Flying Leap Vineyards & Distillery, Elgin AZ

As we move firmly into the second half of Sippin’ September, we bring you Flying Leap Vineyards & Distillery in Elgin AZ. Flying leap is a veteran owned vineyard, winery, distillery and more.

Flying Leap Vineyards was founded in 2010 by Mark Beres, Marc Moeller and Tom Kitchens. The three friends met in the Air Force Academy in the late 80’s. After their service, they converged in Arizona to create Flying Leap.

It started with what they called at the time a “collaborative small business venture”. Their first vineyard was planted in 2011 in the Kansas Settlement area in what would become the Willcox AVA.

In 2013 they purchased a small farm and winery in Elgin. The estate vineyard was restored and expanded. This is now the Sonoita tasting room and distillery you see today. They grow a wide number of French, Spanish and Italian varieties between their Elgin and Willcox vineyards.

Flying Leap Vineyards wines are produced from hand-picked fruit, and produced on site. They have ample fruit production so they do not purchase fruit from other growers, nor do they sell fruit or juice.

In the fall of 2016 Flying Leap began distilling, with the spirits tasting room opening on the Elgin estate the following year. Their grape production is split between their winery and distillery depending on demand. Their brandy based spirits and vodka are all made from grapes.

At some point Flying Leap decided to expand even further, creating the Arizona Rub subsidiary. Arizona Rub is a family of Southwestern seasonings and rubs. These are sold in their tasting rooms.

Flying Leap Vineyards must hold the record for the most locations for an Arizona winery. They have six tasting rooms spread across Arizona, seven if you count the Elgin spirits tasting room.

We visited the Elgin tasting room last year. The estate grounds are very nice, and are split between the winery and distillery. The larger building houses the distillery and spirits tasting room. We have not yet actually visited their distillery at this time.

The smaller building houses their barrel room and wine tasting room. On one side is a wood paneled sitting area with some chairs and a couch. The other side features the tasting bar area, which is probably not as transient as it looks.

At the time we tried a few reds. I liked the Big Red, and their Sangiovese was well balanced. They have a Habanero infused Grenache, which I bought for the novelty of it.

I really wanted to like my experience at their Elgin location, I really did. However the tasting room was hot, even though it was a barrel room, and there were flies everywhere.

For this Sippin’ September, we decided to skip the Elgin tasting room because employees were not wearing masks or requiring visitors to do so. Instead, we visited their Tucson location because I really wanted to give them another try. Unfortunately I was immediately turned off.

Apparently their tasting is currently $23, including a ten year anniversary glass. It was a nice glass, but I already have tons of glasses from Arizona wineries and have no desire to purchase one that expensive. I asked if there was a different option, and she told us only if you bring our own glass. Honestly, if I were not visiting for this article I would have probably walked out and declined the tasting.

Next, before we even had a glass of wine poured, she started a hard sell on their wine club. Throughout our entire visit she was pushing hard and insisting almost to the point of being rude.

First we tried the Rosé Malbec, which was not bad but odd. Of course, I am not a white drinker so take that with a grain of salt. I also decided to try the Mourvèdre Grenache blend, but it was 16% alcohol and too sweet for my taste. Taunya barely took a sip, it was beyond too sweet for her.

Next she gave us the new Habanero infused Grenache. This one was less “hot” than the one last year but still made my tongue tingle. It seems odd to put it in the middle of the tasting.

Next was the Spanish Fly Cabernet Sauvignon and Tempranillo blend. I remember liking this one last year. I think the chili wine may have ruined my taste because my tongue still tingled and it didn’t taste as good as I remembered.

For our last wine I didn’t want the desert wine, so she allowed us to double up on the Spanish Fly. It was WAY better the second time, probably because now the tongue tingle was gone. I actually contemplated taking home a bottle or two, but was left turned off by the expensive tasting and the hard sell.

I will say that I did enjoy the tasting room. It was very nice and the seating was comfortable. I do wish they would provide another glassware option. I would have probably preferred a disposable cup than paying extra money for a glass I didn’t need.

We always want to support a veteran owned business whenever possible, however I have to be honest here. Having two not so great experiences back to back leaves me questioning whether I would visit Flying Leap Vineyards again in Elgin, or any of their other tasting rooms. That said, I would still encourage you to visit at least because your experiences could be different. Who knows, you could love their wine.

Be sure to check out tomorrow's article featuring Kief-Joshua Vineyards. You can read yesterday's article on Autumn Sage Vineyards, or see all of our Sippin’ September articles here.

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek