Charron Vineyards & Winery, Vail AZ - Live Love Drink Travel

Hello again, we are getting closer to the end of Sippin’ September. For today we bring you Charron Vineyards & Winery in Vail Arizona. Charron is a small boutique vineyard just north of the Sonoita AVA.

We didn’t get a lot of information when we visited, however according to their website Charron Vineyards is one of the oldest vineyards in southern Arizona. They planted Merlot and Cabernet Franc in the spring of 1994.

The vineyard is located in the rolling hills about 6 miles south of I-10 on state route 83, also known as the Sonoita Highway. To get to the vineyard, you drive just under ¾ of a mile down a gravel road into the Santa Rita Foothills.

Charron Vineyards & Winery is situated at about the same elevation as Sonoita, at just over four thousand feet. It has a similar climate as well, although average temperatures are slightly higher. There is still the large disparity between day and night temperatures that makes Arizona wines so great.

As we pulled off the highway, we could see the vineyard off in the distance at the top of a small hill. It took a few minutes to drive down the gravel road which is easily traversed by a car.

The entrance sign is a bit faded, but the entrance onto the vineyard is easy to find. We parked the Jeep in a large gravel parking area and headed into the tasting room which is situated towards the back.

Charron Vineyards and Winery Tasting Room

You enter the tasting room through a large wooden arched door. I liked the tasting room itself. I’d describe it as sort of a cross between a rustic theme and modern influences. Sean was behind the counter and greeted us warmly as we entered.

Charron Vineyards and Winery Tasting Bar

I decided to be brave and try their Dry White Merlot which was actually a pink color although it was a rosé. It smelled like a white, but definitely did not taste like a Merlot. It had a kind of odd after-taste.

Of the four reds they have on their tasting menu, only two where Charron labels, both Merlots. The other two were actually from RanchoMaria Vineyards. I will save our reviews of the two RanchoMaria wines for tomorrow, when we actually cover RanchoMaria Vineyards.

They didn’t have any Cab Franc available for tasting unfortunately. I am actually not sure if they still make a Cabernet Franc, or if they just blend it or sell it. I didn’t see bottles in their tasting room or for sale on their website to know either way.

First we sampled the 2015 Merlot which was aged in French Oak. The wine was really light in color and aroma, but didn’t taste like a Merlot to me. Taunya though it tasted rich, but for me it was more earthy. She thought it calmed down after the third sip. Oddly the 1oz pour left quite a bit of sediment in my glass.

Then we moved on to the Merlot2017, also aged in French Oak. This wine was much stronger on the nose. It was also much darker in color. This Merlot was pretty fruit forward, but still seemed an atypical Merlot. This one also left sediment in my glass, but much less than the 2015.

The Vineyard grounds are beautiful and have some amazing views. Charron has a huge patio and can fit quite a few people out there.

They have a second building that looks like a house, but I believe it may actually be an event space. They seemed to be setting up for an event on the enclosed patio when we were there, but I was unable to verify.

Sean was extremely friendly, but a couple of other employees were a little less cordial. There was one woman in a red Charron logo shirt that puttered around the tasting room for about five minutes and never even acknowledged us.

Anyway, even though it wasn’t a bad experience it wasn’t a stellar one either. As I always say, your experience can differ from mine. So you should give Charron Vineyards and Winery a try if you ever drive through Vail. They are less than thirty minutes from Tucson after all.

Be sure to check out tomorrow's feature on RanchoMaria Vineyards. You can read yesterday's article on Sand-Reckoner Vineyards, or see all of our Sippin’ September articles here.

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek