Arizona, New Mexico & the Grand Canyon Trips (Lonely Planet, 1st Edition) - Aaron Anderson [69]
“We just had a monsoon pass through an hour ago, and it was a full 15 degrees cooler than it is now,” Lightly says. “The temperature swings here are amazing. The hot days help the grapes grow, and the cool nights give them their flavor.” The state is famous for its variety of landscapes, but here, with vines on the hillside and roller-coaster strips of greenery unfurling beside a river, it feels more like California’s lush wine country than sun-baked Arizona.
See for yourself as you motor through the rolling land to Sonoita’s hilltop tasting room in Elgin, 9 miles from the town of Sonoita. On weekends, hop on a tractor-drawn vineyard tour and imagine all those grapes filling your glass as a fat cabernet or merlot.
Grab a few bottles and continue with a private tasting in your room at Duquesne House, an 1898 former boarding house for miners set on Patagonia’s original main street. Or appreciate the countryside, the terroir, if you will, at Spirit Tree Inn. The peaceful old ranch rests under a copse of towering cottonwood trees, proving yet again that this is fertile land.
After a good night’s rest, you’ll be ready to drink in the deep, complex flavors at Elgin’s Callaghan Vineyards. Robert Parker, the most influential wine critic on earth, recommends a number of Callaghan wines – like the 2002 Petite Sirah – and says that the Arizona vineyard is one of the best-kept secrets in the wine world. Tastings here, like at most Arizona wineries, are weekend-only affairs.
In Sonoita, 16 miles northeast of Patagonia on Hwy 82, Dos Cabezas WineWorks has weekend tastings and is known for its flavor-monster cabernet sauvignon. Still thirsty? Make the 7-mile drive back to Elgin to Rancho Rossa Vineyards. With 17 acres of grapes, it’s one of the area’s larger vineyards. You’ll see the expanse as you drive through to the tasting room, heeding the siren call of the syrah. Critics crowned the 2004 vintage the best red in the state.
Before leaving town, stop in at Sonoita’s Canela Southwestern Bistro. The menu specializes in locally grown foods, and the wine list never ceases to amaze – Lebanese and German wines appear alongside bottles from lesser-known winemaking regions in the USA.
Take Hwy 83 north until it hits I-10 to make a quick stop in funky-cool Tucson. Beer lovers will be hopped up for Nimbus Brewing Company, the largest microbrewery in the state, which sells all ales, all the time. The brewers explain that Tucson’s mineral-rich water is perfect for brewing ale – so why make anything else? They flow in shades of gold, red, brown – a veritable Crayola pack of colors. The monkey-themed tap room is the place to learn about them and fill up on tasty bar food before making the 200-mile trek north to Prescott.
Sipping a standout beer or two at Prescott Brewing Company is much deserved after negotiating the concrete maze where I-10 meets I-17 in Phoenix. Set just a stone’s throw from Prescott’s Whiskey Row – where 40 wild saloons once crammed into a single block – the brewery’s Petrified Porter is heavy enough to count as a meal.
A more delicate drinking experience awaits a block away at Library of Wine & Tea. The owners focus on Californian and French wines, but toss in Old and New World surprises to keep the palate lively.
Next, it’s on to Jerome, a former mining town 36 miles north on Hwy 89. The journey starts innocently enough with miles of strip malls. Then it becomes a twisting, turning uphill drive that eventually lands you smack in the little town’s center. After so much hard work, you’ve earned the right to check in at the Jerome Grand Hotel. Originally built as a miner’s hospital in 1926, Jerome’s most luxurious property provides eye-popping views of the Prescott Valley. The on-site restaurant and bar, Asylum, has a decent wine list, but the cocktails – like the smoky Bloody Mary – are what really make the mature crowd here go crazy.
Take in more valley views at Jerome Winery – a wine shop set on a large