Great weekend in Sonoita (Part 2)

Well, Saturday proved to be a great day in Arizona's wine country as well. It was the day of the Canelo Hills Winery & Vineyard Farm & Wine Festival - 3rd Annual. From the feedback I heard, this proved to be the best yet!

For starters, the weather couldn't have been better! In the mid 70's for most of the day, I didn't even realize I was getting totally sunburned! A light breeze kept things perfect.

Five wineries were pouring wines (all AZ wines, of course!). For only $10 you received a "take-home" glass with six tasting tickets. Charron Vineyards from Vail was pouring their trademark white merlot. Learn more about Charron at http://www.charronvineyards.com/.

Of course, Canelo Hills was pouring wines from their collection. Whites and reds. http://www.canelohillswinery.com/

Pillsbury Wine Company, a Cochise County winery, was pouring their new "One Night Stand" Rose, Roan Red (a classic spicy Rhone blend) and Diva (a bold, Syrah based red blend). http://www.pillsburywineco.com/.

Keeling Schaefer from Pearce, located at the base of the Chiricahuas, poured their Chardonnay, Syrah and Grenache. http://www.keelingschaefervineyards.com/

And I was the most excited about tasting the newest winery in the state . . . Lightning Ridge Cellars. Ann and Ron Roncone debuted their wines at this event and it was so much fun to see the delight on their faces. The wines were received very well and I saw many bottles leaving the area! They have a white wine - a muscat - and a red blend (nebbiolo, sangiovese, mourvedre . . . and I think I'm missing one). We took two bottles home with us and enjoyed one that evening. Very impressive!

Another highlight were the alpacas. Square Top Alpaca Farm was present with two of their junior alpacas. These guys have the sweetest faces. When you visit Sonoita, be sure to stop by and meet these cute little creatures.

Food was provided by Cafe Sonoita. Other local products were available as well, including gift baskets, Native Seeds Research, herbs and others. The Santa Cruz Humane Society was also finding homes for some very cute puppies and kittens.

We also enjoyed a tour of the vineyard and winery, learning about the history of the winery and how the operation works. It's truly a family run business.

Great job Tim, Joan and Kathryn! I'll definitely be back next year!

Great weekend in Sonoita (Part 1)

What a wonderful weekend in Sonoita. Wine country is fabulous!

Friday started early with a business visit in Tucson, another business meeting in Sonoita and then an interview with Kent Callaghan of Callaghan Vineyards to wrap things up. Kent will be our next featured winemaker and the interview went very well. I really enjoyed talking to Kent and getting his unique perspective on winemaking and on wine in Arizona . . . you'll have to pick up the next issue of the magazine to learn more about this subject! ;)

Josh and I decided to take advantage of a night off with a dinner at Canela Bistro, in the heart of Sonoita. We enjoyed dinner here on a previous night last November and wanted to give it another go. Well, we were so happy we did. Oh my gosh! It was good last time . . . this time it was heavenly. Josh was making happy noises throughout the entire dinner. That doesn't happen very often!

We decided to honor our interview with Kent by making it a Callaghan night and drinking only Callaghan Vineyard wines. This is not a difficult or painful thing to do. I enjoyed a glass of Callaghan's Lisa (a nice smooth white wine) while Josh enjoyed a glass of Junior (a cabernet syrah blend). I really wanted to try the asparagus, described as tempura fried asparagus garnished with Dale's fam fresh poached egg & pancetta-dijon vinaigrette. It was light and the asparagus was cooked perfectly, a light crunch but not undercooked. Josh ordered the cheese platter with Dutch aged Gouda, a mild Dutch sheep's milk Gouda and a Fourme d'Ambert (pasteurized cow's milk blue cheese from France). It was garnished with walnuts, honey and toast. When I nibbled on the cheese, I sipped from the Junior, it was a perfect compliment. We were off to a great start.

Then we were onto dinner. I ordered the special, a grilled organic Lazy Double J Ranch (from Willcox, AZ) Pork Chop which was served with light and creamy sour cream polenta, sauteed green apples, "Tokyo" white baby turnips and Italian style salsa verde. The salsa verde was the perfect compliment to the pork chop - wow! You may feel like you're in Kansas, but you're not in Kansas any more, Toto! These people are serious about their food! Portions were nice and food was cooked perfectly. Josh isn't a big fan of apples with his meat but after tasting this combination, he was pleasantly surprised.

Josh played it safe and ordered the grilled ribeye (or so he thought). What could have been very boring and neutral in another location turned into something very special here. The ribeye was cooked a perfect medium rare and was sliced, which initially turned Josh off. Then when he tasted it, though, he had the realization that it was perfect and couldn't have been better if served differently. He gushed that the flavor of the fat was like foie gras, not chewy and gristly like a lot of ribeyes can be. Then I thought he was going to explode with delight when he tasted the gratin of Bob's spring garlic & potato. I really don't think I've ever seen him this excited for a potato before, generally he only eats the entree and leaves the rest on the plate. He was nice enough to share a few bites with me but finished his entire plate pretty much on his own (although, I think I heard a button fly off . . .).

Oh, and the perfect match for this delictable meal was a bottle of Callaghan Vineyards Caitlin's. A blend of Petit Verdot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cab Franc. It was truly amazing. It had some nice spice yet didn't overpower the food. I think this may have become my favorite Callaghan wine! We rolled out of there and into bed and I think we were both still full the next day.

I really recommend that you dine at Canela when you visit Sonoita. Any foodie would have a field day here, between the local, quality ingredients, the character of the dining room and the obvious skill of the chef, anyone would be surprised and delighted after their meal. Keep in mind that they are only open four nights a week from Thursday to Sunday and only open during the day for Sunday brunch. They are receiving a lot of deserved media attention so it's a smart idea to make reservations. Owners Joy and John really have created an amazing experience for their diners!

Dos Cabezas (Ware)House Warming Party

This last Saturday I had the pleasure of attending a great event in Sonoita at Dos Cabezas WineWorks. Kelly and Todd Bostock sure know how to show everyone a great time. They were debuting their new wine building - hence the name "WareHouse Warming!" From 11 to 3PM we enjoyed wine, food and great company! As wine club members we were able to enjoy a great library tasting of many wines which aren't yet released. Many attendees also had the chance to participate in bottling of their Graciano blend which will be coming out later this year. They only made two barrels of this wine and I have to tell you that I think it's amazing. I can't wait until it's available for sale!

I also had a chance to try some of Dick Erath's venture - Cimarron Vineyard in Willcox - a white "Meskeoli" blend that will be sold under the Dos Cabezas label and also a red wine that will be distributed through a local Phoenix restaurant concept - I'll update you when the deal is finalized! Todd made both wines and he did a great job!

I think one of my favorite wines at the event was their new "El Campo". Now this is a fun wine . . . called El Campo because that's the Spanish translation for "field" and this is a field blend if I ever saw one (many different varieties of grape from Todd's Pronghorn Vineyard in Sonoita)! It is fantastic! It is currently only available to wine club members, but will be open to the public starting April 1st. There is only 23 cases so you'll want to reserve yours before it's all gone!

It's always fun to meet with new Arizona wine lovers and talk to the winemaker and his family. If you haven't visited Sonoita's wine country, this spring is a great time to go! Check out Arizona Vines and Wines events for many fun events happening over the next few months!

Ciao!