It’s hard to believe it’s our blogiversary! It was one year ago on Saturday that we started Live Live Drink Travel. Wow has the last year gone by so fast, but what a ride it was. And we have some great things in store for 2020!
We are pleased to announce that Live Love Drink Travel is now officially an LLC. This is just the first step towards some pretty awesome things we have planned. We can’t go into more detail quite yet, but more info is coming soon. That said, it’s our blogiversary so we do have plenty to share.
What better way to celebrate our blogiversary than to head up to Cottonwood this weekend to pick up our winter wine club shipments. We had to make five stops on Saturday, but if you are following our blog you’ll know that is less than we hit in a day during Sippin’ September. 🙂
We started at Alcantara Vineyard which has one of our favorite outdoor venues in Cottonwood. It is conveniently located off of Hwy 260 between I-17 and Cottonwood. Saturday they were actually having their winter wine club event, however we did our tastings, picked up our wine, and had to leave before it began.
Next we headed to Oak Creek Vineyards and Winery. We joined them in September because their club has some pretty good terms. We picked out our two bottle commitment for $22 a bottle. It’s a flat fee and you can choose from any wine they have released, so that can be a really good deal. Plus they have a great outdoor space, usually much less crowded than Paige Springs.
Our next stop was Bodega Pierce to get our next shipment. The tasting room is usually manned by Jay, who’s been a Cottonwood staple for over ten years. He spent most of that time at Arizona Stronghold, and after a short sabbatical last year he helped Mike Pierce open his tasting room in Clarkdale. This was another club we joined in September. We sample some wine, and spent quite a bit more time there than we intended. One of the things I like about Bodega Pierce is that you get to choose your wines, whereas most clubs are vintner’s choice.
Next we backtracked to Chateau Tumbleweed since they appeared less busy. The tasting room is not very big so it can get crowded during the busy times. We sat at the bar, and enjoyed some wine, and relaxed for a bit. Tumbleweed as a really good vibe, and is a great place to just sit and have a glass of great wine. In addition to our shipment we also picked up a Malbec from the Deep Sky Vineyard, and a Syrah made from Carlson Creek fruit. We plan on doing a side by side comparison to the wines from Deep Sky and Carlson, and we’ll be sure to let you know how they compare.
Next we tried to check into our AirBnb, but for the first time ever we had an issue so we ended up getting the last room at the Iron Horse Inn in Old Town. The Iron Horse is a great little boutique hotel right at the end of Main Street. It’s a great location, and the inn features remodelled modern feeling rooms and comfortable beds. It’s a historic hotel, and they have done a great job in making the small rooms feel cozy and not cramped.
Finally, we walked across the street to Arizona Stronghold. Stronghold was the first wine club we joined in Arizona, and we always make a stop here when in Cottonwood. We had a tasting, ate a Duck skewer because we had to, and had a great time chatting with the staff.
At this point we realized our food to wine ratio was a bit low, so we decided to grab some food. We never visit Old Town without eating at Pizzeria Bocce and paying a visit to Bill and his excellent crew. Bocce has some of the best Neapolitan style pizza in the state, so make sure to swing by if you are in the area and like great pizza.
We had planned to make a stop in at Tantrum Wines, the newest Cottonwood tasting room, but ended up cutting the day short and heading back to the inn. Overall it was a good day, we drank a lot of great wine, and had some great food. I don’t think we could have thought of a more fitting way to spend our blogiversary.
— Derek & Taunya
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