Arizona Stronghold Barrel Bash - Live Love Drink Travel

The first weekend in February was the annual Arizona Stronghold Barrel Bash. This was our fourth year attending this event, and as always it was a lot of fun. It is a great chance to meet and mingle with other wine lovers. As with the last few years, we brought along Mama Ruby.

In previous Barrel Bash events, at least the ones we’ve attended, there was always a morning tour and an afternoon tour. This year they decided to do one event in the afternoon. We drove up from Peoria on Saturday morning. Since the bash didn’t start until 1 pm, we stopped in at Alcantara Vineyards to pick up our February shipment, and of course to enjoy some wine and a charcuterie board. It was a gorgeous day so we hung out on the lawn and enjoyed our food and wine.

We headed over to the Stronghold winery and got there about fifteen minutes early. I was shocked at the amount of people that were there. It was a much larger group than last year, but we’d usually do the morning tour. Once we parked we checked in and got our “reception wine”. Unfortunately they only had a white, the 2018 Bonita Springs Gewurztraminer, so Taunya opted out. For a white it wasn’t bad, although I am probably not a good judge.

As we were waiting and chatting we noticed two gentlemen wearing neck strap wine holders. I thought to myself, these are my kind of guys! We started chatting with them, and met our two newest friends German and Cullen. What a couple of funny and witty guys.

2019 Bonita Springs Malvasia Bianca Barrel Sample

As we made our way inside the winery we found out that winemaker Matt Raica had decided to leave the month before. The event was narrated by Kim Musket who has actually been at Arizona Stronghold longer than Matt was. With that many people it was a bit hard to semi-circle around the first barrel but we managed.

First up was a 2019 Bonita Springs Malvasia Bianca still in the tank. At this stage the wine is still pretty cloudy. I don’t really drink whites (have I said that before? :-)), but I usually will like a nice Malvasia Bianca or a Viognier. This one however was obviously still very young and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought I might.

Next up was the 2019 Bonita Springs Pinot Noir still in the barrel. This wine was very deep and dark in color and not very translucent. The wine had not been racked yet so it was still a bit opaque. When I first tasted this one, I could still taste a lot of fruit yet it wasn't overly jammy. I was pretty good already, and the Arizona Stronghold Barrel Bash was off to a great start.

The vertical selection for this wine the 2017 Bonita Springs Pinot Noir. This one had a more traditional light red and translucent appearance. Compared to the barrel sample we just had, it came off a bit flat for me. I hope this means the 2019 vintage will be extra good!

2019 Carlson Creek Sangiovese Barrel Sample

Our next barrel sample was the 2019 Carlson Creek Sangiovese. I like a good Sangio, and this one tasted like it was pretty close to ready for bottling. The vertical was the 2018 Sangiovese from the same vineyard. To be honest, I don’t really remember a huge difference between the two. The cheese pairing was a nice Amish Cheddar which I thought paired well with both wines.

That completed the lighter wines, and now we moved on to the 2019 Bonita Springs Reserve Cabernet. Like the Pinot Noir this sample was pulled from a barrel before racking. As we stood around chatting with German and Cullen I realized that this wine was already really good. Like impressively good, it was already drinking well. The comparison wine was the 2016 Bonita Springs Cabernet Pick 6, and although it was good I think the ‘19 reserve will be better once it is released.

2018 Buhl Memorial Syrah 174 Barrel Sample

As we moved from the winery side to the barrel room, we got to sample the 2018 Buhl Memorial Syrah 174 from the barrel. For those of you not familiar with Arizona wine history, the Buhl Memorial Vineyard was originally planted by Al Buhl, a pioneer in restoring the wine industry here post prohibition. It is currently owned by Maynard Keegan and was renamed 2014 in memory of Al after his passing.

Enough history, the most important thing is that wines that are produced from the Buhl vineyard are generally really good. The vertical comparison wine was the 2017 Memorial Syrah. Both were really good, and since one was still in the barrel it was not “quite done”, so it was kind of hard to pick a favorite.

Last up was the barrel sample of the 2018 Lozen. Now the Lozen is a Bordeaux style blend and is hands down my favorite Arizona Stronghold wine. I am actually not sure if the blend changes each year, however the Lozen is pretty consistent. I believe the blend generally consists of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Mablec and Cabernet Franc, although I think the percentages and exact blend might change from year to year.

The ‘18 seemed to be a wee bit young still, but already is really tasty. The vertical pairing was the 2016 Lozen which is phenomenal. The Lozen is great as a food pairing, but can stand on its own if you drink it without food. The ‘16 was the only wine we had at the event where I took an offered second sample (I was driving). This wine is so good I will drink it any chance I get.

As the 2020 Arizona Stronghold Barrel Bash came to a close I was a bit sad that it was over. What a great event, and it was tons of fun. Unfortunately we are attending a travel industry event in March so we will miss the 2020 Palate “Train”ing event aboard the Verde Canyon Railroad. If you are local and haven’t done an event at Arizona Stronghold you should, they are always a lot of fun.

Thanks for joining us on this adventure. Feel free to check out last year’s event to see how they compare. Stay tuned for more great articles to come!

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek