Winter Red Wine Release - 2012

I’ve been looking forward to the release of these wines for a long time. 2009 was a near perfect year in terms of the weather and growing season, near perfect that is in Southeastern Arizona grape growing terms. The fruit was not injured by any summer “weather events”, it was warm and dry at the end of the season and we could time the harvest around the ripeness of the fruit instead of a threatening hurricane from Mexico. We will be releasing the 2009 Estate Tempranillo, 2009 Sonoita Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009 Estate Finalé (an intense port style dessert wine), and 2009 Estate Scavenger’s Blend (a Syrah based blend). Also for the first time the 2008 Sangiovese Select will be available. It is comprised of the Brunello Clone of the Sangiovese grape and was barrel aged for 36 months. These are big wines with very limited production. We will have all of them available for tasting the weekend of February 10 – 12. It will be the only time all these fabulous wines will be on the tasting table at the same time. Come pay us a visit; you’ll be glad you did.

Statewide & International medals for Canelo Hillls

Canelo Hills wines recently won 4 awards in prestigious wine competitions. Read on for our news:

In this year's second annual Arizona Republic Wine Competition, we took home 3 prizes for Canelo Hills. Chosen from many entries of wines produced by winemakers throughout Arizona, the Canelo Hills 2010 Riesling and 2009 Finale dessert wine were awarded Bronze Medals.

We're especially proud of the 2010 Riesling; it was also selected as Judge's Favorite by Carlos Batista of Westin Kierland Resort and Spa. The competition took place October 24 and 25 in Scottsdale, and the 16-judge panel was made up of sommeliers and wine experts from some of the state's finest restaurants.

For a list of all winners, click here. The Riesling has very limited availability, for pruchase only in the Canelo Hills tasting room. Our  Finale will be released in Spring 2012.

This was the third year we entered the International Women's Wine Competition, and for the third year in a row Canelo Hills won a Silver Medal. Up against wines from around the world, the 2008 Sangiovese Select was awarded the silver by an all-female panel of industry experts: winemakers, buyers, and chefs. To view all the competition results click here.

The 2008 Sangiovese Select is comprised of 100% Brunello Clone Sangiovese (also known as Sangiovese Grosso) and aged for nearly three years in a mixture of neutral and one year-old American and French Oak barrels. It has wonderful red fruit aromas and flavors and very smooth tannins. Look for it to be released in late Winter 2012. 

Would you like a special email when the Sangiovese Select and Finale are released? Send us an email and we'll make sure you get advance notice.

The Medalists: Sangiovese Select, Finale, and Riesling

Harvest 2011

Bringing 2011 to a close was a labor. The season started with a series of frosts that greatly reduced the crop but after that the season was rather gentle on Canelo Hills Vineyard. No major weather or pest events threatened the fruit and as usual Joan's farming resulted in fabulous fruit. I suppose the fact that we got any crop at all in 2011 after the devastating August 2010 hail storm is a miracle and a tribute to Farmer Joan.









We ended up with very little of anything but for the Tempranillo. Perhaps a ton and a half of Tempranillo got harvested on September 19, about two weeks later than is typical. The fruit was beautiful. Joan and the picking crew scoured the rest of the vineyard and came up with a few hundred pounds of mixed Syrah, Zinfandel, Riesling and Malvasia. It all got tossed in with the Tempranillo so techincally the 2011 Vintage of Tempranillo is a bit of a field blend.




Last weekend I finished off the major tasks of Harvest and initial winemaking. It is always a mixture of sadness and relief when I clean up the press and push it back into the winery for the winter, awaiting 2012. Such is the cycle of winemaking.

Four Year Anniversary Celebration

This past week-end we celebrated Canelo Hills fourth anniversary.  It's hard to believe the tasting room has been open that long.  Marking time with anniversaries is a time of reflection.  It is a time to think about the hard work that got us to this point and to appreciate all the people who have helped us. We had out new releases and Tim gave tours.  However, the most enjoyable part of the week-end was talking to the friends we have made through the Canelo Hills tasting room and making new ones.  

Beginnings.9 (fin)- Fourth Anniversary Reflections

Join us October 1 & 2 as we celebrate the fourth anniversary of opening our tasting room. We will be open from 11am-4pm each day, serve some cake and have lots of our wines available for tasting and purchase - including two new releases - 2009 Syrah and 2009 Zinfandel.




There are many ways to mark the passage of time. These days looking in a mirror seems to be the most frequent way. Minutes stretch into hours, hours in to days, days into years. Developing Canelo Hills Vineyard and Winery from uncultivated land 8 years ago and opening the tasting room 4 years ago has been a triumph. Fortunately Joan and I were able to make some young friends early on in the process. Perhaps reflecting back on them is the most sobering reminder of the ephemeral nature of our labors. Thanks to Kevin Buhl, Clare Callaghan, Caitlin Callaghan and Parker Bostock for the grounding they provide. Thanks also to sweet Emma Lou and good old Cassandra.

Beginnings.8 - Fourth Anniversary Reflections

Join us October 1 & 2 as we celebrate the fourth anniversary of opening our tasting room.








Opening Day in 2007 was the culmination of many years of work and many more years of dreaming and scheming.





Kathryn and Nathan helped pour our new wines.




Joan sparkled (Sparkling wine would come in a few months, but not on opening day)





People visited, eventually revisiting and became loyal fans and friends.





We were happy.

Beginnings.7 - Fourth Anniversary Reflections

Join us October 1 & 2 as we celebrate the fourth anniversary of opening our tasting room.


Let's make some wine.




Hauling Riesling from Dos Cabezas (now Arizona Stronghold)




Fooling around with fermenting wines in the universal small winery container - blue barrels.





Picking Syrah from our own Estate vineyard.









Scooping and pressing Syrah from Sweet Sunrise Vineyard (now Sand Reckoner).







Corking Malvasia.





Bottling Sangiovese. What a big empty building!