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!

Next stop was just down the road at Canelo Hills Vineyard that revealed its 2008 Canelo Hills Sunrise, the “perfect house wine.” This blend of Nebbiola and Syrah (in roughly equal proportions) is made with grapes from AZ Stronghold Vineyards and Sweet Sunrise Vineyards. It tastes of pomegranate and cranberry. The finish is crisp, clear, and acidic, thanks to its 12.9% alcohol content. This is a great lighter red wine to be enjoyed in the coming warmer months, but it’s a great everyday wine year-round.

Tucked back off Elgin Road a ways, Rancho Rossa Vineyards is unpretentious. The tasting room/winery is surrounded by nearly 24 acres of orderly grape vines, ready for the growing season ahead. Owner Sarah Hamilton cheerily greets us and pours a few selections. My favorite was the 2006 Rancho Rossa CSM, a blend of 60% Syrah, 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 10% Merlot grapes, all grown on the Rancho Rossa estate.

Hamilton explains that this wine has been aged in American and French Oak for 18 months, and may have been a “mistake” fashioned by winemaker husband Chris Hamilton, who was talking during its creation. But it’s no mistake that this is a totally enjoyable wine. It is fruit-forward as expected, and complex as blends should be; the finish is slightly dry and refreshing. Rancho Rossa donates ten cents to the American Cancer Society for every bottle of wine sold.

These wines and many of those reviewed in a previous Pour Me Some Grapes blog will be among the 40-some Arizona wines being poured at the Sunday, April 3, 2011 Arizona Wine Tasting Festival at CataVinos Wine Shoppe & Tasting Room in Tucson (call (520)323-3063 for details). The 2:00pm-5:00pm event will feature nine Arizona wineries from around the state. If you haven’t visited the three wine regions in Arizona (Verde Valley to the North, Sonoita/Elgin to the Southeast, and Willcox to the East), or if it’s been a while since the last time, here’s your chance to sample just a few amazing wines waiting to be discovered by your palate.

Cheers!

The Sonoita Arizona wine trail  features 10 different wineries to explore, just a short jaunt from Tucson. Jim Seder of Wine Inquirer took a few minutes to discuss some new wines and some old favorites with winemaker Kief Manning, the namesake of Kief Joshua Vineyards in Elgin, Arizona.

The weather is going to be great this weekend, so carve out a little time to check out some of these awesome Arizona wine offerings firsthand. 

Cheers!

CataVinos Wine Shoppe & Tasting Room will be open today, offering over 350 wine selections, all priced under $15 per bottle. Yvonne K. Foucher, shoppe owner, says she’ll be pouring holiday feast wines for tasting all day, starting at noon. Stop by for a tasting, pick up those last minute gifts, and don’t forget the wine gift certificates too.

Most Arizona wineries will also be open today for tastings and wine purchases. There’s nothing like an Arizona wine for the gift that says “I buy local.” These wineries will be open today and Sunday, but most will be closed on Christmas Day.

Next weekend, several are scheduled to be open on New Year’s Day, so visiting the Arizona wine countries (Willcox region, Verde Valley region, and Sonoita/Elgin region) will be the perfect way to entertain those out-of-town relatives and guests.  Call ahead for tasting schedules—contact information for all Arizona wineries can be found on the  Arizona Wine Growers Association website.

My holiday wish is that you choose your grapes wisely, pour those grapes freely, savor the flavor fully — and please be careful out there! May your celebration be fun-filled and full of fellowship and goodwill.

Slainte!

Great Arizona Grape Stomp 5K heads to Verde Valley
The next leg of the Arizona Wine Growers Great Arizona Grape Stomp 5k Fun Run is the Verde Valley. The 5K race will begin and end in the eclectic and historic Old Town Cottonwood community on Saturday, August 28th, beginning at 7:00am. Racers will head south on Main Street to 10th Street. The race will continue toward Dead Horse State Park, and return to Old Town Cottonwood to finish up in front of Arizona Stronghold and Pillsbury Wine Co. tasting rooms.

After the race, participants receive a special Arizona Wine Growers wine glass to enjoy discounts at the local member wineries. The weather is always about 10-15 degrees cooler in the Verde Valley, so dress accordingly. For those of you who don’t run, come on down and walk, stroll or skip! For those of you who are serious racers, we have some special prizes for the winners. Snacks and water will be provided at the finish line.

Making a weekend of it? Here are some local favorites to help you plan your itinerary. For more information and to register, go to http://www.arizonawine.org/grapestomp-verdevalley.html.

What is red, green, and feels great squished between your toes? Grapes, of course

Want to know what it was like to stomp around in a barrel of grapes? Your time has come; no stomping experience necessary. The Coronado Vineyards fourth annual Grape Stomp is happening August 28. This festive family-oriented Italian tradition features live music, food, and, of course, wine tasting. It’s your chance for a firsthand experience in winemaking.

The price is $10 for adults, and includes a souvenir wine glass, all the grapes you can stomp, and a tasting of all the vineyards current releases. While you’re sipping on fine wine, get a taste of fresh, local, delicious cuisine from Coronado’s vineyard-view restaurant.

Local Tucson band “The Grind’ will perform live for more stomping fun.  They play a wide variety of music featuring classic rock, funk with undertones of alternative, and country; something for everyone.

The grape stomping kicks off at 10am on August 28 and ends at 4pm, but the party continues with a special dinner served from 5-to-8pm. For more information on the event visit http://www.coronadovineyards.com/ or call 520. 384.2993

Coronado Vineyards is nestled between the majestic Mt. Graham and Dos Cabezas Mountains, less than one mile off Interstate 10 in Willcox at exit 344. The vineyard, tasting room, and restaurant features delicious dining and 11 unique wines created from Arizona grapes.  Coronado boasts an award winning Riesling, Two Heads Red, and Dolce Veritas Sparkling wine. Tasters will discover a wide variety of wines from red to white and sweet to dry.
Ronald McDonald loves wine too
Please support the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona in its 8th Annual Grape Expectations Wine Tasting & Silent Auction event, at La Encantada Shopping Center Courtyard on Friday, September 24, 2010 from 6:00pm – 9:00pm. The event will feature wine and beer tasting, hors d’oeuvres from premier Tucson restaurants, and a number of terrific silent auction items. Tickets are $75 each for unlimited tasting of food, wine, and beer.

The proceeds from Grape Expectations will go directly to the operations of the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Southern Arizona. For more information on tickets or sponsorship, please contact Anne Rounds at 326-0060 or via e-mail: arounds@rmhctucson.org.

The opportunity to harvest grapes drew 40 volunteers to the Charron Vineyards. Photo by Roberta Davis.

“The grapes go from vine, to Bonnie, to crate, to golf cart, to crusher/de-stemmer, to press, to tank, to bottle, to Bonnie.”

Milton Craig, owner of Charron Vineyards, Vail, AZ, with his wife Susan, explained the wine-making process for me in that one line because I was one of the 40 volunteers who answered the call to harvest this year’s crop of Merlot grapes. It’s been on my bucket list for years, so I jumped at the chance.

Last Saturday, shortly before 3:00am, I woke to soft rain on the roof, a sound that typically rocks me deep into peaceful slumber. Instead the clock radio rocked me in a different direction with “I Found Your Picture Today” by Kid Rock and Sheryl Crow. I kicked myself out of bed and prepared for a very early morning jaunt. Barely daylight and still drizzling, we made our way up the winding, rocky lane off Route 83 that led us to the scene of our intent, arriving at just about 5:00 am.

Armed with simple instructions of our duties and a pair of very sharp clippers, about a half-dozen of us early arrivals headed to vineyard B to begin our assignment. Working opposite sides of each vine, row after row, my friend Katherine Waser and I clipped away and chatted freely about the superb weather conditions (overcast with a cool breeze), life, friends, and the idiosyncrasies of grapes.

Jeff and Tracy Skinner clip Merlot grapes from the vines.

Crate after crate we filled with bounty. Emma, the Craig’s daughter, traveled the rows of vines by golf cart, collecting filled crates to transport to the crusher/de-stemmer machine. Always with a fresh supply of drinking water, she also served up sunscreen, bug spray, and band-aids for the needy. Katherine nipped her finger only once; I developed a blister on my clipping thumb.

Side-by-side we worked with a crew that soon grew to 40-strong. For many of us, this was a first-time harvesting experience; others were old hands. One entire vineyard down by 9:00 am; it’s amazing how quickly the hours flew by and how many crates we filled. When the last of the vineyard A grapes had been weighed, we learned that we’d already topped the record yield for any of the vineyard’s previous years’ total hauls.

Did we bask in our glory? No, we clipped on. When the sun cleared the cloud cover and the breeze took a break, we shed a layer of clothing, sprayed on sunscreen, and went back to clipping. By noon, we had clipped our way through three of the four vineyards on the nearly three-acre property. A hearty lunch was our pay.

Back to the fields after lunch with only one more vineyard to conquer. A couple more hours of work in the then hotter sun and an ongoing battle with gnats, drawn out by the heat, rounded out our 9-hour-plus day. A refreshing cool glass of Charron Vineyards White Merlot 2009 awaited us in the tasting room. The de-stemmer machine droned on into the night to process all the grapes.

Milt and Susan Craig thank the volunteers for their record-breaking crop.

Craig reports that the final tally for 2010 harvest was a whopping 12,411 pounds of Merlot grapes, more than double the previous high yield. He attributes this to vineyard management – they had added a fence to prevent deer from helping themselves to the grapes, and Susan’s daily tours of each row of the vineyard kept problems at bay.

“Thanks to everyone who helped with the harvest; we couldn’t have done it without you,” Craig said.

The ultimate fruits of our labor will come when the 2010 White Merlot is released. We’ll all toast it with the thought that our grubby little hands contributed to its overall complexity and smoothness.

As for the bucket list check-off, I think I could be convinced to do this again. What an incredibly peaceful way to be part of a productive and amiable community.

No more Bitch. Say good-bye to Evil. We’ll miss you, Darby & Joan, Strong Arms. Bon voyage Boarding Pass, First Class, and Bon-Bon Rosé. No longer will we savor Marquis Phillips with palate-related friends.

As the press release heralds, “trouble is brewing in Australia.” The crowd-pleasing wines produced by Grateful Palate’s Australian affiliates, most notably R Wines and Marquis Philips, are disappearing from local wine shop shelves and no longer will be produced. The affiliates are now in receivership, facing bankruptcy. Growers and other creditors for the South Australia-based affiliates of the company received notice on June 18. Dan Philips, the company’s founder and owner has confirmed that he is in negotiations with top creditors.

An attempt to reach the websites of Grateful Palate and R Wines both resulted in this message: “Oops, this link appears to be broken.”  However, Grateful Palate Imports, a separate company, based in Fairfield, California, is not directly involved in these proceedings.

These wines with catchy names, screw caps, inky-red intensity, and over 15 percent alcohol content, caught on with the expanding market of wine quaffers* across the United States. They were custom-created to appeal to the American palate for heavy-bodied, fruit-forward wines. Priced at less than $20 (and in most cases, less than $15) per bottle, they quickly found a niche market among wine lovers across the country.

Which of these quaffers will you miss the most? Have you found a suitable replacement in the wine collection? Please let me know, and I’ll share the suggestions in an upcoming blog (email: pour-me-some-grapes@gmail.com).

*Quaff: Webster defines simply “to drink deeply” … Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant further defines quaffing as “a thirst-quenching experience that potentially entails drinking a wine without a thought about food” … something my friends and I have done many times over with R Wines.

Real grape stomping going on this weekend

Last week marked the first Grape Stomp 5K in Arizona vineyards, which seems to have kicked off an entire series of fun events throughout the state’s wineries. This Saturday and Sunday, July 31 and August 1, the Sonoita Vineyards Harvestfest takes place from 10:00am until 4:00pm. For the nominal cost of $15 per adult, there will be wine tasting of the current vineyard releases all day, wine/food pairings, and wagon tours of the vineyards by horse or tractor. Of course, the price includes the complimentary wine glass and a few other goodies thrown in for showing up. The highlight of the day will be the 1:30pm grape stomp. That’s right, get in the vat and help get those grapes ready for the bottle (go Lucy!).

The Sonoita Vineyards winery is located at 290 Elgin-Canelo Road, just 3 miles south of Elgin. For more information on the festival check out the Sonoita Vineyards website.