Brooke Ide ditched her corporate job in 2014 and headed back to school.
She wasn't looking to earn her MBA or become a lawyer. The longtime Phoenix resident had something a little more earthy in mind: winemaking.
After earning a degree in viticulture, she landed a job with one of Arizona's most prominent winemakers, rock star Maynard James Keenan (Tool, Puscifer, A Perfect Circle), at his Jerome winery Caduceus Cellars.
For three years, the mother of four and former college volleyball player worked with Keenan's crew in Jerome before accepting an offer to intern with Kent Callaghan, an elder statesman in Arizona's wine industry, at Callaghan Vineyards in Elgin, where she owned 54 acres where she planned one day to open her own winery.
At Callaghan's urging, that day came in 2018, when she had put up a 40-foot by 60-foot metal building. A year later, she was bottling her first vintages from her one-woman operation Vino Stache Winery on Lone Mesquite Court in Elgin. She sources fruit from two growers β one in Willcox and the other in Sonoita, to create 100% Arizona wines.
"It's been an interesting ride, for sure," she said.
On Saturday, Feb. 19, she will showcase her wines β she has five vintages including a petit Verdot blend dubbed The Gunfighter and a Graciano called The Boss β at the Off the Vine Wine Festival in Oro Valley. It's the first time she has done the festival, which is in its eighth year.
Ide said that once her 10- and 11-year-old daughters are in high school she will consider planting a vineyard on her property.Β Β
