Tag: winery news

Cove Mesa Vineyard wins medals at prestigious wine competition

Arizona wineries came home with a bunch of medals from the Annual San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition, 106 medals to be exact. Cove Mesa Vineyard brought home 31 of those medals including 6 gold and 19 silver, an impressive feat for a winery that produced its first wines in 2020.

The Verde Valley winery is owned by Emil and Cindy Molin where Emil is executive winemaker, and Cindy handles the business side of the business. The Molin’s aren’t new to the wine business as they were investors at Oregon’s Rex Hill Winery when they lived up that way before moving to the Verde Valley in 2015. The reason for the move was so Emil could attend Yavapai College earning an Associate Degree in Viticulture & Enology with Honors in 2016.

Today Cove Mesa Vineyards has 12,000 vines in two vineyards, Cove Mesa and Solair where they make European style red, white and rose wines. There are 8 planted varietals including Assyrtiko, Aglianico, Mourvèdre, Barbera, Teroldego, Graciano, Petit Manseng and Greco di Tufo. The Molin’s also source grapes from Southern Arizona’s Willcox region including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Malbec, Sangiovese, Petit Sirah, Tempranillo, Chardonnay, Picpoul Blanc, Malvasia Bianca, Vermentino, and several Rose’ including a Double Gold Award Winner.

During a recent trip to Italy to meet with European winemakers, sommeliers and restaurateurs their wines were tasted blind and positive comments about their old world style wines were shared and many thought the wines were from France. In 2022 they opened a tasting room in Cornville to share their wines and it’s been voted Best Tasting Room in Verde Valley in the two years it’s been open.

To see the list of Cove Mesa Vineyard wines that brought home medals visit their website and to see the full list of winners from Arizona visit WillcoxWineCountry.org

“Hot Brand” awarded to Aridus Wine Co. by Wine Business Monthly

Willcox’s Aridus Wine Company received national recognition in February when Wine Business Monthly named it a “Hot Brand”. The annual list is compiled with wineries, growers, vintners and wines that are making a statement in the wine industry.

“We are enormously honored and thrilled,” said founder/proprietor Scott Dahmer, “to be recognized by this honor, which comes on a national scale and in a field of very distinguished other contenders.”

Wine Business Monthly singled out the 2015 Syrah as part of the profile which was made by winemaker Lisa Strid. The syrah comes from several local vineyards and is usually the first reds to be harvested each year. Strid likes to pioneer new varietals to the area and likes working with the challenging climate of the region.

Part of consideration for the “Hot Brand” award was the growth of the winery and its commitment to offer all “estate sourced” wines. The high elevation winery and vineyards is in Chiricahua Hills appellation of southeastern Arizona.

Hot Brand choice

Erin Kirschenmann, Wine Business Monthly editor, explains that “every year,
when Wine Business Monthly “Our goal is to always represent the American wine industry. Often, that means discovering a new winery in an established region while also paying homage to the stalwarts who continue to move the industry forward. It means we look at wineries in non-West Coast, “traditional” winemaking states, or those who might be bucking a trend or trying new techniques.”

The winery was founded in 2012 as a custom crush facility for the regions wineries in what was an old apple warehouse. Aridus is Latin for “dry or arid”  which is what the terroir offers, good for winemaking.

The Aridus Tasting room in Willcox is at 145 N. Railview Ave. the winery is nearby. The old town Scottsdale tasting room is at 7173 E. Main St. 85251. For more information visit their website.