Winery sights in USA
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Bear Creek Winery
Wineries are scarcer than vineyards in Alaska, but this impressive family-run operation bottles some fine berry-based wines, plus fireweed mead and rhubarb vino. It conducts tours and tastings daily in the summer and sells its product on-site.
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Arizona Vineyards
Nogales is the gateway to Hwy 82, aka the Patagonia Hwy, which rumbles through rolling hills, open range, wine country and bird refuges to link up 70 miles later with Hwy 80 near Tombstone. Tall grass sways in the breeze and lazy cattle graze in fields dotted with the occasional windmill. If the land looks familiar it’s because you’ve probably seen it on film. More than 50 movies were filmed in this area, including Red River and Oklahoma. It’s truly a road less traveled and a great way to get away from it all and perhaps taste a bit of Arizona wine. Didn’t know they grew grapes down here? OK, so it’s not the Napa Valley and there are only seven wineries thus far, but than…
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Tedeschi Vineyards
Tedeschi Vineyards offers tastings of its products in the old cottage where King David Kalakaua once slept. These homegrown wines cover a wide gamut. Back in the 1970s, while waiting for its first grape harvest, the winery decided to take advantage of Maui's abundant pineapple. Today its biggest hit is the sweet Maui Splash, a pineapple and passion fruit dessert wine. Less of a splash are the grape wines.
Attached to the tasting room and gift shop is a fascinating little exhibit on ranch history. Free tours of the grounds and the winery operation are given twice a day.
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San Antonio Winery
Near the Brewery Art Complex is the San Antonio Winery, LA's last remaining historic winery. It was founded in 1917 by Italian immigrant Santo Cambianica whose descendants still make buttery chardonnay, velvety cabernet sauvignon and other varietals. You can sample some of them for free in the tasting room, enjoy a meal at the Italian restaurant or learn more about the noble grape at a wine seminar. Free behind-the-scenes winery tours take place at 12:00, 13:00 and 14:00 from Monday to Friday, and on the hour from 11:00 to 16:00 on Saturday and Sunday.
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Great Land Wines
They can't grow grapes in Alaska but that doesn't mean they can't make wine. Maybe Haines isn't quite Napa Valley but you can still stop at this winery's tasting room, and sip and purchase wines made from rhubarb, strawberries, blueberries, fireweed flower or anything else they find growing outside. The most unusual is its onion wine that has a definite hint of, well, onions.
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La Chiripada Winery
On the Low Road to Taos, take a slight detour east on Hwy 75 to the small farming community of Dixon. There are a couple of galleries as well as the excellent La Chiripada Winery, producers of our favorite inexpensive white wines (less than $20 a bottle; we like the riesling best). It offers tastings.
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Zenaida Cellars
Most vineyards have tasting rooms and free tours. Maps are available from the chamber of commerce and various businesses around town. Good stops going west include Zenaida Cellars, which has a large, rustic style tasting room that's a fine venue for sampling its viogniers, syrahs and sangioveses, among others.
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Kodiak Island Winery
Kodiak is also home to several wineries, fermenting everything (except grapes that is) from rhubarb and salmonberries to wild rose. Kodiak Island Winery is a scenic 36 miles out of town and has tours, a gift shop and, of course, wine tasting.
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Volcano Winery
The friendly, attractive Volcano Winery offers free tastings of its six vintages. Two mix in jaboticaba berries and another uses guava for sweet, unusual variations. A rich honey wine is almost like mead. Who knew Hawai'i had a wine country?
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Callaghan Vineyards
About 20 miles east of Patagonia, Callaghan Vineyards is widely considered the area’s best winery. To get here, head south on Hwy 83 at the village of Sonita, then east on Elgin Rd.
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York Mountain Winery
Closer to the coast, York Mountain Winery, 7 miles west of Hwy 101 and off Hwy 46, is the oldest winery in the region and has a tasting room in an old log cabin. Try some of its award-winning pinot noirs.
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Casa Rondeña
There’s a surprising amount of fine wine being made in these hills. Casa Rondeña only gives tours during its July Lavender Festival and charges $3 for tastings.
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Black Mesa Winery
Fifteen miles north of Española, the Black Mesa Winery offers tastings before the highway cuts through the apple orchards of Velarde and into the Rio Grande Canyon.
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Ponderosa Valley Winery
At San Ysidro, head north on NM 4 into paradise. Detour, perhaps, to Ponderosa Valley Winery for a bottle of late-harvest riesling or pinot noir.
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Eberle Winery
Some 3.5 miles east of Hwy 101, Eberle Winery has a lovely deck with vineyard views, and offers tours of its wine caves. The star here is cabernet sauvignon.
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Gruet Winery
There’s a surprising amount of fine wine being made in these hills. Gruet Winery gives daily tours at 2pm and free tastings.
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Spanish Valley Winery
For some no-frills wine tasting, visit the surprisingly good Spanish Valley Winery, 6 miles south of Moab on Hwy 191.
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Haight-Brown Vineyard
Haight-Brown Vineyard is the state's first winery, and offers tours, tastings and self-guided vineyard walks.
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Boeger Winery
Some noteworthy wineries, all north of Hwy 50, include Lava Cap Winery and Boeger Winery. The latter makes a fine viognier.
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Lava Cap Winery
Some noteworthy wineries, all north of Hwy 50, include Lava Cap Winery and Boeger Winery. The latter makes a fine viognier.
reviewed
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Village of Elgin Winery
Tastings at the Village of Elgin Winery, about 20 miles east of Patagonia, take place in a 1898 brothel.
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Ceago Vinegarden
Ceago (cee-ay-go) occupies a spectacular spot on the north shore, and pours bio-dynamic, fruit-forward wines.
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Ployez Winery
Ployez makes above-average méthode champenoise sparkling wines and is surrounded by farmland.
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Wildhurst Vineyards
Wildhurst makes the best wine on the lake - try the sauvignon blanc - but lacks atmosphere.
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Iris Hill Winery
At the boutique end of the spectrum is Iris Hill Winery, a small family-run operation.
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