Next up on our 30 day journey is the new kid on the block, the Bodega Pierce Tasting Room. Bodega Pierce has been a part of the Four Eight Wineworks, and just opened up their own tasting room in Clarkdale last November.  They plan on opening their own winery as they have plenty of space, but for now still use the Four Eight equipment for processing their wine.

The tasting room is located in Clarkdale very close to both Chateau Tumbleweed and the Southwest Wine Center.  The tasting room is good sized, with an eight foot bar and simple decor. It works well though, and seems to fit the venue.  This is a good sized space, and I’d have a hard time thinking about it getting too crowded.

When we walked in we got a nice surprise.  As we came in I here “You guys have been here before, right?”  I did a double take, then said “Hey Jay, no you know us from Stronghold”. Jay was at Stronghold for years, until last year when he took a sabbatical.  Seeing him was unexpected, but nice since we got a chance to chat and get caught up.

The winemaker is Mike Pierce who has been a winemaker for years, and has worked at different wineries, and continues to collaborate with other winemakers.  I believe his first vintage was sold out of the Arizona Stronghold Tasting Room. In fact if you have been drinking Arizona wines for a while, you have probably had one of his wines at some point.

Bodega Pierce owns the Rolling View Vineyards near Wilcox, situated at just over 4000 ft. They grow a staggering 17 different varieties of grapes at the 27 acre vineyard.  The vineyard is a prime location known as the Wilcox Bench, and sits the Carlson Creek, Zapara, and Pillsbury vineyards.

The Cottonwood tasting room is only open Thursday through Sunday.  Since we were visiting on a Sunday, we were limited on what we could sample.  Because they are closed for the next three days they they don’t really want to open bottles that will sit and go bad. For that reason, we’d recommend not visiting on a Sunday so you can have more choices.

We both loved everything we tried.  I think Mike is a very talented winemaker.   In addition to the Rolling View label, Bodega also has a second brand, Saeculum Cellars, with is a really small production label. Often times the smaller production wines are only available to wine club members.  Their Mourvèdre was really good. We also really liked the 2016 Tempranillo and the Saeculum Cellars 2017 Gallia, which were both so good we bought bottles.

I’m sure you will hear more about Bodega Pierce from us since this will now be a spot we always hit on our Cottonwood trips.  If you head this way, make sure you stop in, you won’t regret it.

If you have not already, check out yesterday's feature on Pillsbury Wine Company, or check out all of our Sippin' September features here.

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek

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