seems to be the real deal. I don’t think I’ve seen his wines anywhere (not that I was looking) but if I trip over one, I’ll pick one up. There is something about that high Arizona terrain which looks Rhone/Languedoc to me. Perhaps some of the dry farming techniques and varietals of that area might translate to the Verdhi Valley?
It’s on Amazon Prime currently, for those who have not seen it, and I would not consider the show 99 wasted minutes.
Absolutely can second Page Springs. Very good Rhônes. Took home several reds and whites when I visited there last month. Tasting room/seating area and service were also very enjoyable.
Merged the Arizona wine topics
Yep, Eric Glomski is the man, and Page Springs is/has been making some of the better wines coming out of AZ for a while now. Nice tasting room as well…although it has lost a bit of its ‘charm’ now that they’ve gotten bigger. Used to be a member there years ago to support az wine…but the increasing prices plus the fact that they started to make it clear that they didn’t value their wine club members and we had to drop em. Def worth trying though if you come across some!
I just looked at the Page Springs wines and was interested to see that about 1/3 of them are from Colibri Vineyard in the Chiricahua Mountains (southeast corner of AZ). I drove past this vineyard a few years ago while chasing a rare bird (Fan-tailed Warbler). It is at 5,200 ft elevation on the edge of a volcanic caldera that exploded about 27 million years ago. The soil is derived from volcanic rhyolite. Below is a photo of the vineyard from the Page Springs website. Will have to stop at the winery the next time I am up that way and check out some Colibri vino.
You wouldn’t think rhyolite would be great “soil” for grapes. It’s granite and dominated by quartz. The elevation is a big bonus at a mile high. That’s some high desert.
But the location of the vineyard looks like it might be a collection area of alluvium so it might be broken down / decomposed. Drainage shouldn’t be an issue. ![[wow.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/7/7d450e9830889c8943b674446a21b7254cad657e.gif "wow"){kind=small}
Yes, the soil is derived from rhyolite. The climate is milder than many would expect for southern Arizona. Here are averages for the nearest town, Portal (a few hundred feet lower at 4760 elev.)
Callaghan was a surprisingly good wine and head and shoulders above the rest of the AZ wines that I tried. There is a wine bar in Tucson where you can taste most AZ wines. I didn’t have a chance to go further south to visit any wineries. But strongly reco the Callahan Mouvedre.