Wine Peeps

This past Sunday we spent most of the day in the Sedona area looking for Arizona wines made from Arizona grapes because we had learned last summer that many Arizona wineries use California grapes in their wines. And that’s not what we wanted to taste. Our first stop was at the Art of Wine tasting room in Sedona. We paid a $15 tasting fee to taste what the tasting room host said were almost all wines made with Arizona grapes. After examining the bottles though, we discovered that only two of the six wines represented to be Arizona’s best were actually made with Arizona grapes, and we thought those two were the weakest of the six we tasted. The two Arizona grape wines were the 2004 Echo Canyon Cabernet Franc and the NV Sedona Red Wine.

Further down the street, we found a much more forthright sales clerk, Waynette, at Made in Arizona Wine and Gifts. She not only gave us the straight scoop on which wines were made with Arizona grapes and which were not, she also shared with us a copy of the Sedona Monthly magazine from November 2007 which had a nice article on Arizona winemaking. Based on that article, we visited two winery tasting rooms that had wines made from Arizona grapes, Oak Creek Vineyards and Alcantara Vineyards.

Oak Creek Vineyards is a six year old winery with production of about 1,000 cases per year, all sold through their tasting room or ordered by phone out-of-state. We tasted five of their wines, finding only one that we could recommend: the 2005/2006 Oak Creek Desert Flower Syrah. The other wines we tasted were the 2005 Oak Creek Viognier, the 2005 Oak Creek Sauvignon Blanc, the 2006 Oak Creek Zinfandel, and the 2005 Oak Creek Arizona Port.

Next we visited Alcantara Vineyards, a new winery on 87 picturesque desert acres with only 12 acres currently in production. Three of the five wines we tasted were produced with Arizona grapes, and they were the best true Arizona wines that we tasted. It’s a shame that their production is so small and their wine is only available through their tasting room. In our opinion, this winery has serious potential. Our favorite of their Arizona wines was the 2006 Alcantara Meritage (a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and a touch of Malbec). The other two we tasted were the 2006 Alcantara Mourvedre and the 2006 Alcantara Grand Rouge.

From our limited sampling of Arizona wines, we believe Arizona has considerable potential for red wines but not necessarily for whites. However, the sooner more of them start using Arizona grapes for their Arizona wines, the better off they will be. Today, their credibility suffers because many wineries and tasting rooms are not being completely upfront about what they are producing.

Here’s a recap of most of the wines we tasted in Arizona, in our order of preference. All prices given are winery/tasting room prices.

2006 Alcantara Meritage
Quality: 4 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 4 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Price: $30

2006 Alcantara Mourvedre
Quality: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 2 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Price: $29

2006 Alcantara Grand Rouge
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Price: $25

2005/2006 Oak Creek Desert Flower Syrah
Quality: 3 stars (out of 5)
QPR: 3 bangs for your buck (out of 5)
Price: $24

2005 Oak Creek Arizona Port
Quality: 2.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: NR (not recommended)
Price: $20

2004 Echo Canyon Cabernet Franc
Quality: 2 stars (out of 5)
QPR: NR (not recommended)
Price: $35

NV Sedona Red Wine
Quality: 2 stars (out of 5)
QPR: NR (not recommended)
Price: $30

2005 Oak Creek Viognier
Quality: 2 stars (out of 5)
QPR: NR (not recommended)
Price: $24

2006 Oak Creek Zinfandel
Quality: 2 stars (out of 5)
QPR: NR (not recommended)
Price: $24

2005 Oak Creek Sauvignon Blanc
Quality: 1.5 stars (out of 5)
QPR: NR (not recommended)
Price: $22

Have you ever had Arizona wine actually made from Arizona grapes? If so, how did you like it? What was your favorite?

Filed under American Wine, Arizona Wine, Cabernet Franc, Dessert Wine, Mourvedre, Port, Red Wine, Sauvignon Blanc, Shiraz/Syrah, Viognier, White Wine, Wine Travel, Wines NOT To Buy (1 & 2 Star), Wines Over $25, Wines Under $25, Zinfandel