A monthly look at Arizona wine with Valley dining impresario Pavle Milic.
Back in May, Wine Enthusiast ran a piece with the headline “5 Wine Regions Vying to Become the Next Napa.” Attention-getting? Absolutely. Did it spark curiosity? You bet. I shared it across all my social media channels within minutes.
Alongside Texas Hill Country and others, Sonoita was named as one of the “vying” regions. The article gave nods to Callaghan Vineyards and Rune Wines, mentioned Xanadu Ranch and the Casitas at Los Milics as lodging options, and praised Todd and Kelly Bostock at Dos Cabezas for their decadent potato chips with crème fraîche and caviar (the same dish that landed in PHOENIX’s Top 100 Dishes issue last January).
All great mentions. God knows Arizona wine needs and deserves the attention. For years, our winemakers have flown unfairly under the radar. Notable exceptions include Kent Callaghan catching the attention of wine guru Robert Parker, or Todd Bostock being named one of “10 Winemakers to Watch” in the San Francisco Chronicle.
But once the afterglow of the Wine Enthusiast article faded, I started thinking: I don’t believe Sonoita is trying to be anything other than what it already is. And that’s the point.
We grow grapes like Petit Manseng, Teroldego, Syrah, Marsanne, Malvasia, Barbera and Tempranillo – a whole cornucopia well-suited to our soils and climate. Our landscape is hard to compare: dreamlike undulating hills under skies that could be lifted from an Ed Mell painting. You won’t find chiltepin or Vera Earl Ranch fresh beef in Napa. And before bacanora became the darling of the bar world, it was sold out of car trunks in Sonoita.
This isn’t a critique of Wine Enthusiast. I’m absolutely grateful for the love. But what makes Arizona wine country special is exactly what Bonnie Raitt sings about: “Give ’em something to talk about… a little mystery to figure out.”
We’re not vying to be the next Napa. We’re just trying to be ourselves. And isn’t that a worthy goal?
