In the Land of Cocktails

WWoW: 2009 Nachise Arizona Stronghold Vineyards

When one thinks of Ari­zona their mind instantly con­jures up pris­tine yet rugged visions of the Grand Canyon, the saloon-door-swinging wild west or maybe even Nicholas Cage steal­ing babies from Nathan Ari­zona, but rarely does ones mind think of 

deli­cious, well made wines. That is reserved for the states of Cal­i­for­nia, Ore­gon and Washington…right? Well watch out, ‘cause there’s a new sher­iff in town and he’s mak­ing wine in Ari­zona that rivals the qual­ity of these other so-called ‘wine states.’

This shouldn’t come as a total sur­prise, Ari­zona has always had a few small pro­duc­ers of wine lurk­ing around but the pro­duc­tion was never enough to war­rant expos­ing these wines to the rest of the World. This all changed in 2007 when Eric Glom­ski (pre­vi­ously of David Bruce Win­ery) and May­nard Keenan (lead singer for the rock band Tool) joined forces with the pur­pose of mak­ing World-Class wines in Ari­zona. Their win­ery, Ari­zona Strong­hold Vine­yards was formed.

As of right now Ari­zona Strong­hold makes five dif­fer­ent wines, Rose, whites and reds; Yes, I have tried them all and am duly impressed with each but the one that stood out for me was their 2009 Nachise, Rhone-inspired blend. It is aptly named as Nachise was the youngest and fiercest war­rior and free­dom fighter of the Chir­ic­ahua Apache. Nachise is a blend of 31%Syrah, 24%Grenache, 21%Petite Sirah and 24%Mourvedre. This is a full-bodied wine that still man­ages to have a bit of finesse; favor­ing dark fruit fla­vors with hints of choco­late that give way to some red fruit fla­vors with touches of dried herbs. This is a fan­tas­tic wine for grilled meats of any kind. Lamb and duck would espe­cially be a great fit for this wine.

Keep an eye out for Ari­zona Strong­hold Win­ery, as their star is on the rise, you won’t be disappointed!

Robert Wailes is the man­ager and head Adult Bev­er­age Con­sul­tant for Café Ade­laide and the Swiz­zle Stick bar in New Orleans. He has been inter­ested in wine and adult bev­er­ages for as long as he can remem­ber (seriously!).