Sonoita-Elgin celebrating region's wine with festival

Kief-Joshua Vineyards in Elgin kicks off the Southern Arizona wine season with its sixth annual Southeast Arizona Wine Growers Festival this weekend.

Call it a precursor to the annual regional wine festival planned in Wilcox next month.

Eighteen Arizona wineries will show off their latest vintages and award-winning wines from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, April 22 and 23, at Kief-Joshua Vineyards. There’s also a professional chili cookoff with cooks coming from as far as Texas for a chance to place in the nationally recognized challenge hosted by the Chili Appreciation Society International. Proceeds benefit the Mountain Empire Rotary Club.

Here’s what you need to know about the festival:

When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 22, and Sunday, April 23.

Where: Kief-Joshua Vineyards, 370 Elgin Road, Elgin.

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Cost: $25 single day, $40 weekend through eventbrite.com; $30 a day at the door.

Participating wineries: Kief-Joshua Vineyards, Alcantara Winery and Vineyard, Keeling Schaefer Vineyards, Arizona Stronghold, Lightning Ridge Cellars, Page Springs Cellars, Zarpara Vineyard and Winery, Callaghan Vineyards, Passion Cellars, AZ Hops and Vines, Burning Tree, SuVino Winery, Pillsbury Wines, Village of Elgin Winery, Golden Rule Vineyards, Sonoita Vineyards, Coronado Vineyards and Carlson Creek Vineyard.

Entertainment lineup:

• Saturday: 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Bisbee’s Cat Daddy; 2 to 5 p.m., Professor James and Dr. T.
• Sunday: 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Phoenix’s Top Dead Center Grateful Dead Tribute Band; 2 to 5, “The Voice” contestant Blaine Long.
• Weather forecast: Sunny with highs in the mid-80s.

Part of this weekend’s festivities, which also feature food vendors on-site, tips its hat to the 33rd anniversary of the Sonoita-Elgin region’s designation as an American Viticulture Area. The Sonoita/Elgin Wine Growing Region is among the oldest federally recognized viticulture areas in the United States, according to festival organizer Keif Manning.

• The Willcox Wine Country Festival spring edition will feature 60 wines from 16 Arizona vineyards on May 20-21 at the historic Railroad Park in downtown Willcox. Admission is free; tasting glasses and tickets are $20 to $25. Visit willcoxwines.com for details.