Coronado Vineyards - Willcox, AZ

Last weekend, I went down to explore the wine region of Southern AZ.  One vineyard I went to was Coronado Vineyards, which is in the town of Willcox, about an hour from Tucson.  It sits between Mt. Graham and the Dos Cabezas mountains, in the Coronado National Forest.  The winery opened in 2006 and currently produces some of Arizona's finest wines.  The elevation in Willcox reaches roughly 4300 feet.  This, coupled with the warm days, cool nights and rich soils the high desert has to offer, produces wines with intense flavor, quality and character. 

Coronado vineyard also serves lunch and dinner.  They provide full-service catering and offer a beautiful setting for weddings and other private events. 

While they currently offer nine different wines, I tried three - the Riesling, Meritage and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The Riesling was dry to slightly off dry in style.  It had nice tropical fruit, pear and honey flavors, a good amount of acidity and the finish was medium in length.  The Meritage was a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cab Franc and Merlot - very Bordeaux in style.  There was nice dark berries, currant, cedar, tobacco, herbs and hints of oak.  Finally, the Cabernet Sauvignon had subtle red and black fruits.  It was a little lackluster - the finish was mediocre and the fruit was lacking.  Overall, it was a fine effort.  By far, my favorite was the Meritage - yummy!  

If you're ever in the area, you should definitely check out the AZ vineyards/wineries.  They make some great wine and they're getting even better.  Currently there are 28 in the area and a few more are planned.