Greetings from Arizona

[Mike89T]

Hello All,

I just recently found these forums and registered. I've made wine with my dad off and on over the last 25 years. My parents place is up in Sonoma county and is the perfect place to make wine. However I moved to Arizona 15 years ago after college and haven't been able to be a part of the process over that time. I recently made it back this year and was able to help him bottle his recent vintage. I kind of got the bug.

So I'm in process of experimenting with what grapes will grow well in the Phoenix Arizona area. I've successfully grown table grapes (a red flame vine and a Muscat vine) over the last 8 years here in arizona. Although the birds usually take all of the grapes before I can harvest. I added bird netting this year and was able to harvest several bunches.

Currently I'm planning on planting Zinfandel, Barbera, Tempranillo and Viognier vines. I believe all of these will do well in the hot arizona climate. If anyone has any experience with growing wine grapes in the Phoenix area I'm all ears.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Julie]

Hi Mike,

Welcome to winemakingtalk.

 

[ibglowin]

Welcome aboard Mike, glad you found us.

Not too many members from our neck of the woods so its nice to have some company!

 

[Mike89T]

Hi Mike,

Welcome to winemakingtalk.

Thanks Julie!

 

[Mike89T]

Welcome aboard Mike, glad you found us.

Not too many members from our neck of the woods so its nice to have some company!

Nice, another Mike from the southwest!

Wish I had your weather right now. Things have been downright on fire here in the Phoenix area. Hottest August I can remember.

 

[Flem]

Welcome to the forum, Mike!

 

[Runningwolf]

Welcome aboard!

 

[winemaker_3352]

Welcome aboard!!!

 

[Giovannino]

Welcome from another newcomer.

 

[VegasScott]

Hey Mike,
I'm just up the 95 from you in Vegas. I've been growing Thompson Red Flame seedless grapes for the past few years with great success. This past year was the first year I had any issue with birds. I have two boxers that chase the birds away, but as you know, our heat won't allow the dogs to be outside and on duty all day.
While we did loose 20% or so to the birds, I did manage to get a big harvest with some many grapes that we had to give them away to neighbors and friends.
I wanted to ask you where you got the idea to grow those other varieties of vines? (Zinfandel, Barbera, Tempranillo and Viognier) Did you visit a local nursery or vine grower?
Thanks!
VegasScott

 

[Mike89T]

I wanted to ask you where you got the idea to grow those other varieties of vines? (Zinfandel, Barbera, Tempranillo and Viognier) Did you visit a local nursery or vine grower?
Thanks!
VegasScott

The Univesity of Arizona did some experiments growing different varitals down in Tuscon, Az. Those were some of the ones that grew best in the desert. Although Zinfandel didn't fare as well as the others.

 

[VegasScott]

Oh, very interesting! Did they publish this info anywhere on the web that you know of? The Sanoran desert is quite a bit different from the Mohave desert, but there's got to be some cross over.

Thanks for the info!

VegasScott

 

[Mike89T]

Oh, very interesting! Did they publish this info anywhere on the web that you know of? The Sanoran desert is quite a bit different from the Mohave desert, but there's got to be some cross over.

Thanks for the info!

VegasScott

Here is an article that I found on it:

http://arizonaalumni.com/Alumnus/wine/

Then I also found this guy who is growing grapes in Tuscon with some success and he has also summarized the finding from UofA:

http://cooksplace.us/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Desert-Wine-Grape-Viticulture2.pdf

 

[VegasScott]

Nice! Thanks for the links!

VegasScott

 

[Gr8zins]

Hi Mike welcome. Ever visit some of those AZ wineries SE of Tucson. Pretty good wine and friendly winemakers to get some nice tips from. I like to visit them when I'm in your neck of the woods (desert). I get Cali juices from a distributor here in the fall and also source local juices from the New York State growers good luck!!

Mark

 

[ibglowin]

Check out the documentary "Blood into Wine" on Netflix!

 

[hobbyiswine]

Blod Into wine

"Blood Into wine" is great! Have been a big fan of MJK's music for a long time and his wine is darn good. The Whole Foods here in Austin carries a few bottles of Caduceus, Merkin and Arizona Stronghold product. I watched the movie on the big screen when it first came out. Drank a bottle of the Chupacabra red blend while watching the movie with fellow music and wine fans. Now have it on DVD to watch whenever the mood strikes me. Awesome.

I know there are some good wines coming out of New Mexico. Drink the Gruet sparklers a few times a year. Will be making a road trip through West Texas into New Mexico and finally into AZ one of these days. Maybe the summer of 2013.

 

[ibglowin]

I have a bottle of Caduceus and two bottles of Chupacabra in the cellar right now. I have opened a bottle of the Chup and it was fantastic for a $16 bottle of wine. I picked up my stock in San Antonio as none can be had here in NM. Speaking of NM wine, the Gruet NV bubbly made Wine Spectator's list of top 100 wines for 2011. Not a bad list to be on for sure. Make sure you stop in either Las Cruces or Deming, NM and pick up some Wine from DH Lescombs. This is the top end of wines from St. Clair winery. They can hold their own against almost anything out there. The Cab is fantastic. We had a bottle of Syrah last night with dinner, again fantastic.

NM is the oldest wine growing region in North America (dating back to the 1600's long before there was a United States) and there are now wineries strewn all up and down the Rio Grande valley from Las Cruces to Taos, NM all making some amazing wines with NM grown grapes. They just don't have the $$$ to market them so they are all word of mouth more or less.

Hope you can stop in on a few. Feel free to PM me for more info when the road trip begins!

 

[VegasScott]

Check out the documentary "Blood into Wine" on Netflix!

I've never heard of this. Can you give a brief description? I'm also a fan of music... What type of music is featured? About 6 years ago discovered a fondness for urban/contemporary smooth jazz. It's got a "funk" type feel to it! Being Vegas, I get to see many of the "big" names in this genre of music. It's fun because the venues they play are usually 500-1500 people and the musicians roam the theatre/show rooms while playing. It's a lot of fun!

VegasScott

 

[ibglowin]

From Netflix:

This perceptive documentary tells the unusual tale of Maynard James Keenan, the hard-rocking, eccentric front man of Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer who abruptly left Los Angeles in the mid-1990s to start a world-class vineyard in Arizona. Aided by wine guru Eric Glomski, Maynard tills the unlikely soil of the Verde Valley despite scoffing from wine snobs and rock fans. Will Maynard's wine, named after his mother, pass the taste test?


The music is NOT smooth jazz!

I snagged the soundtrack I liked it so much. Not my normal choice but there was some interesting pieces.