Maynards uncorks private-label wine

Maynards Market & Kitchen uncorked the first bottle of its new private label wine on Friday, becoming one of only a few Tucson restaurants to offer their own wine to diners.

Maynards AZ Red is available by the glass ($9) or bottle ($35) at Maynards Market & Kitchen, 400 N. Toole Ave., and at its sister, Hotel Congress, 311 E. Congress St.

“It obviously is a big part of trying to stay with the roots of Maynards being a locally sourced business,” said general manager Todd Hanley. “If you can have great wine that’s totally locally sourced, it’s almost a no-brainer.”

Winemaker Rob Hammelman, who owns the fast-rising Sand-Reckoner Vineyards in Willcox, created the wine for Maynards by blending 63 percent zinfandel and 37 percent petite sirah from fruit sourced from Golden Rule Vineyards at the base of the Dragoon Mountains near Willcox.

Working closely with Hanley and Maynards’ sommelier, he crafted “a wine that offers a full range of flavors that will appeal to a wide range of palates.”

This was Hammelman’s first time creating a wine for a restaurant, he said in an email interview.

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“The process reminds me of the negociant business in France where a restaurant is able to work directly with a winemaker to produce a unique, locally produced wine that represents a house style that customers can really connect with and feel good about,” he said. “It’s a great way for a restaurant to offer their diners a unique experience.”

Rod Keeling of Keeling Schaefer Vineyards near Willcox said it is not often that restaurants go through the expense and trouble of creating their own private label wines.

But when they do, it adds value in the eyes of diners.

“When you buy that wine from Maynards, you are going to have an experience being provided to you by the sommeliers. Blending a finished wine is an art; it’s not easy. It reflects the palate of the winemakers and the people doing the blending,” said Keeling, newly seated president of the Arizona Wine Growers Association. “It’s a unique experience.”

A number of Phoenix and Scottsdale resorts and restaurants have private-label wines. In Tucson, Maynards joins only a couple of restaurants, including Gallery Grille at the Gallery Golf Club at Dove Mountain.

Maynards bottled 200 cases of AZ Red — 2,400 bottles in all — and is selling them at $18 a bottle in the market and hotel lobby throughout February.