Map by Brian Goddard

Five Western wine
regions yield different but equally wonderful wine country getaways for the summer.

“Wine is sunlight held together by water,” said scientist and Chianti drinker Galileo Galilei. Wine country, too, is alchemical: a blend of sunshine, vines, rolling hills and charming towns that’s more than the sum of its parts. Perhaps that’s why it’s so seductive. Then again, it could be the fabulous restaurants, plush inns and conviviality that cluster around appellations like grapes on a vine. Or it could be the people it attracts: passionate mavericks, old-school aficionados, romantics, agriculturists and groups of good friends.

Every wine country, like every wine, exudes a different personality. So whether you’re a luxury seeker, an outdoorsy type, an epicure or a cowboy, raise your glass to these five grape escapes.

Canelo Hills, Elgin

Sonoita, Southern Arizona

Best for: red wine lovers and cowboys
Winemakers have a maxim, “To produce great wine, the vines must suffer.” Sonoita vines have suffered hail, searing heat and hungry antelopes. Sonoita winemakers, too, have suffered: ridicule, crop loss, the taste of their own wine during the experimental years. But now we can taste the fruit of their suffering, and it tastes like... victory. 

Arizona’s only official appellation may have traded cattle for cabernet (earning awards in the process), but this Oklahoma-esque setting still says “Home on the Range.” Driving south from Sonoita onto Elgin Road, you’ll rattle down a dirt lane to Rancho Rossa Vineyards, where the tasting room looks like a trailer and the barrel room like a garage, complete with a Grateful Dead soundtrack. But some of the wines, all of which are produced from on-site grapes, could hold their own against Napa’s. The cabernets are fruit-forward and chocolaty, and the port style wine is as smooth as suede.

Just down Elgin Road sits Callaghan Vineyards, established in 1990 by Kent Callaghan, one of the first winemakers in the state to make nationally award-winning wines. Sample the apricot-kissed white blend and the fruity, spicy red blends. Next door at Canelo Hills, refresh your palate with kiwi-tinged, silver medal-winning chardonnay and floral malvasia dessert wine.

Wilhelm Family Vineyards, Sonoita

Skip Sonoita Vineyards and Village of Elgin Winery and head to Wilhelm Family Vineyards, where you’ll be introduced to the state’s only UC Davis-certified winemaker, Karyl Wilhelm, and perhaps the area’s most distinctive wines. The albariño, a rare Galician white, is assertively peachy, while Kevin’s Choice, the tempranillo-syrah blend, won a bronze medal for its unique vanilla-almond undertones.

Back in Sonoita, visit Dos Cabezas Wineworks, whose wine has been served at the White House; try the all-local El Campo red blend. Dine on local produce and meats amid the warm, Southwestern ambience at Canela Bistro.

Make a weekend of it by staying in Patagonia at the Duquesne House Bed and Breakfast. Savor the scenery on the slow route between Sonoita and Patagonia via State Route 83, which weaves through champagne-colored grassland, ghost towns and Coronado National Forest. Finally, bird-watch at the Patagonia-Sonoita Creek Preserve, picnicking with a bottle of your favorite Sonoita wine.

Sonoita Resources
Rancho Rossa Vineyards: 201 Cattle Ranch Lane, Elgin; 520-455-0700, ranchorossa.com, Fr-Su 10:30-3:30

Callaghan Vineyards: 336 Elgin Road, Elgin; 520-455-5322, callaghanvineyards.com, Fr-Su 11-3

Canelo Hills: 342 Elgin Road, Elgin; 520-455-5499, canelohillswinery.com, Fr-Su 11-4

Wilhelm Family Vineyards: 21 Mountain Ranch Dr., Elgin; 520-455-9291, wilhelmfamilyvineyards.com, Fr-Su 11-5

Dos Cabezas Wineworks: 3248 Hwy. 82, Sonoita; 520-841-1193, doscabezaswinery.com, Th-Su 10:30-4:30

Canela Bistro: 3252 Hwy. 82, Sonoita; 520-455-5873, canelabistro.com

Duquesne House Bed and Breakfast: 357 Duquesne Ave., Patagonia; 520-394-2732, theduquesnehouse.com

Javelina Leap, Cornville

Verde  Valley,
Northern Arizona

Best for:  red wine lovers, history buffs and anyone seeking a quick, cool, creekside getaway

The Verde Valley is the wild card of wine country. While most vineyards are blanketed over Impressionist landscapes, these vines eke out a living in rocky canyons once thronging with outlaws and miners. But water runs through this rugged frontier, transforming it into a surprisingly lush microclimate and itself into surprisingly luscious wines.

Because Northern Arizona is a fledgling wine region, many of the area’s vines are not yet ready for production. So some wines are made from local grapes, some blended with southern Arizona grapes, and some made here with grapes from California. Proprietors can provide you with details on each wine.

Driving from Phoenix, the first stop on the wine trail is Alcantara Vineyards, nestled by the Verde River in a semi-Tuscan setting sentinelled by bald eagles. Pull up a chair at proprietress Barbara Predmore’s tasting room – which happens to be her kitchen – and sample the NV Confluence, a spicy red blend made from estate grapes.

As unlikely a wine country as Verde Valley is, it was put on the map by an even unlikelier character: rock star Maynard James Keenan. Trading a heavy-metal lifestyle in L.A. for sleepy Jerome, Keenan partnered with winemaker Eric Glomski, and between the two of them, they have three wineries in the area. The first is Arizona Stronghold, which opened its art-filled tasting room in historic downtown Cottonwood in March. Sample the vanilla-toned Mangus and the “shape-shifting” Chupacabra, a blend of 13 varietals.

Assistant winemaker Joe Bechard  at Arizona Stronghold, Cottonwood

In nearby Jerome, explore more of Keenan’s wines at Caduceus Cellars & Merkin Vineyards, housed in a historic brick building with a pressed tin ceiling. Try the Primer Paso, blended with malvasia bianca, a floral varietal that insiders say may be Arizona’s new grape. Stroll the atmospheric former mining town, stopping for more vino at Jerome Winery and for fresh, full-flavored New Mexican food at 15.Quince Grill and Cantina.

From Jerome, the road spools around the mountains and the scenery greens as you reach bucolic Page Springs. First up is Javelina Leap, where you can sample a scrumptious sangiovese and, every Saturday, get a free cellar tour with leading ornithologist-turned-oenologist Dr. Russ Balda.

Skip Oak Creek Vineyards & Winery and visit winemaker Eric Glomski’s deservedly popular Page Springs Cellars. Taste a constantly changing cadre of award-winning wines while overlooking a vineyard corralled by rocky hills and cottonwoods. Buy a bottle and a cheese plate (they’ll provide the picnic basket and blanket) and picnic at tables on the banks of Oak Creek as it flows through the property. On weekends, listen to live music and indulge in a creekside massage.

Verde Valley Resources
Alcantara Vineyards: 3445 S. Grapevine Way, Verde Valley; 928-649-8463, alcantaravineyard.com, daily 11-5

Arizona Stronghold: 1023 Main St., Cottonwood; arizonastrongholdvineyards.com, daily from noon

Caduceus Cellars & Merkin Vineyards: 158 Main St., Jerome; 928-639-9463, caduceus.org, Su-Th 11-6, Fr-Sa 11-8

Jerome Winery: 403 Clark St., Jerome; 928-639-9067, jeromewinery.com, M-Th 12-5, Fr 12-6, Sa 11-6, Su 12-5

15.Quince Grill and Cantina: 363 Main St., Jerome; 928-634-7087, 15quincejerome.com

Javelina Leap: 1565 Page Springs Road, Cornville; 928-649-2681, javelinaleapwinery.com, daily 11-5

Page Springs Cellars: 1500 N. Page Springs Road, Cornville; 928-639-3004, pagespringscellars.com, daily 11-6