Savoring the September Wine Festival in Verde Valley
Sedona is renowned for its red rocks, but have you tasted the red wines? Or the whites, rosés and sparkling wines?
It’s wild to think of vineyards in the desert, but over the last 50 years, Arizona growers discovered three distinct regions in the state with superb terroir, producing grapes that thrive at higher altitudes in the high desert regions of Sonoita, Wilcox and Verde Valley.
When a grape struggles, it builds character, and Arizona wines have a distinct character. Each of the three wine regions has earned a federally designated AVA, which confirms that the soil and climate in each of these areas produce a distinct terroir that is expressed in the wines made from grapes grown in these regions.
The Arizona wine scene, though still in its infancy, has matured over the last 20 years and is now booming with more than 100 wineries. Wine tourism has grown 500% since 2011, according to the Arizona Office of Tourism. Many of the state’s wines have been critically acclaimed, but if you don’t live in the area, chances are you haven’t had a chance to taste the terroir of the high desert. You have to come to the source.
September is the perfect time, and Sedona is the perfect place as it lies within wine country, specifically the Verde Valley, which received its AVA designation in November 2021. The annual Sedona Winefest celebrates its fifteenth year this September 28 & 29. The two-day wine festival in Arizona is a jubilant gathering of wine lovers from across the country who flock to Sedona to taste, talk and learn about wine.
A Verde Valley wine festival is an ideal way to kick off the fall harvest season against a backdrop of Sedona’s iconic red rocks. Held at Posse Grounds Park, once used as a staging ground for the Sheriff’s posse, the event, running from 11 am – 5 pm each day, is a convivial scene with live music, food, and local wineries, distilleries and breweries.
At this year’s event, you can expect twenty or more wineries representing all three AVA regions. Winemakers will be pouring a selection of their wines, showcasing a multitude of varietals from grapes grown in-state. Take time to talk with winemakers and staff to learn more about their winemaking process and the unique characteristics of their wines. Find a wine you like and you can purchase a bottle or a case. There’s no better way to get a taste of what Arizona wines are all about.
Savor the season longer with a stay at Ambiente, a Landscape Hotel, and you’ll be just about a mile away from the event site. Here you can drink in vistas of the red rocks and cool pine forest, relax in a deep soaking tub, and climb up to your private rooftop terrace with a glass of your favorite wine as you watch the sunset and stargaze into the night.
If you want to test your vinous senses, Ambiente’s concierge can arrange a fun and delicious experience: a private, blind wine tasting with a sommelier at The Art of Wine, a tasting room and wine bar in Sedona. Five wines are selected and paired with an artisan charcuterie board. Black crystal wine glasses, designed for professional wine tastings, are used to mask visual clues and test the senses. Your sommelier leads you through an interactive, sensory evaluation and blind tasting. You’ll come away with a deeper appreciation for the winemaking process.
From Sedona, you can easily explore more of Arizona wine country along the Verde Valley Wine Trail. More than twenty wineries, vineyards and tasting rooms are clustered around the towns of Cornville, Clarkdale, Cottonwood and Jerome. You won’t be able to see them all, so choose a few and be sure to check times online. Most open at 11 am, a few places require reservations, and many feature artwork by local artists, live music performances and serve light fare.
Old Town Cottonwood is a great choice for exploring tasting rooms along Main Street, including Pillsbury, Rubrix Wines, and Arizona Stronghold. Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria is also in Cottonwood, offering a tasting room, winery tours and a restaurant featuring ingredients grown in their greenhouses and served up with hilltop views of the Verde Valley.
For even more spectacular views of the valley, wind up Cleopatra Hill to Jerome, a former copper mining town that sits at an elevation of 5000 feet. Walk through the cozy town, have a look at artists’ studios, art galleries, and dip into the six wine tasting rooms.
For an in-depth look at how wine is made, visit Page Springs Cellars in Cornville, about a 15-minute drive from Sedona. You can reserve a winery and vineyard tour and get an insider’s look into winemaking plus exclusive tastes of wines pulled directly from the barrel. There’s also a bistro and tasting room, with outdoor seating overlooking beautiful Oak Creek.
In nearby Clarkdale, the Southwest Center, part of Yavapai College, offers students a hands-on viticultural program from vineyard to bottle. They also educate the public about the art and science of growing wine grapes and making wine in Arizona. Visitors can reserve a tasting to try a flight of five student-crafted wines produced at the on-site winery.
Just down the road is Chateau Tumbleweed winery and tasting room, a collaboration of two husband-and-wife teams who have been making wine together since 2011. They don’t own vineyards but buy grapes from local sources to produce some serious wines, and they design amusing labels that always feature a tumbleweed.
Arizona’s wine industry is notable for having smaller wineries. The largest producer is Arizona Stronghold, with about 20,000 cases a year. And while Napa is known for Cabernet Sauvignon, and Willamette Valley for Pinot Noir, there is no signature varietal here yet. Arizona’s vineyards are planted with more than forty different grape varieties, some of which you probably have never tasted. It’s a creative process and an exciting time to taste the high desert terroir in some excellent wines.
Raise a glass to Arizona wine culture and come visit Verde Valley wine country this harvest season.