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Save water, drink wine. [Sonoita, Arizona]

Save water, drink wine. [Sonoita, Arizona]

Erika Walker

 

Day tripping to Sonoita Wine Country 

Wine is the answer, what is the question?

QUICK TIPS FOR A GREAT TRIP: 

  • Bring your own wine glass from home, and you'll have cheaper tasting fees!

  • Pack your own picnic or cheese board for lunch. It'll save you moolah.

  • Lots of wineries are dog friendly, yay!

  • Pace YO self... but have fun, duh!

If you are a true wine lover, then you know that taking a trip to wine country is always a good idea. And if you live in Tucson, Arizona, you know that the closest wine country you can get to is Sonoita! It's only about an hour drive southeast of Tucson, where stumble upon the cutest little town. Today, Zach and I decided to take a little spontaneous trip to this lovely place, so we could sip on some good wine- while feelin' mightly fine. Here I will the tell you the places we have been and places we stopped by today. I'll give you some tips on what to pack, what to bring, and how to guarantee a good time. Happy drinking!!

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We started off our adventure of the day at one of our very favorite vineyards in Sonoita, woman owned and fully operated, Hops and Vines! This place has the best vibes, the cutest decor, many GREAT unique wines, and even farm animals on the property! Even better, with every pairing you have (only 5 bucks with a glass of your own!) you get paired with some sort of chip to try with your wine. Sip, chip, sip repeat! Potato chips, salt and vinegar chips, limon chips, you name it! They have a list of about 5-6 wines to taste in their pairing, all were full of flavor and fun to try! This list is constantly changing with the seasons. All of the red wines were our personal favs, and we loved that their dessert wine was paired with COCO PUFFS! Yes please. What more could you ask for in wine tasting? One of my favorite wines they have here is called The Fluffer, it's a sparkling moscato wine. (*Cue pinky out*) This stuff is the bees knees- be sure to order a glass and walk the property too, pet the pigs and goats, play some corn hole, scope the peacocks, and walk through the vineyards itself. Oh yeah, one more thing... they are in dog friendly.

So, WINNING. 

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Next stop we went to on this lovely day was Lightning Ridge Winery. The reason we chose this next place is because they are one of the only wineries in Arizona that specialize in ONLY Italian varietals. Lightning Ridge, you had me at, Italian. When you arrive at here, this vineyard definitely has some Italy vibes going on, which we loved. This winery is also dog friendly! They have an awesome dog of it's own, Monte! She's a great dane, and a very friend pup as well. See picture above of our Olive and Monte having a face off. Don't worry, they become best friends. The tasting fee here was 7 dollars (TIP: bring your own glass to everywhere you go!) and you receive 6 different tastings. All the wines were delicious, our favorite was the Montepulciano. We fell in love with all Montepulciano wines in Italy, visiting this region...but that's another story for another day! ;)  We bought a bottle of this delicious vino, finished our tasting, and decided we were hungry for lunch! *TIP: Some wineries will waive your tasting fee if you buy a bottle of wine or more! 

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For lunch, there are many places you are welcome to bring your own food or you can buy little snack boards from the wineries themselves. I think it's always more fun to create your own board of goodies. My two favorite places to chow are Callaghans and Flying Leap Vineyards. I personally think they have awesome patios with plenty of seating, epic views, and these places encourage you to bring your own food. Also, their wines are awesome to pair a bottle or glass with your picnic!  YUM. 

When it comes to food, I always come prepared. Today we decided to pack a charcuterie cheese board for our trip! My favorite place to shop for cheese board essentials is, my man, TRADER JOES! I decided to pick up a list of things to concoct our delectable cheese board. Here are some goods I picked up: Manchego cheese, Port Salut cheese, Aged cheddar, some fresh berries, apples, cheeries, crackers, olive tapenade (my fav!), a trio of Italian meats, hummus & pita chips, local peach jam, and dark chocolate covered almonds. Talk about epic ass charcuterie board. Today's pairing of wine was a bottle of the Kiva at Callaghans, named after their winery dog who also hangs around! (Gimme all the dogs!) Light bodied, fruity, jammy goodness in a bottle. Definitely recommend. P.S. The Grenache was a close second to the winning bought bottle. We enjoyed our time on the covered patio, munching on our snacks board, sipping our wine, chillin with our pups and enjoying the quite, nice scenery. 

Lunch at it's finest.

Lunch at it's finest.

This was our last winery of the day- in the past we have made it to about 5 wineries throughout the day (at a max!) I'd say 3-4 is a perfect amount of time to spend the day here, if you are only doing a day time. If you are looking to stay the night there or do a full weekend trip there are tons of cute air b n b's to stay in near by, or stay at a bed and breakfast like Dos Cabezas The Casa Next Door. Take your time, soak it all in, and drink it all down! Sonoita is so quiet, quaint, fun, yet relaxing! Happy Travels!

-E+Z

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 “Red wine is good for the soul” -Everyone 

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