As we are winding down Sippin’ September we bring you the Deep Sky Vineyard Tasting Room.  All of their wines have celestial names, with matching labels. A self described boutique vineyard, Deep Sky was named for the view of the night sky from the vineyard, away from the big city lights.

Deep Sky is the westernmost vineyard on Elgin Rd. It all started in 2009 while Phil and Kim Asmundson where traveling in Argentina and fell in love with their Malbec wine.  They bought a Uco Valley vineyard outside Mendoza.

Noticing the similarities between Arizona and Argentina, they planted a 20 acre vineyard in the Wilcox area.  The Deep Sky Vineyard was the first to plant Malbec wines in Arizona. They also grow Rhone varietals, including Grenache, Syrah, Petite Sirah, Mourvèdre, and Counoise.  Their sole Rhone white is Viognier.

As you pull up the winery looks a but utilitarian from the front, with striped siding and metal roofing.  Once you go inside, it’s quite amazing. The first thing you will notice is the gorgeous dark wood tasting bar. The space itself is bright and airy with high ceilings, and roll-up transparent garage style doors to give it an open air feel during good weather.

The art and light fixtures give it an elegant, classy style.  There is a great north facing covered patio as well, and the tasting bar has roll-up doors that can open for an outside walk up bar. The tasting room has plenty of seating both inside and out.

Quite honestly, I think this was my favorite of all the Elgin/Sonoita area vineyards we visited.  The entire venue just has a relaxing feel. This was our last stop on Saturday, and they were pretty busy, but it didn’t feel crowded or hectic.

We got our first wine, and we sat at a table on the patio enjoying the light breeze.  They have a small vineyard out back where they planted Cabernet Franc and Cabernet Sauvignon.  The view from the patio was stunning, with lots of white fluffy clouds and the mountains in the background.

As far as the wines, they were all really good, and there was not one I didn’t like.  The Gravity Syrah/Petite Sirah blend was good, as was their Malbec from their Mendoza vineyard.  But hands down my favorite was their 2015 Big Bang made from their Arizona Malbec.

The Big Bang was phenomenal, and may actually be the best Arizona Malbec I’ve had. We took home three bottles!  We still have a few bottles of Carson Creek’s first vintage Malbec left, and I think we are going to have to open both and do a side-by-side tasting.

On Sunday after hitting the last of the wineries in the area, we decided to wind down by stopping by Deep Sky for a glass of wine.  Taunya chose the Gravity, and I of course had the Big Bang. We sat on the edge of the patio in a pair of adirondack chairs just relaxing and enjoying the mild weather.  It was not as busy as Saturday, and it was very peaceful and a great way to end our day of wine tasting.

There was a pair of younger couples that we had been running into all day, and as fate would have it we ran into them at Deep Sky as well.  One of them seem to prefer the Mendoza Malbec over the Big Bang, so we had a friendly debate. I stand firm though that the Big Bang is the best.

Finally, I love the Deep Sky logo and their labels.  The logo has an A for Arizona above a hemisphere line, and a lower A that represents Argentina. Plus the logo is tilted 23°, the same as the Earth. The bottle labels are bright and colorful, and are designed to match the names of the wines.  Of course, I am drawn to great labels and will sometimes buy wine based on that alone.

Well folks, that is it for now, I think.  Trust me, Deep Sky Vineyard is definitely worth a stop.  Their motto is “Come explore with us”, and it thinks it does sum up the vibe of the vineyard.  I know we will definitely be back on our next trip to area, though I am not sure when that will be. Good thing they ship wine…

If you have not already, check out yesterday's feature on Arizona Hops and Vines, or check out all of our Sippin' September features here.

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek

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