Arizona Hops and Vines located in Sonoita, AZ is a Woman Owned vineyard and venue.  Run by sisters Megan and Shannon, this little vineyard is a must visit on your adventures in Sonoita.  They offer a great little story about how they got started on their website, along with a link to The Sober House a venture their combined six kids have started.

Since Arizona Hops and Vines opened the earliest, we were planning on making this our first stop of the day.  We were on a fairly tight time frame since most of the vineyards close early on Sunday. So we were pleased that they opened at 10am.

As you pull up you are driving through the vines and on this particular day the grapes were plentiful and in full view.  Drive slow so that you are not kicking up too much dust onto these beauties. In addition to the vineyard, the property is a small farm run by Megan, who is also the winemaker and a sommelier.

When you get to the tasting room, it definitely has an eclectic look to it, which we both love. You will see a variety of equipment, that looks broken down, but they have repurposed with paint and other forms of decorations.  As you walk toward the tasting room, there is an outdoor seating area to the right and as you enter the door, this is where you see that the vineyard is Woman Owned and operated, via the sign in the window.

As you walk in, the room is large and the bar is good size and U shaped.  Many choices for seating are available, couches on both ends and of course the outdoor seating in the back. The whole room was shabby sheek, a look I love, but can never pull off myself.  So I instantly felt relaxed and at home.

Shannon was our wine connoisseur for this visit, as she often is.  She is friendly and knowledgeable and will tell you the great story of how they became Arizona Hops and Vines.  I see buckets of chips sitting around and wonder if those are the snacks they offer, and thought, hmm, different.

Shannon starts by pouring the only white on the menu for Derek, which was the Jamie, a 2018 Malvasia.  I didn’t try that, so she started me with the Kardia, a 2017 Estate Red Blend. I sipped it and then she brings over a bowl of Hot Cheetos and says to try it with one of these.  I was like, huh? So I tried it and it was so fantastic, the craziness of the hot with the wine was amazing.

We asked how she came up with this idea and she stated that her and her sister were drinking wine one night and her sister said something along the lines of “this would be fantastic with Cheetos”.  Shannon, said no way, but then tried it and thus a trend began with pairing chips and snacks with their wine.

So down the list we went wine and chip, wine and chip.  All of the combinations were fantastic. The other wines we tried were:

• Uncle John, a 2014 Sangiovese and Cab Sauv Blend
• Keno, a 2017 Sonoita Red Blend
• Sophia, a 2016 Estate Cab Sauv.

All of the wines were fantastic and combinations were tasty as well.  At the end she gave us a sample of the house made sangria, which was really good.  I asked what she had in it, and she said she makes it different every time and does not remember from day to day what she has in it.  I told her that is how every good recipe is!

We chatted a bit more about the wishing barrel they have in the building and the art in the bathroom.  The barrel apparently has made wishes come true on a few occasions, so I thought why not. She said she had two folks who had been trying to get pregnant for years and had taken all kinds of steps to get pregnant, and only after they did the wishing barrel did they get preggers.  I was touched by that, how sweet. Shannon said that they do burn all the wishes in the barrel on the Summer Solstice. So I made a wish!

She then mentioned that they are known for the artful bathroom and so I, of course, had to take a look.  Here are some photos. It is a lot, but I loved it.

Arizona Hops and Vines offers not only a great tasting room, they also offer several different types of events.  You can check out the calendar here.  They are also setup to be a great wedding venue.

The wines at Arizona Hops and Vines are made from all Arizona grapes, so stop by and enjoy the ambiance, the wine and the conversation.

If you have not already, check out yesterday's feature on Lightning Ridge Cellars, or check out all of our Sippin' September features here.

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Taunya

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