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!

Beginnings.6 - Fourth Anniversary Reflections

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







Vineyard? - (check). Next up building. Nothing defines a space like a new concrete pad. It looked so small when the sky was the roof.






A Mueller metal building. Ironic no?





And it looked so big when the roof was the roof. How in the world would we ever fill it? It seemed like enough space to last forever.




A winery building awaiting some contents. Honestly it looked like a purple roofed tin can. Beautiful to Joan and me.

Beginnings.5 - Fourth Anniversary Reflections

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






The newly planted vines were very happy, as were we.




They took off, nourished by what only 5000 foot elevation Southern Arizona high desert can provide.








The plants "reached the wire" their first year, a milestone every wine grape farmer celebrates.





The backdrop as always was spectacular.

Beginnings.4 - Fourth Anniversary Reflections

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

Loved vineyards always do better, always show it, and always make better wine. We decided to keep our first planting small, just half an acre of Syrah, and relied on our family to provide the love and the labor.













A very humble beginning in retrospect. At the time it occupied a huge space in our imagination.

Beginnings.3 - Fourth Anniversary Reflections

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



Grape vines don't plant themselves, at least not wine grape vines, and especially wine grape vines destined to make very fine wine. Help comes from unexpected quarters.



In the high desert at 5000 feet elevation, irrigation lines are necessary to nourish the plants.



Holes have to be dug. A backbreaking and repetitive process eased by a mechanical augur.





Planting rows need to be laid out.



A task always made easier if the focus of the transit is a pleasing sight.

Beginnings.2 - Fourth Anniversary Reflections

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




Raw land, never tilled, lying fallow for who knows how many millions of years needs a little coaxing. It takes BIG machines to do this work. Digging trenches for electrical power for one.



Loosen up the soil so it'll accept grape vines for another. Called "ripping the soil" in viticulture circles.




Ever the spectacular vistas to feed the soul.

Beginnings - Fourth Anniversary Reflections

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





Eight years ago we started. The landscape was different in many ways - wild, seemingly untamed, full of endless possibilities.






Our vineyard was grasslands. The landscape was breathtakingly awesome. Joan and I were enriched by our dreams of the future.