Arizona Wine & Harvest

Arizona wine country is beautiful. Rows of vines stretch up and down acres of rich clay soils of all kinds. Our hot days and cool nights create an unsuspecting, but perfect climate for grapes to thrive. Not too unlike regions like Argentina or the South of France, producers here in Arizona find the fruits of their labor to be worth all that goes into it, knowing you have to be a little crazy to start a vineyard in the southwest desert. The payoff is worth it of course. This region produces fantastic wines from Grenache to Syrah, from Sangiovese to Tempranillo, to mineral rich and often floral whites such as Chardonnay, Grenache Blanc, Viognier, and shining our shining star Malvasia Bianca. There are more and more varietals finding their way into bottles and blends that one wouldn’t expect to find coming from Arizona, and it’s exciting to taste it from vintage to vintage. Winemakers are creative here, both because they have to be and because they want to be. This is what makes each winemaking region unique across the globe, and people are finding out Arizona wines are “so good”!

My appreciation for our regional wines comes not only from working in tasting rooms, but through listening to my guest’s opinions and experiences tasting them. It’s gratifying to hear the positive commentary about Arizona wine, knowing the producers’ in the industry hard work to make it so. Cheers to the ladies and gents making it happen!

I lend a hand during harvest season from time to time, which offers a wonderful perspective on what is happening from the birth of a wine. It all starts in the vineyard. So much time and labor goes into making sure clusters of grapes will do what they’re supposed to, and there’s still no exact science (viticulture), that will ensure that will happen. So much is dependent on the weather, and since we can’t control that; the rest is up to human judgement and the nature of the universe. Thankfully, so much can happen in the cellar to perfect, embellish, or make up for what might be going on with a particular harvest of grapes. It’s all a matter of taste after that, as they say. “To each their own”, I say. But I think their is a lot to be excited about in the world of Arizona wine, and I believe you’ll feel the same way too. Come sip with us…

-Dylan Jung

Sip Sedona

www.sipsedona.com