Tantrum Wines, Cottonwood AZ - Live Love Drink Travel

It’s Throwback Thursday today, so it seems fitting that our next Sippin’ September feature is Tantrum Wines in Cottonwood Arizona. I say this because Tantrum didn’t open to the public until October of last year, so it just missed getting featured last September. Today’s article will include photos and experiences from last year as well.

In 2012, Brighid McLoughlin started working in one of the tasting rooms in Jerome AZ. This is where she found her passion for wine. Working for a small family owned winery allowed her to help out and learn in all aspects of the wine business. On the production side, she was able to apprentice under Arizona winemaker John McLoughlin.

John and Brighid were married a few years later and in 2017 the idea of Tantrum Wines was born. This would be a label that expressed Brighid's unique ideas about wine. Tantrum Wines is a female themed brand spearheaded by a tenacious and driven female winemaker.

Tantrum started as a family owned endeavour with no investors, so it took time for Brighid to fully realize her dream. By May 2019 everything was ready, and the self described Tantrum Wines Tasting Suite opened on Main Street in Old Town Cottonwood last October.

The tasting suite is really interesting. With off white walls, mid century modern furniture and pink ceiling tiles, the room gives off an inviting and feminine feel. There is plenty of space to support several groups of people at a time. Both times we have gone in so far have been on a Saturday, and there has been live music.

Rear of the Tantrum Tasting Suite — Front of the Tantrum Tasting Suite

All of the wines at Tantrum come from Dragoon Mountain Vineyards, the family vineyard. As you probably know by now, we don’t drink whites. They feature four reds and one pink on the red side of the menu.

We started with the Noir, a Pinotage full varietal. Pinotage is a South African grape, and can be hard on the nose and have a tar like aftertaste. This Pinotage was really, really good, which is a testament to excellent wine making.

Next up was the Tilted Cabernet Sauvignon which we also loved. It was silky and smooth.

The Jazzy is a Malbec, Petite Verdot blend which is really balanced, smooth and extremely tasty. It has that noticeable Petite Verdot aroma. It was blended then racked back into the barrel for a few months.

The Tattletale Heritage Zinfandel was also quite good. This wine is made from the Heritage zinfandel clone from Dragoon Mountain Vineyard.

She poured us a sample of the Frenemy, which is a pink wine although I don’t know if it was made in the Rosé style or a blend. Taunya really didn’t like this one, and this one was even too sweet on the palette for even my taste. Some people really like it though.

In the end, it was really hard to choose a favorite among the reds. Taunya ultimately decided the Titled Cab was her favorite. I chose the Jazzy blend as mine, but honestly it was really hard to choose. We ended up taking a bottle of all four reds home with us.

Tantrum may be the new kid on the Cottonwood tasting block, however Brighid’s years of experience really shine through. If you haven’t already, stop in the next time you are in Old Town Cottonwood.

Can you believe that today we are a third of the way through Sippin' September! Be sure to check out tomorrow's feature, Del Rio Springs Vineyard. You can read yesterday's article on Waggin' Vineyard and Estate, or see all of our Sippin’ September articles here.

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek