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Photo by Jill Richards

Eric Glomski
Page Springs Cellars

How did you know you wanted to be a winemaker?
I’m writing a book right now and it’s largely about one of my mentors. He was on battleships in Korea, he’s a gourmand, he’s a weaver, and he hangs out by himself in Prescott. I was teaching at Prescott College, and one day I’m walking through the parking lot, and this little elf-like guy comes up to me and he has the most beautiful apple in his hand. He goes, “You’re Eric Glomski, right?” And I said, “Yup.” And he says, “I’m Dick Landis, try this.” So I bit into this apple, and it was the most amazing apple I’ve ever had in my life. As I got to know him, I started trying wines he was making from fruits. Meanwhile, I got a research project to describe the condition of rivers in Prescott National Forest, and I would come across old heirloom apple trees, so I started backpacking out apples and we’d make wines out of them. The moment I became a winemaker, I had made a wine from apples from this orchard near Prescott in upper Granite Creek. I remember vividly closing my eyes and putting my nose in the glass, and it transported me back to that place. It wasn’t just those apples. I could smell the decaying leaves on the ground, there was this little brook babbling by, there were these ponderosas, which smell like butterscotch at certain times when the sun shines on them. And I realized that wines are artistic expressions of landscape. They are liquid landscapes. Monet paints a landscape, you look at it and you get a feel for what that place is like. Well, I make wines, and I hope people will get to the point that we can see that these wines really do express these places. That’s what that apple wine did for me, and after that, I was possessed.

How does Arizona’s terroir affect the taste of the wine?
Arizona is a place of contrast for me. So when I taste our wines, there’s kind of that schism or disparity between the day and the night. There’s a lot of complexity. I think our wines force you to think a little and pay attention. They’re a little elusive.

What’s next for Page Springs Cellars?
I’m aging wine in Arizona oak. I’m hoping to start a little industry and supply Arizona wineries with Arizona oak. It always struck me as odd that I’m bringing in barrels from France. They’re great barrels, just like the grapes I bring from California are great, but does that really connect me and speak to my soul? Imagine now if I could say, “Hey, try this. If you go over to this forest, you can see these oaks.” To me, that’s just profound.
—Interviewed by Keridwen Cornelius

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