Next up in Sippin’ September we have the Lightning Ridge Cellars Tasting Room.  Lightning Ridge is a small family winery established in 2005, with the tasting room opening three years later.   They offer wines based on their Italian heritage made from classic Italian Varietals such as Saniovese, Nebbiolo, Montepulciano, Agliancio, Malvais and Muscat Canelli.

We were hitting all the outlying vineyards that Saturday, so we left Hwy 82, taking Upper Elgin Road into Elgin, then taking Elgin Canelo Rd to Hwy 83. It's a nice relaxing drive on backroads with several wineries to visit along the way, and I’d highly recommend taking this scenic route.

As you pull onto the estate, you can see the love and care they have put into it.  There is a nice picnic area with two bocce courts, and what looks like a small recently planted orchard as well.  Everything looks beautiful and well maintained. The winery is bit higher so you great great views of the mountains to the east.

As you enter the tasting room, you will see a nicely done space, with tile floors, and finished in  light wood and dark yellow colors. I think it really fits the style of both the vineyard and the wines they produce.

Lightning Ridge Cellars is owned by Ann and Ron Roncone.  The day we visited, the tasting room was manned by Ron, who is also the primary winemaker.  He called himself the ‘B’ team stating his wife usually runs the tasting room, but she had an engagement so we got him.  I think he was selling himself short, as the ‘B’ team he was fantastic. He made good conversation and was obviously extremely knowledgeable.

Their tastings are $12 if you use their glass, for 5 wines, all reds.  Taunya and I both did a tasting. They have really nice glasses so I recommend buying the glass. The vineyard grows the normal Italian varietals you’d expect, but one caught my eye, Aglianico.  That isn’t a grape I have seen very often in Arizona. It was a very bold wine, and I liked it very much.

However our two favorites were the estate Montepulciano, which was amazing, and the Zinfandel which honestly surprised me a bit.  Then I noticed they used Paso Robles fruit, so it made a bit more sense as we tend to like Central Coast wines. We bought a bottle of each.

After he poured us that wonderful Montepulciano, Ron asked us if we’d like a short private tour since they were not busy.  Of course we agreed. He took us into the back room, where they have their stainless steel tanks. The first thing I noticed though was this beautifully crafted set wooden double doors.

Heading through the doors we entered their barrel storage room.  It was one of the nicest storage rooms I’ve ever seen, as it was also setup as a private event space.  The barrels were neatly stacked along the far wall, and next to the doors was a pair of intricate wooden racks where they store all of their library wines.

Lightning Ridge is an amazing venue, and looking at that space I would love to hold and event there, if only it were not three and a half hours away.

Lightning Ridge Cellars is one of the smaller wineries, so they are only open Thursday through Sunday. Keep that in mind before planning a visit. It is a little more out of the way, however I think you would regret not making a stop here, it is well worth it!

If you have not already, check out yesterday's feature on Sonoita Vineyards, or check out all of our Sippin' September features here.

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek

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