We’re unveiling the 2018 Verde Valley Wine Festival’s official lineup of participating wineries. If you haven’t marked your calendars yet, the one-day event is happening Saturday, May 12 at the town park in Downtown Clarkdale. We’re proud to have all participating wineries serving wines made only from Arizona grapes.
You might be surprised to learn that Arizona has enough locally-sourced grapes to fuel the amount of wine required for a festival of this size – more than 2,000 people attended last year’s Festival. But the Grand Canyon state is enjoying a multitude of wine production. In fact, Arizona’s winemaking economy has grown 1,940% over the last 14 years. In 2003, there were only five wineries in the entire state; in 2011, that number jumped to 42—and today, there are 102 active small wineries and vineyards across Arizona. And on May 12, 2018, we’ll bring you 16 of those wineries, all in one day.
Most of the list should look familiar to anyone who attended last year’s Festival, but we do have one new winery joining the fray: Garage East, based in Gilbert, AZ. Welcome aboard!
Here are the stellar 16:
- Passion Cellars
- Four Eight Wineworks
- Caduceus Cellars
- Saeculum Cellars
- Bodega Pierce
- The Oddity Wine Collective
- Dos Cabezas Wineworks
- Garage East
- Arizona Stronghold
- Sand Reckoner Vineyards
- Callaghan Vineyards
- Burning Tree Cellars
- Rune Wines
- SouthWest Wine Center
- Merkin Vineyards
- Chateau Tumbleweed
The Festival is a chance for you to sample many of the unique wines made right here in Arizona by the fast-growing boutique wineries, most of them family-owned. It’s been our mission from the very beginning to present an all-Arizona wine festival. All 16 of these wineries source their grapes from all over the state, and now they’ll be showcased here in the Verde Valley. Come out and see what the state-wide winemaking community has to offer. Get your tickets today!
Looking forward to the event! JR