Photo by Adam Klawonn A quiet street in Bisbee leads to gems like Café Roka.

When in Wine Country

Now for passage back to Arizona. Wait in line for 40 to 60 minutes, cross the turnstiles at the border, then hop in the car and follow the signs to quaint Patagonia and the rolling hillsides of Sonoita along State Route 82. Wine country begins at the junction with State Route 83.

Just east of the intersection sits Dos Cabezas WineWorks, whose owner, Todd Bostock, is a Phoenix native and Sunnyslope High School grad. His pinot gris and red wines have won awards, but the Toscano is tasty, too ($20).

Follow State Route 83 south into Elgin for the rest of the wine tour. The big fish is Callaghan Vineyards, whose limited opening time of 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. has patrons lined up on weekend mornings. There is also Canelo Hills, Keeling-Schaefer, Kief-Joshua and Rancho Rossa, a relatively new vineyard run by Chris Hamilton, a US Airways pilot, and his wife, Sarah.

Arizona’s wine country is luring bigger players these days. Eric Glomski, a winemaker from northern California who owns Page Springs Vineyards in Sedona, just bought a 54-acre vineyard near Willcox and hired a grape guru from Argentina to run it. Oregon winemaking pioneer Dick Erath, who winters in Tucson, just sold his label and plans to start Erath Vineyards using 20 of the 200 acres he just purchased, Keeling says.

Old Bisbee

After scooping the wine loop, head east on State Route 82 until you reach the town of Whetstone, then make a right and head south on State Route 90 toward Sierra Vista. In about 40 minutes, the Victorian streetscape of Bisbee comes into view.

The town nestled in the Mule Mountains was born in the 1880s and, thanks to the mining boom, was one of the largest outposts between St. Louis and San Francisco around 1910. Today, its mines are open for tourists, but don’t forget the town.

With 6,600 people, it’s actually growing thanks to a quirky mix of folks who periodically buy and renovate old inns, restaurants and commercial structures and retrofit them into coffee-roasting houses, top-flight eateries, artist galleries, antique shops and second homes.

One 1,200-square-foot mountainside home was listed for $375,000. But who knows the real price? In old Bisbee, real estate comps can date back to the Reagan Administration.

Follow the State Route 80 loop into town, park and stroll back in time along Main Street. Start with Bisbee Coffee Co., where the coffee is locally roasted and the pastries include fist-sized, fresh-baked scones and cinnamon buns. March up Main Street to Killer Bee Honey, whose apiary is nearby and filled with Africanized bees captured on contract for Cochise County. Their flavors have swept Napa Valley honey judges five years in a row (10 jars for $50).

Other Main Street shops have everything from Native American gifts and charms to 100-year-old china and souvenirs from Barry Goldwater’s presidential campaign.

As for inns, feel free to negotiate the price in the off-season. A walk-in visit (and subsequent “walk-away” technique) can get a visitor 30 percent off the nightly rate at the quaint Hotel San Ramon ($100-$150). Each room has all the trimmings, plus four homemade chocolate-chip cookies sealed up tight in an old mason jar on the nightstand.

For the best dinner in town, make reservations for Café Roka on Main Street. For the past 15 years, the restaurant has been the star of Bisbee’s dinner scene thanks to Chef/Owner Rod Kass’ seafood and Italian dishes. The four-course meal includes soup, salad, sorbet and your choice of entrée for less than $25.

In the hunt for Arizona-centric charm and history, Bisbee and a trip through the borderlands wins.