Carlson Creek Vineyard celebrates 3 years

Cheers to the Carlson Creek Vineyard family on three great years! L-R: John, Bob, and Robert Carlson.

Cheers to Carlson Creek Vineyard who will be pulling out all the stops to celebrate its third anniversary this Saturday, February 16, 2013, at its tasting room, 115 Railview Avenue in Willcox from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Food, music, and wine will mark the milestone for the winery.  Limited amounts of their vintage wines—including Carlson Creek Sauvignon Blanc and the vintage Syrahs—will be available for sale during the celebration.

Camp Verde celebrates local wine & pecans

Wine, live music, art, antiques, and contests will be featured at Camp Verde’s Pecan, Wine & Antique Festival, February 15-17, on Main Street in Camp Verde (just off I-17). Over a dozen wineries—including Arizona Stronghold, Alcantara Vineyards, Page Springs Cellars, Caduceus, and Burning Tree Cellars.  For a $15 entrance fee, receive a commemorative wine glass, entrance into the Fort Verde State Park, and five wine tasting coupons. Additional tastes or glasses of wine may be purchased.

Arizona Beer Week begins in Phoenix

Arizona Beer Week kicks off with the 13^th Annual Strong Beer Festival, at the Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix on February 16, 2013, 1:00 to 5:00pm. Strong beers (those with high alcohol content) are the focus at the festival, but there will also be a variety of craft beers, as well as specialty styles and unique brews. Festival-goers will receive a commemorative 4 oz. tasting glass and 15 tasting tickets for the price of admission. Arizona Beer Week is celebrated February 16-23.

Callaghan Library Tasting

Check out Callaghan Vineyard’s annual tasting of older vintages, some of which will be for sale. The February 23 event (4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.) will focus on Callaghan vintages from 1999 to 2006. The last bottles of ’02 and ’03 will be included. Cost is $20 per person. Callaghan Vineyard is situated in the Sonoita/Elgin region; its first vintage was 1991.

Barrel Tasting at Lightning Ridge

On Saturday, March 9, 1:00 p.m., Lightning Ridge Cellars in Elgin will hosts the fourth annual Barrel Tasting in its beautiful old-world style barrel room, featuring 6 wines from its 2011 and 2012 vintages. Catered Italian hors d’oeurves will be served. Cost is $45; reservations are required as seating is very limited. Sign up in the tasting room, email, or call: Ann@LightningRidgeCellars.com, 520-455-5383.

Cheers!

The Arizona wine industry celebrated a banner growth year and hopes to maintain the momentum.

“Since year-end 2010,” said Peggy Fiandaca, recently re-elected as president of the Arizona Wine Growers Association, “AWGA has experienced a 27% increase in total revenues and membership with 45 master growers and 18 growers in-development. The 2013 vintage was large and there is much anticipation for the wine it will produce.”

Statewide, there are over 60 licensed and bonded wineries—up from nine in 2004—and more are in the development process. As the vineyards are being pruned and prepped for the beginning of a new season, the AWGA gathered to select its leadership for 2013. Together, the board will work to advance with integrity the sustainable growth and production of authentic Arizona-grown wines.

Arizona Wine Growers Association 2013 officers (left to right): Casey Rooney, Barbara Predmore, Robert Carlson III, James Callahan, Peggy Fiandaca, and Kent Callaghan.

Joining AWGA President Fiandaca, Lawrence Dunham Vineyards, will be:

Willcox Regional Vice President: James Callahan, Aridus Wine Company

Sonoita Regional Vice President: Kent Callaghan, Callaghan Vineyards

Verde Valley Regional Vice President: Barbara Predmore, Alcantara Vineyards

Urban Vice President: Cory Whalin, SuVino Winery

Treasurer: Robert Carlson III, Carlson Creek Vineyards

Secretary: Casey Rooney, City of Cottonwood Economic Development

The AWGA also recognized the dedicated service of outgoing executive committee members Fran Lightly (Sonoita Vineyards), Rob Hammelman (Sand-Reckoner Vineyards), and John McLoughlin (Bitter Creek Winery).

In the coming year, the AWGA will work to further expand membership and strengthen its financial position. The organization will continue to play an active role in legislation in Arizona and Washington, D.C. and work with the Yavapai College Wine Center and viticulture/enology programs to help it move forward with funding and support. Plans include a series of educational seminars for members and others interested in the wine industry.

AWGA has confirmed the dates for yet another signature event, Wine Festival in the Pines, to be held in Pinetop-Lakeside this June 14-16. Rest assured, Arizona wines will continue to receive increased attention from respected experts as well as national awards for quality and taste.

Cheers!

Canelo Hills Vineyards & Winery in the Sonoita/Elgin region announces its winery is now under contract to Flying Leap Vineyards, one of the state’s newest domestic wineries.

Canelo Hills’ owners Tim and Joan Mueller tell their story on their website: “In 2003, a doctor, a counselor, and a classical singer, in true pioneering spirit, moseyed on down to the rolling ranchlands of Sonoita to plant some wine grapes. Now they harness Arizona-grown grapes to make award winning, old-world style wines.”

For 10 years, they’ve enjoyed the successes and challenges (freezes, frosts, hail storms, etc.) of running a family winery and producing fine Arizona wines; they are now ready to move on to other ventures.

The Muellers, owners of Canelo Hills Winery—l-r, Kathryn, Tim, Joan—embarking on new ventures.

Tim has been the winemaker at Canelo Hills. A Harvard and Stanford-educated doctor, he enjoyed turning his scientist’s mind to the art of wine making. Luckily, he liked to be busy—in addition to making the wine, he  served as handyman in his ‘free time’ from a full-time position as a psychiatrist at the VA Hospital in Tucson.

Joan has served as the business manager and farmer of Canelo Hills. She left a successful private practice in mental health counseling to tend to the needs and whims of the grapes and to run the tasting room; she generally ran the family farm.

Daughter Kathryn, has served the business as director of marketing while pursuing her professional singing career.

Flying Leap to take over

Canelo Hills is now under contract to one of the newest Arizona wine ventures, Flying Leap Vineyards. The owners of Flying Leap, Mark Beres and Marc Moeller, both 1991 graduates of the US Air Force Academy and seasoned pilots, are committed to the success of their business and brand. With the help and support of their families, they have made this the primary focus of their lives.

Mark Beres, hard at work in the Flying Leap vineyards.

“With developed acreage in both Sonoita AVA and Cochise County, Flying Leap will now offer a diverse portfolio of ultra-premium, carefully crafted wines from tasting rooms at its newest estate vineyard on Elgin Road along the Sonoita Wine Trail and its newest tasting room in historic downtown Willcox, opening in March,” said Beres.

Beres, a retired Special Forces pilot in two theaters of war, most recently worked in the engineering and system integration business at Raytheon. He grew up in the Walla Walla valley of southeastern Washington State and spent his formative years working in local vineyards and cattle ranching. He has enjoyed several years of successful large-scale commercial viticulture experience including all phases of vineyard development.

Marc Moeller tending to the weeds in the Flying Leap Vineyards

Among his many aviation achievements, Moeller served as an instructor pilot for Air Force II, which transports the Vice President of the United States. Moeller is a first-generation American who grew up with deep and diverse connections to his European family that owns a private vineyard, grows wine grapes, and has produced wines for many generations—he learned the wine-making craft first-hand.

These former pilots have more recently been flying much closer to the ground, plying their talents as farmers, engineers, and managers to the literal roots of establishing Flying Leap Vineyards in their Willcox vineyards, planted in 2011. Their humble mission: To be the Southwest’s most successful commercial vineyards and winery by sustainably producing premium wines from the highest quality Arizona-grown wine grapes.

It’s no mistake they chose to buy this winery ‘next door’ to Callaghan Vineyards; owner Kent Callaghan, their mentor and consultant hand-crafted Flying Leap’s 2011 vintage.

Stop in to say good-bye… and hello

Joan, Tim, and Kathryn (and their shop dogs) are winding down their stay in the Canelo Hills tasting room on Fridays and Saturdays for the rest of this month. Saturday, January 26 will be your last chance to stop by and wish them well and pick up some of the classiest wines in the region.

Beres said, “We are working like crazy to get everything ready to open. A massive sandblasted HDU Flying Leap sign—8-feet wide and almost 50-inches tall, weighing several hundred pounds—will be erected so visitors to the beautiful southern Arizona wine country can find us.”

This winery is located at 342 Elgin Road in Elgin, 7.5 miles southeast of the Sonoita Crossroads.

Cheers to the Muellers, Moellers, and Beres on their new ventures!