On the road in February

For the past five years, my parents have lived in the rolling-hills community of Sonoita, Arizona, about 60 miles from, and 2000 feet above, Tucson, Arizona. Who would have guessed that there's such a place as "Sonoita Wine Country"?? Well, not me and my wine drinking friends. So we decided to venture down that way and check it out.

My mom was kind enough to take on the task of designated driver. These wineries are not close together, I'd say on average 2 to 3 miles separate them. There are eight wineries in total in the Sonoita area, more than enough for five thirsty Phoenicians to tackle in one day. And we managed to tackle five......Sonoita Vineyards, Callaghan, Kief Joshua (my personal fav!), Village of Elgin Winery, and Wilhelm Family Winery.

Most of the wines were quite good......that coming from a bunch of semi-snobby wine drinkers. And although we were fore-warned, we were still unimpressed with the prices of the wine and the tastings, for it being Southern Arizona. But all in all, good wine and worth a day of tasting!

The rest of the trip involved a great dinner at the Steak-Out steakhouse in Sonoita, a few after-dinner cocktails at mom & dad's, and a very late night at the Sonoita Inn with more wine. You get no more details than that. ;)

If you haven't experienced Southern Arizona's wineries, you should check it out. It's worth a trip down south for a day. You can learn more on www.SonoitaWineries.com.