After a long summer tending the vineyards and weeks of harvesting the fruit, the folks at Southern Arizona’s wineries like to let their hair down, pop a cork or three and celebrate the fruits of their labor.
Of course, no one likes to drink alone, so more than a dozen wineries are setting up tents in Willcox’s historic Railroad Park this weekend for the fall installment of the Willcox Wine Festival.
They’ll be pouring their latest vintages and fan favorites, and a few will be showing off their new hardware from prestigious contest wins.
Several smaller and newer Southern Arizona wineries walked away with big wins in state and national competitions including:
- Strive Vineyards‘ Desiree and Ryan Gerth took home five gold and two silver medals in the 2025 Arizona Wine Competition last spring, The Willcox winery also got Best Cabernet Franc.
- Jules and Bob Dixon this year added three silver medals from this year’s prestigious San Francisco Chronicle Wine competition to 1764 Vineyards‘ 2024 Double Gold from the prestigious contest. Last year, the Pearce vineyard took home the Governor’s Cup award with its 2021 8 Years Later red blend.
- Thomas Messier’s Omphalos Winery in Willcox won 2025 Governor’s Cup for its 2022 Triplet red wine.
- Copper Horse‘s Eric Desfachelles and Mark Phillips won a Double Gold at the 2025 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition for the Portal winery’s Dry Rose, which also took two bronze, several silvers and the Governor’s Cup in this year’s Arizona Wine Competition.
“If you put that wine in a room of judges and they come back and say this is good enough to win a medal, that’s the best you can hope for coming out of a competition of any size,” said Bob Dixon, who said the wins give him and his wife, 1764’s winemaker, validation that they are on the right track.
The Dixons started 1764 from the ground up in 2018, planting vines on eight acres; Jules Dixon said 3½ of those acres are now producing fruit suitable for winemaking.
One of their earliest wines was the 8 Years Later red blend, which Bob Dixon said was an homage to their friends at Golden Rule Vineyards, Jim and Ruth Graham. The wine was supposed to be a “one-time thing to honor them, but it became so popular that if I took it off the menu, people would not be happy,” Dixon said.
At this weekend’s Willcox Wine Festival, the Dixons will be offering samples from the barrel of two new 1764 red wines: a Blaufränkisch, made from locally sourced fruit, and Mourvèdre, which the couple’s son Rob is working on. Their daughter, Renee Fast, and daughter-in-law Gabrielle Kilpatrick, also are involved in the winery.
Jules Dixon said the Blaufränkisch, which originated in Germany, “makes some really interesting types of wines.”
“We’re going for the big, bold red this year,” she said of the winery’s festival offerings. “That’s why it’s going to be fun and exciting.”
Strive Vineyards also is doing something interesting at this weekend’s festival, which runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18-19, at Railroad Park in downtown Willcox.
It’s hosting “Stop and Smell the Wine,” an interactive wine aroma station that lets you train your nose to discover those aromatic nuances of wine. If you fancy yourself a connoisseur, take the Strive Scent Challenge and see if your nose really knows what’s in your glass.
Copper Horse Vineyard, meanwhile, is releasing its 2024 Riesling Mosel Style (aka dry) and its 2024 white blend Silver Peak.
Omphalos is not taking part in the festival.
