sonoita vineyards

Of the three wineries we visited in the Sonoita AVA this one definitely has the best vista.Wine tasting room nicely laid out and a good variety of wine and other merchandise.I am sure you will read reviews by others that are positive on the wines tasted. Personally, I was disappointed. Personal opinion, sorry.

Thank you so much for coming to our winery and enjoying everthing. We hope to see you again. Cheers!!

I am so happy you enjoyed our wines when you visited. We have all rescue animals on the property and I am sorry one of our dogs jumped on your vehicle. I am sure it is our deaf border collie that did the deed he likes to play with other dogs. We now kennel all the rescue dogs up so when you return to visit us you will not even see our animals.

Sonoita Vineyards is the brainchild of Dr. Gordon Dutt, a retired University of Arizona soil scientist. Blessing of the Vines occurs in April. As you stroll through the vineyard, the blessing is performed by a Catholic priest and a Lutheran minister, with whom Dr. Dutt has long-stanging friendships. "Angel Wings" is the communion wine served at Dove of Peace Lutheran Church in Tucson. HarvestFest is when visitors can participate in actual grape-stomping. Both events include a tour of the winery. For those wishing to taste the wines, there is an nominal admission charge that includes a commemorative glass and 6 tastings. Lunch is available for purchase, and both events feature wine-pairings. We like to buy a bottle of French Colombard and enjoy it with our lunch while sitting on the lawn under tall shade trees. There is only one downside to this experience, and that is that it tends to be fairly windy in this very open area. Nevertheless, a good time is always had by all. My friends and I have made the trip to Sonoita Vineyards at least half a dozen times over the past 10 years.

Sonoita Vineyards was outstanding! They have gourmet lunch on weekends, and their wines are fabulous!

On a one-afternoon wine tasting tour of the Sonoita/Elgin area, we visited Dos Cabezas Wineworks, Lightning Ridge Cellars, Sonoita Vineyards, and Callaghan Vineyards. While I have visited many wineries and have a fairly good base of comparison, I haven’t visited any others in the Sonoita area and thus can’t compare these to other Sonoita area wineries.Sonoita Vineyards was our least favorite of the four. While the setting is beautiful (winery on a hill overlooking rolling hills of vineyard), the inside of the tasting room was a major disappointment. Rather than the focus being on the wines, it seemed that they were most interested in selling all sorts of cheap wine-related gadgetry and souvenir items. It had a cheap, gaudy feel that was a definite turn-off for me.As to the wine itself, the focus here seems to be on blue-collar wine for the masses. There were lots of sweeter and fruitier white and blush wine options (two different sweet peach wines, if I remember), while not very much in the way of quality varietals or blends. I think the wines here might appeal to some, especially those that don't drink much wine or like sweeter lighter wines, but I found almost nothing that I liked.

This place is in beautiful wine country. We came around 1pm and it was fairly busy but the employees were VERY nice and tried to make you feel like they weren't slammed. My husband and I have never been to a wine tasting before and let me tell you... WE WILL DO THIS AGAIN! We had a blast. We love that this place does a "starter" which helps you decide if you want to go a sweet route or a more dry. This was great. The tasting itself was $10 and you got about 5-6 tastings. We both thought it was worth it. This particular vineyard is the oldest in the area. The land around it is breathtaking. The driveway leading up is welcoming. The place as a whole is charming. Would definitely recommend to family and friends who are wanting a fun, little adventure.

Great atmosphere and views are amazing. We finally made it after being a bit lost. Its quite a ways off the beaten path of the winners, but just go past village of Elgin (after you check out their great wines of course) and follow signage for a mile or so. Its a lovely place, with lovely people who really go out of their way to help you make selections to your tastes. They also offer lunch, which while I passed on as it was a little early, sounded very nice. I really enjoyed a few of their wines, and my sister discovered her new happy wine. They also sell these wonderful hibiscus flowers in syrup, that can be used in a variety of ways to make a meal, or glass of wine very special. Lots of variety in their wines, which I very much appreciate, anyone can find at least one or two wines to their tastes here. It's definitely worth the extra work to find them, I recommend a visit if in the area, even if your not a huge wine fan then there's their amazing port! I didn't think I liked ports, until I tried theirs, wow, smooth.

The fantastic trees contrasting with the desert made it a great spot! Tiger the dog was very welcoming and we are looking forward to returning for the grape stomping festival the first weekend of August!

The owner does a most amazing thing & donates cases of wine his special blend, Angel Wings, to a local Catholic Parish in Sierra Vista, for their Holy Communion. Twice a year they open up the vineyards for the Annual Blessing of the Vines & the Parish Priest comes out for this special weekend. All visitors can partake in the Blessing & it was nice. They also host another weekend when they introduce the new wines & have the ceremonial "crushing of the grapes". Think Lucy in Italy !! Make sure to sample their Angel Wings & the exotic & very peachy sparkling wine, Peach Sparkle.

We're spoiled by frequent trips to Napa. Our arizona friends took us on a wine tasting trip. We enjoyed the visit but the wines were our least favorite in AZ. The conversation and our server were just OK as well.

Bicycled into Sonoita Winery with a travel group mid-week in March for a wine-tasting + "food" for lunch. Here's the "true-skinny": Just do it! <grin> . Who would even think AZ could have a winery -- almost in the desert -- that is viable and has drinkable wines. Now, don't go comparing with the finest California, French or Italian vintages. Instead, what would your expectations be for "wine" grown amongst the sagebrush, cactus & Road-Runners? Huh? Not much -- yet Sonoita Winery produces some very good wines which is to the great credit of her grandfather who started the winery 30+ years ago and his granddaughter who is owner, manager & winemaker, today. She does a very nice job as a winemaker! Do talk with her -- she is easygoing & so much fun! And, taste the wines! And, the Winery itself is "cute". Pet the dog, too <more grins> Their best seller is a Colombard & I purchased several bottles shipped to my home to share with friends. It's easily accessible to both "newbies: as well as wine affectionados. They have White, Red, Dry, Off-Dry & Sweet wines available for tasting & purchase, too. SUGGESTION: My travel group had a catered luncheon and tasting -- they made Vegan for me! And, it was very good! So, if you have a group & talk to them in advance; they may do the same arrangement with a caterer for you -- & if you are Vegan like me you'll be happy you did. PPS: saw other reviewers comment about "pricey wines". I disagree; for what you are getting her prices for wine are very reasonable -- and the wines are a real treat! Where else to get nice wine -- with an AZ pedigree -- at a reasonable price. so, visit & enjoy the wine plus unique experience of an "AZ winery in the desert" -- without counting pennies! Enjoy!

I guess we've always been lucky since this was our third visit and we had the older gentleman, Foster?, and he's full of information and just charming. The wines themselves have really improved in the last 6 years and although we usually drink reds we bought a half dozen whites to fill in our case. When we left my husband commented on how friendly they always are there. We had been to another one in Elgin and the owner never said boo to us. We left. The scenery is beautiful here and there is a picnic table to sit and have a glass of wine at and watch the fields.

My friend loves to do wine tastings, I do not. I'd rather just have a glass of wine (which you can do) and sit and look at the scenery. It was chilly out and they have no comfortable seating, a bunch of plastic chairs and picnic tables. Friend got them to open up the balcony upstairs but not one chair in sight, why is that? I asked how much the sauvignon blanc I drank was for a bottle and she said 22.50. I don't know why when you go to vineyards some want to charge you more than you would pay buying it in a wine store. Friend asked if they'd take off the cost of the glass of wine or wine tasting (some do that) but no. So I didn't buy a bottle. They need some inside comfy chairs and comfy and welcoming chairs outside as well as perhaps tall tables and chairs for their balcony. Why not use all the assets you have?

We were surprised at how big this tasting room was. The staff was very knowledgeable. We liked quite a few wines but they did. To ship back easy and we couldn't fit any in our suitcases, they had great wines! Angels wings was fantastic,