So France doesn’t seem possible and even a trip to the Grand Canyon is probably out of reach. No problem. Arizona Winery Tours has just the ticket. The company offers several Arizona wine region tours and a Tucson Brewery Tour.
Those who enjoy wine might like to visit Sedona or Willcox to try out those town’s offerings. On this day it was the Sonoita/Elgin Wine tour.
Just one hour south of Tucson is a landscape so different it feels like another world. Welcome to Sonoita and Elgin, one of Arizona’s grape-growing regions, where vineyards, wineries and tasting rooms abound.
This day trip is a gentle adventure, day-drinking at its most gentile, offering an opportunity to try out several different types of wine, sipping them while enjoying beautiful vistas.
The day begins with a drive and that’s one of the benefits of taking this tour: guests are usually picked up right at their door. The van rolls up, the driver rings the doorbell, and everyone piles into a van and finds a seat. The van is fairly spacious. On one side two can sit but if guests want to sit alone, there’s the other side, which holds single seats. Once everyone has been picked up and belted in, the tour begins in earnest.
There are about 16 wineries in the Sonoita/Elgin area, according to driver and guide Rafael “Rafa” Leidy. On any given Arizona Winery Tours tour expect three stops, four if everyone on the tour is amenable, but that decision is made at the end and only at the behest of the guide/driver.
On this particular tour seven guests were on board, three couples and one lone rider who doesn’t drink alcohol but went along anyway. Although this is a wine tour, if guests in a party choose not to imbibe, the price is reduced.
Leidy knows the area’s wine history which he doesn’t mind sharing but isn’t overly talkative either. He knows customer service very well, having worked for Southwest Airlines for about 20 years. He carries water and snacks on board and takes care of his guests personally, making sure they are comfortable. It’s really in his code of ethics.
“At our company we want to get personal,” he said. “We want to get to know you. We want to make you feel at home, feel happy and have fun. That’s why we are different from other companies. Personally speaking I am very blessed to do this job.”
After everyone introduced themselves the tour got off in earnest. Gomez headed east on I-10 and then south on Route 83. Once off the interstate, the landscape began to change to grasslands and snowcapped mountains came into view, along with plenty of grazing cattle. At about 11 a.m. the van rolled up to the first stop: Dos Cabezas WineWorks. Everyone piled out but before going inside Leidy handed out to each guest a complimentary wine glass which comes as part of the tour.
This is a family-owned winery with two estate vineyards, the Pronghorn Vineyard in Sonoita and Cimarron Vineyard in the Kansas Settlement (an area in Cochise County), which supplies the main ingredient of the wines produced here. The tasting room is like a casual tavern: There’s a bar with stools or guests may stand. On this day co-owner Kelly Bostock and employee Kim Deatrick were serving up the flights. As with many of the tasting rooms, guests study a menu and ask for what they want to sample. It’s very informal.
In the back of the tasting room building is a patio where guests may order food — Leidy said the pizza is outstanding with a handmade sourdough crust and on a Sunday afternoon there’s live music. There are also loaves of bread made of the same sourdough for sale. It is all very fresh.
Leidy keeps an eye on things and after about an hour or so — he doesn’t want to rush anyone but there’s more to see — he rounds up his group. Should a guest make a purchase Leidy is set up for that. In the back of the van he keeps a box where he stores the bottles until he drops guests back to their homes or hotels. The bottles are labeled so things do not get mixed up.
It’s the same with the wine glasses. He keeps a box with compartments labeled with the names of his guests. When it’s time to leave he collects the glasses and then passes them out again at the next stop. That way no one has to worry about broken or lost glasses.
At Dos Cabezas look for blended wines featuring garnacha, graciano, syrah and petite syrah and tempranillo grapes among many others and one that’s 100% malvasia, which seemed to be a favorite.
“I could see myself sitting on my terrace drinking this in the summertime,” guest Marsha Fisher said. She was visiting from St. Louis, Missouri.
Next stop: Deep Sky Vineyards where it was time for lunch.
The morning tour started out quietly but after the first stop the van was a lot nosier with chatting and laughing,
While Dos Cabezas is located in “downtown” Sonoita — meaning on one of the four corners of the town’s only crossroads — Deep Sky is solidly rural. All around it are vineyards, pasturelands and mountains, which accounts for its very pleasant views and relaxing ambience.
The tasting room is spacious with some places to sit but it’s the windows everyone sees and beyond that, the view. Outside is a patio with adirondack chairs and some cafe tables and chairs, and to keep guests ordering a big window that opens up to a bar.
Gomez takes care of lunch. It’s simple, sandwiches or wraps made at The Cafe in Sonoita and a bag of chips. It was actually quite delicious.
Deep Sky also makes blended wines though some of the varieties are different, for example, malbec and Rhone varieties of viognier, grenache, mourvedre, syrah, petite syrah and counoise grapes. These varieties seem to do well in the Arizona sun and ground.
If relaxation and pleasant times are what’s needed, this tasting room will certainly satisfy that need, particularly if the trip is taken on a weekday. For party times, however, aim for the weekend when there’s more likely to be celebrating with bachelorette parties and birthdays.
Deep Sky’s most recent best seller is 2021 Comet, a red blend of grenache, syrah and mourvedre.
An hour or so later it was time to move on.
The last official stop was at Rune, another rural winery but one with a twist. Out of the 15 or so wineries in the region, this is the only tasting room that is run on solar power. It is totally off-grid. In addition, the tasting room’s building is a bit odd, kind of like a quonset hut of World War II.
Inside there are benches along the wall for sitting an, bar stools at the bar.
It must be said here that outside of the tasting room are plenty of groupings of seating to sit back and enjoy the view. Guests may snack on charcuterie plates or sandwiches bought at the bar while they warm themselves around a fire pit. Plus, there are cleared paths that extend into the adjacent hills. All in all it’s just a lovely place to sit back for a quiet think or a visit with friends.
Rune’s tasting menu rotates regularly but typically includes five to six wines including a rosé and selection of white and red wines. One of the more popular wines is the 2022 wild Syrah which comes in at about $56.
By this time in the tour it was fairly clear everyone was ready to go home but when Gomez suggested just one more stop, everyone agreed it was a good idea. Besides, the winery was on the way.
Charron Vineyard and Winery is tucked way back from the road and a visitor might think they’ve missed a turn or gotten lost when approaching. Keep going. The tasting room and lovely patio is on top of a hill, making the view worthwhile.
Inside the tasting room Ballerina the kitty is only too happy to greet visitors and get a scratch or two.
On the grounds there are five acres of merlot grapes so there is a variety of dry red wines and dry white wines, a few semi-sweet and sweet wines and a couple of specialty drinks. For those who are cold there’s mulled wine and for those who want to party there are sangria slushies.
On many Sundays there is live music on the patio.
Many tasting rooms have nonalcoholic drinks and this is one of those places. They sport a variety of drinks, everything from soda to apple juice. No one has to leave dry.
An hour later the last guests said goodbye to each other. All agreed it was quite a day. Some couples liked it so much they said they will be back. It is believable since this is their fourth Arizona Winery Tours tour.
Even for Leidy, who was working, the tour is a pleasure. He looked out over the hills and mountains and took it all in.
“I could be the CEO of a multi-billion dollar corporation and have all the perks in the world but you know what?” Leidy asked. “All of this is my corner office on the weekend and you cannot beat my corner office with billions and billions of dollars.”
Dos Cabezas WineWorks
3248 AZ-82, Sonoita
520-455-5141
doscabezas.com
Deep Sky Vineyard
124 Elgin Road, Elgin
520-490-6170
deepskyvineyard.com
Rune Wines
3969 Highway 82, Sonoita
520-338-8823
runewines.com
Arizona Winery Tours
The Sonita/Elgin Wine Tour
520-201-6905
arizonawinerytours.com
Cost: from $149 each if tasting