High Lonesome Vineyard, McNeal AZ - Live Love Drink Travel

For today’s Sippin’ September feature we bring you High Lonesome Vineyard in McNeal Arizona. Owners Tom and Edie Gustason have a real passion for wine making. Both Army veterans, they were inspired to open their own vineyard after meeting the owner of another local vineyard during a tasting who was decked out in shorts, a T-shirt and flip flops. Thinking “we can do that”, they decided it would be a great way to spend their retirement.

High Lonesome Vineyard is located roughly 15 miles to the south east of Tombstone, and almost due south of Willcox. Just south of the Willcox AVA, they share the same altitude and climate, and it rarely rises above 100℉.

The vineyard 36 acre property includes some well known grape varieties such as Riesling and Cabernet Franc, however they also planted some lesser known varietals such as Picpoul (also known as Folle blanche), Tannat and Lemberger (also known as Blaufränkisch).

The turn off to get to High Lonesome Vineyard is pretty easy to find, and it’s down a well maintained dirt road. Pulling in it looks like you are pulling into the driveway and their home, and you are but don’t be shy. The tasting area is to the right of the house and there is an ample gravel parking area.

HLV features an outdoor tasting area with hand made wine barrel furniture and a large shade sail covering the entire space. We visited the Willcox area during a heat wave, but as luck would have it a storm was rolling in so it was a bit cooler than it was at Birds and Barrels the previous day.

High Lonesome Vineyard Tasting Area — Tasting Area

The Gustasons have the outdoor tasting down to a science. The wines are kept at temperature inside the storage facility, and they bring them out in a cooling bucket so they are still at a proper temperature during the tasting. They only have five wines on the tasting menu, three whites, a dark Rosé and one red. Taunya decided to go ahead and try the whites which is very rare for her.

High Lonesome Vineyard Menu Summer 2020 — Menu Summer 2020

The first up was a 2018 Picpoul Blanc. I normally don’t drink (or like) whites, however the Picpoul was surprisingly good, and reminded me of a robust viognier. We bought a bottle for Mama Ruby.

Next was the 2019 Peek-a-Boo, which is another 100% Picpoul varietal wine. It is a little higher in alcohol content than the 2018, and I didn’t like it as much. The last white was a 2019 Riesling. It was not to my liking, although it tasted fine. Keep in mind I can’t remember the last time I tasted a Riesling, and that I don’t generally drink whites. I don’t really have a good frame of reference but it seemed like a quality wine.

The dark Rosé was a 2018 Lemberger. Rosé generally refers to a wine making style rather than a color, and this one was a very dark crimson color. It definitely had spicy notes, and it was my favorite so far. I noticed that the Lemberger was not quite as cold as the whites were. Remember what I said about having the outdoor tasting down to a science?

Lastly, we had the privilege of sampling the 2018 Tannat. I have been in love with Tannat since I first tasted one in Monterey county. A good Tannat is a complex wine, with a smoky quality. I really enjoyed this one, which not only had those smoky notes but I also tasted mocha, espresso and spice. All of this combined with a strong yet velvety mouthfeel. We of course bought two bottles, in addition to the aforementioned Picpoul.

HLV Vineyard and future facility — Vineyard

Drinking wine at High Lonesome Vineyard makes you feel like you are being welcomed into their home, which in a way you are. I can envision having a glass of wine on a bright spring day, or a cool fall one. I’d imagine a mild summer day would be nice too, but as I said we visited during a heat wave. 😃

The next time you are in the Willcox area, make sure you stop in and support this veteran owned winery. It will definitely be worth your trip. You can drink some great wine, take in some pretty views, and enjoy some nice conversation.

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

Living, loving, drinking, and traveling through life.

— Derek