Halloween is coming early to Southern Arizona wine country, but instead of handing out candy to little kids dressed up as Disney princesses, superheroes and creepy monsters, wineries are dolling out the sweets with vino for the grown-ups.
This is Hallowine, where a heavenly rosé dances with Gummy Bears or a berry-kissed mead wine plays nicely with chewy Starbursts.
How about dark chocolate paired with a fine Malbec, or chewy, fruity Skittles complementing a sweet Grenaché rosé?
From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, all but one of the wineries in Elgin and Sonoita will host a wine and candy pairing event in celebration of the year’s scariest holiday.
You can dress up in costume or come as you are — no judgment — to the participating wineries and experience some interesting wines paired with some equally interesting candies.
Hallowine is free, although the wine tastings aren’t; those prices vary by winery.
How about some fruity Skittles or Reese’s Take 5 with your vino? Welcome to Hallowine, wine country’s take on Halloween.
This could be the first time nearly all of the Sonoita-Elgin wineries have participated in a unified celebration outside of annual wine events like the Willcox Wine Festival held last weekend.
Hallowine was the brainchild of AZ Hops and Vines' owners Shannon Zouzoulas and Megan Stranik, who are in the habit of coming up with some pretty inventive wine-centric events. Who can forget their end-of-summer bash Bad Decisions, pairing wine, chocolate and bacon; or the holiday happy Deck the Halls, celebrating wine and Christmas cookies (coming up Dec. 7).
Zouzoulas said when she made the calls to her winemaking colleagues, only one had to bow out. The 19 wineries and wine sellers, including one in Patagonia who said yes agreed to pair one or two of their wines with everything from sweet and sour chewy candies to milk and dark chocolates.
“It’s trick or treating for adults,” said Zouzoulas, whose winery will host a costume contest, pumpkin Chunkin’ and karaoke during Hallowine. “It is the slowest time of the year post-harvest so it’s just kind of fun to get everybody in the mood for the busy season.”
Here’s what each of the participating wineries are pouring and pairing.
- Dos Cabezas WineWorks, 3248 Highway 82, 520-455-5141: Quintosol red blend with Swedish Fish
- Autumn Sage Vineyards, 90 Elgin Road, 602-904-2120: Rosé with Butterfingers
- Deep Sky Vineyard, 124 Elgin Road, 520-490-6170: Malbec with Ghirardelli dark chocolate
- Charron Vineyard, 18585 S. Sonoita Highway in Vail, 520-762-8585: Santa Rita Rosé with gummy bears
- Callaghan Vineyards, 336 Elgin Road, 520-455-5322: Red Dessert with dark chocolate truffle
- Wilhelm Family Vineyards, 21 Mountain Ranch Drive in Elgin, 520-455-9291: 2017 Graciano or Port with chocolate raspberry fudge
- Flying Leap Vineyards, 342 Elgin Road, 888-431-5777: Solo Grenache dessert wine with Hershey’s dark chocolate
- Twisted Union Wine Company, 370 Elgin Road, 520-455-5582: Charm School with Milk Duds
- Elgin Winery and Distillery, 471 Elgin Road, 520-455-9309: Bourbon Barrel Cab or Bourbon with caramel
- Sonoita Vineyards, 290 Elgin Road, 520-455-5893: Desert Nectar with Hershey’s milk chocolate
- Vino Stache, 60 Lone Mesquite Court in Elgin, 480-266-0515: Malvasia with Nerds
- Lightning Ridge Cellars, 2368 Highway 83 in Elgin, 520-455-5383: 2020 Barbera with dark chocolate M&Ms
- Flying Kite Vineyard, 435 Lower Elgin Road, 602-617-6155: Light Cabernet with Payday
- Queen of Cups, 320 Smelter Ave. in Patagonia, 520-300-0815: Experimental Block with Smarties
- Rune, 3969 Highway 82 in Sonoita, 520-338-8823: Syrah with Coca-Cola gummies
- The Meading Room, 3470 Highway 82, 520-428-1170: Space Cowboy raspberry draft with Starburst
- AZ Hops and Vines, 3450 Highway 82, 301-237-6556: Tyler with Take 5, Roujir with Skittles
- Sunset Ride Vineyards, Restaurant and Art Gallery, 3266 Highway 82, 520-216-7223: 2020 Sunset Ride rosé with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
- Salvatore Vineyards, 313 Elgin Road, 480-483-5051: Syrah with dark chocolate almond bark
Miguel Kaiser and Zulma Nataren’s T-Loc’s represents the flavors and spirit of Tucson, but don’t tell the Texans. They think T-Loc’s means Texas Locals.
