By most accounts, the Arizona wine industry is just a newborn, the commercial industry barely twenty years old. Kent Callaghan, of Callaghan Vineyards (www.callaghanvineyards.com), reigns as the senior member, releasing his first wine from the 1991 vintage. 

Since that time, vintners statewide have been honing their vineyard and winemaking skills, all the while working with a very challenging and sometimes hostile, Arizona climate.  With most of the vineyards at 4,000 feet or above, it doesn’t take much to severely damage a crop with a spring hard freeze or a summer hail storm.  While lack of moisture is a challenge, most often from late spring into early summer before the summer rains arrive, vintners have learned to adapt through irrigation.  On the other extreme, an overabundance of summer rains can lead to mildew and vine disease.  Despite these challenges, I find that Arizona wines is moving up the quality ladder.

I recently participated as a judge in the first Arizona Wine Growers Association (www.arizonawine.org) wine competition held in Phoenix. In all, about one half of the statewide wine producers offered blind samples.  Two groups of four tasted and graded the wines with our group taking on the “burden” of mostly reds.  The categories were divided into roses, reds and whites with subcategories of dry and sweet, and finally a few dessert wines.  While I cannot divulge the specifics of the awards, which will be officially revealed at the November 22nd First Arizona Wine Growers Association Festival at the Farm (www.azwinefestivalatthefarm.com) , I can share some general impressions. 

First, it’s impossible to place an overall grade on the reds as the level of quality was so variable, not surprising as our wine industry is so young.  Clearly, some producers have made strides more rapidly than their local cousins.  What is encouraging, however, is the rise in quality reached by a few and how vital they can be in lifting the industry.  Of the reds I tasted, there were a few that truly stood out and awakened my palate.  In fact, one or two of the wines elicited suggestions by a few of us that we would like to purchase some and even had the balance for aging.  That tells you that there is some real potential for quality reds in the state.

The few dessert wines that we sampled were not nearly so impressionable.  They tended to be unbalanced.  All of us came away with the distinct impression that a lot of work yet remained for those producers making a serious effort for a quality red or white dessert wine.
With the Arizona vintner community expanding so rapidly, I have the feeling that sometime over the next few years, everything will come together for a lucky one or two or perhaps few producers, to proudly step up to the next level.  The 2009 growing year may be it. 

The ‘09 summer was warmer than normal but the higher elevations allowed the evenings to cool well.  Rains were sparse, allowing the growers to feed water through irrigation as needed and essentially eliminated the risks of mildew and rot.  Harvest time in southeast part of the state yielded cooperative weather conditions (although a late season series of September hailstorms accompanied by torrential rains did some minor damage).  A few of growers I have spoken with were very encouraged with the quality of grapes, describing the fruit as full and robust with abundant sugar and well balanced acidity.  Mother nature has done her best.  Now it’s up to the cellar managers to gently assist her “children” in being the very best they can be.

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Tags: Arizona Wine Growers Association, Callaghan Vineyards