• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Subscribe
  • Join Newsletter
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Login

Quad Cities Business News

Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley, & Dewey/Humboldt

  • Business
  • Columnists
  • Community Profile
  • Local News
  • Tourism
  • Education
  • Spotlight
  • Digital Issues
You are here: Home / Archives for Caduceus Cellars

Caduceus Cellars

Big Bottling in Camp Verde

April 30, 2022 By quadcities Leave a Comment

“With a lot of grapes grown in the Wilcox area, Camp Verde is a great destination and shipping route for bottling grapes.”

Now that Verde Valley has been designated an American Viticulture Area (AVA), the Town of Camp Verde has racked up another achievement: Bottling more than 150 different wines, more than any other Arizona municipality.

Town of Camp Verde Economic Development Specialist Crisi Clark has validated this claim. “After researching several avenues in the viticulture industry, I was delighted to discover that Camp Verde bottles more wine than any other township in Arizona. We are grateful for the winemakers that have not only created employment for our town but have allowed Camp Verde to play a small part in this growing industry.”

Camp Verde Economic Development Director Steve Ayers says most wineries in Arizona are in unincorporated areas, not in cities or towns. “We did an analysis of where wines were bottled and where wineries were located and realized that Camp Verde clearly had the most bottling facilities within a municipal boundary. It was surprising for us and a distinction that we’re proud of.”

Camp Verde is a strategically important location with a large concentration of seasoned winemakers, said Arizona Stronghold Winery winemaker Jason McCluskey. “With a lot of grapes grown in the Wilcox area, Camp Verde is a great destination and shipping route for bottling grapes.”

“Our primary production facility is rather small and not conducive to a full-scale bottling operation,” said Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards National Sales Director Calvin Arnold. “The Camp Verde location allows us the space to house our bottling line and cased goods storage. This facility currently bottles wines produced under the Caduceus Cellars, Merkin Vineyards, Four Eight Wineworks, and Puscifer: Queen B labels.”

The verdant region of Camp Verde currently has three locally owned wineries, Alcantara Vineyards and Winery, Salt Mine Wine and Clear Creek Vineyard and Winery, which was the first to break ground in 1998 with its innovative sustainable organic methods of grape growing.

Each Camp Verde winery bottles its own wine.

Alcantara Vineyards and Winery was annexed into the Town of Camp Verde in 2020 and bottles 23 different wines at their winery. “We have 17 wines grown on our 87 acres,” said winemaker Ron Brumley. “Single varietal, merlot, cabernet and several blends. Aside from the 150 wines bottled here in Camp Verde, two-thirds of our wines are Verde Valley AVA.”

The small family-owned vineyard and winery Salt Mine Wine is located in a historic farming area of Camp Verde and specializes in growing Italian varietals such as Malvasia Bianca and Sangiovese.

As documented in the book, “Images of America Camp Verde,” by Steve Ayers and the Camp Verde Historical Society, the earliest pioneers came to the region in 1865. “Drawn by the promise of ample water, rich bottomland and lush grassland, a party of 17 men and two women left Prescott, Arizona heading east into the Verde Valley. The party established a farming and ranching community near the confluence of West Clear Creek and the Verde River. Over the next 35 years the settlement thrived and became known as Camp Verde.” QCBN

By V. Ronnie Tierney, QCBN

For more information about Camp Verde Wineries, visit visitcampverde.com.

Filed Under: Business, Local News, Tourism Tagged With: Alcantara Vineyards and Winery, American Viticulture Area, Caduceus Cellars, camp verde, Camp Verde Economic Development, Camp Verde Historical Society, Camp Verde Wineries, Clear Creek Vineyard and Winery, Crisi Clark, Four Eight Wineworks, Merkin Vineyards, Puscifer: Queen B labels, Salt Mine Wine, Steve Ayers, Verde River

Wine Tasting Like a Rock Star

February 8, 2021 By quadcities Leave a Comment

The Arizona brand has produced wines that have won national and international awards.

Want to experience the definition of homegrown? Cottonwood’s Merkin Vineyards Tasting Room & Osteria could be your answer.

The restaurant, which opened in 2016, offers its customers an alluring experience, where everything from the pasta to the wine is made in the Verde Valley. The restaurant is located at 1001 N. Main Street, Cottonwood.

Merkin Vineyards is a division of Caduceus Cellars, touted as a small, family-owned operation. Both the business and restaurant have sprouted nicely since the first grapevines were planted.

Caduceus Cellars is owned by winemaker Maynard James Keenan, a Grammy award-winning artist and the lead singer of three bands – Tool, Puscifer and A Perfect Circle. The Arizona brand has produced wines that have won national and international awards.

The customers “get an immersive experience,” Keenan said, “one hundred percent Arizona wines paired with Arizona produce and house-made pastas, breads and gelato. Our ducks provide the eggs for our pastas and quiche. Our greenhouses, gardens and orchards provide a significant amount of produce for our menu.”

Keenan moved to Jerome in 1995, where he owns two tasting rooms and a record store. His other tasting room is located in Old Town Scottsdale. He and others help farm 110 acres in Willcox and the Verde Valley combined – a key factor in making the wine unique.

“We grow our own fruit, which, in our opinion, makes a significant difference in the final result,” he said.

National Sales Director Calvin Arnold says the soil in a particular region plays a big role in the end product. “I have brought winemakers here and some of them will absolutely reach into the ground and pick up and taste a rock. That will tell them kind of the story of that place.”

Arnold said the environment around the vineyard could also change the way the wine tastes. “I mean, you may have flowers growing right next to the vineyard,” Arnold said. “The bees and the pollen –  some of the characteristics and things like lavender can absolutely find their way into the soil. Just coming outside of Sedona, that’s ancient sea there. There are some times where you may be able to pick up saline because there is still saline and salt in that soil.”

The wine growers stick to what works best with varieties of grapes that thrive in Arizona’s hot, dry conditions. Wines can range from $20 to more than $100 per bottle, depending on the type and brand. Red wines found in the Spain and Portugal region, such as Tempranillo and Grenache, and a white wine, Alvarinho, are among those featured at the tasting room locations.

“With us, it was a lot of trial and error,” Arnold said. “Ultimately, we are in Arizona. It’s an up-and-coming region. Even though we may have liked this particular grape, it didn’t want to be here.”

But what did want to be here has found its market. The wine is sold in Australia and New Zealand, along with 43 U.S. states. “Some guy called me and it was the middle of the night,” Arnold said. “I’m like, ‘Where are you?’ He said he was in Hobart, Tasmania.” A local bar was hosting a Caduceus Merkin wine tasting event and there was a line to get in.

Arnold encourages Arizona residents to make a day trip out of visiting Cottonwood and Jerome. In Jerome, guests can sip wine and get a haircut at the in-house barber at Caduceus, or pick up a vinyl or two at the record store. Wine enthusiasts can experience tasting rooms by different businesses on both sides of the street. The area is a short drive to the Southwest Wine Center in Clarkdale.

“We want people to experience Arizona,” Arnold said. “Whether you already live here or not, we’d like to show off our little corner.”

By Brent Ruffner, QCBN

For more information, visit caduceus.org or merkinvineyards.org.

Filed Under: Local News Tagged With: 1001 N. Main Street, A Perfect Circle, Alvarinho, Caduceus Cellars, Cottonwood, Grenache, jerome, Maynard James Keenan, Merkin Vineyards Tasting Room & Osteria, Old Town Scottsdale, Perfect Circle, Puscifer, Tempranillo, Tool, Verde Valley, white wine, wine, winemaker

Primary Sidebar

JOIN NEWSLETTER

.
.

Categories

  • Business
  • Business Calendar
  • Columnists
  • Community Profile
  • Education
  • Elections
  • Local News
  • Spotlight
  • Tourism
  • Uncategorized
  • Video Spotlight

Footer

Advertisement

Get QCBN Email

COPYRIGHT © 2023 | QUAD CITIES BUSINESS NEWS