It’s been a 20 year project for owner & winemaker Maynard J. Keenan and his team at Cadeceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards as they prepare to open their new seven acre facility in old town Cottonwood. The Caduceus Cellars Hilltop Facility and VSC Ventura Room and Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria sits on what was the area’s Masonic Lodge opens on October 6th. The new multi-use facility will feature a new winery, cellar & tasting room, restaurant & retail space, a gelateria and vineyard & food production greenhouse in the heart of historic Cottonwood.
“In the many years I’ve been working towards this moment, one of the things I discovered when it comes to bridging the hurdle of exposing people to Arizona wine is context,” said Keenan. “So by putting a place like this in the middle of Cottonwood with five acres of vines, to winery facilities with a full greenhouse, and a full kitchen, all the context becomes visible, and you kind of break down the barriers of whatever preconceptions you have of Arizona wines.”
Much to see and do at Caduceus Cellars Hilltop Facility
The 9,500 square foot The Caduceus Cellars Hilltop Facility & VSC Ventura Room will have a state of the art production facility, a 4.5 acre vineyard planted to Italian and Spanish grape varietals and the Velvet Slipper Club (VSC) private tasting room. Private tastings and tours will be offered to take people behind the scenes of the winery and its history.
The Merkins Vineyards Hilltop Facility & Trattoria will feature the winery & barrel room, on-site greenhouse and bottle shop and Merkin’s award-winning restaurant, The Trattoria. The 6,500 square foot restaurant will be run by Chef Chris Smith and have stunning views of the Verde Valley. On the menu will be fresh salads, homemade pastas and wood fired pizzas with guests dining inside or on the patio and will feature a full bar. The winery which can be seen by guests as they enter the restaurant will be capable of producing 8,000 cases of wine and have a display barrel room and 6 custom concrete fermentation and aging cubes.
Gelato Master Kelley E. Foy will oversee production and the rotation of seasonal flavors at Merkins Vineyards Pocket Park Gelateria. Guests can purchase fresh made gelato and get a copper token for the tram to the top of the hilltop development.
The Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria will be open daily Sunday through Thursday from 11a.m. until 9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. until 10 p.m. The VSC Ventura Room will be by reservation only. The Merkin Vineyards Pocket Park Gelateria will be open daily Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. For more information visit www.caduceus.org or www.merkinvineyards.org
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