Arizona’s modern wine industry began in the early 1970s when researchers from the University of Arizona were studying new alternative crops for Arizona farmers. A test vineyard was planted near Oracle Junction. When the results far exceeded their expectations, they realized the potential of the grape in Arizona.

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1979 Star photo

UA research assistant Sam Hughes at the UA winery.

Within a few years, a Four Corners Commission was established to conduct a feasibility study on wine grapes as a crop in the four adjoining southwestern states. In order to process the grapes into wine, the UA constructed a $12,000 winery at their N. Campbell location.

Dr. Gordon Dutt, a soil scientist, and Dr. Eugene Mielke, a horticulturist, were two of the researchers involved in the project. Both men had backgrounds in California and experience with wine-making.

Two major obstacles that needed to be overcome were Texas root rot and nematodes.

In 1977, Dutt, Mielke and others on the project wrote an article for a UA agriculture magazine outlining the story of their commercial wine-grape research. The article suggested that one day an American president would propose a toast to an honored guest with an Arizona wine.

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1979 Star files

Hughes stocking the shelves with experimental wine.

Even with the best of luck, the team knew that it would be several years before any real conclusions could be drawn about the future of the Arizona wine industry.

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1983 Star files

Robert Webb of R.W. Winery

By 1983, the first bottles of Arizona’s new wine industry were ready to be bottled. The R. W. Webb Winery, located near Tucson, planned on bottling 700 cases that first spring harvest. New wineries were planned for Patagonia, Sonoita and Sedona.

Gordon Dutt opened Sonoita Vineyards in 1983. In 1989, the prophecy came true. For the presidential inauguration of George H. W. Bush, Sonoita Vineyards sent two of its best wines to the festivities. They sent a 1986 Cabernet Sauvignon and a 1987 fumΓ© blanc.

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1986 Star files

Tino Ocheltree of Arizona Vineyards with his old-fashioned wood wine presses and vats.

Arizona Vineyards was destroyed by an arson fire on June 5, 2009. In an article in the Star, Owner Tino Ocheltree said he will rebuild.

By 2007, there were 26 bonded wineries and 38 vineyards in Arizona. There were more than 4,000 acres of grapes under cultivation. The industry accounted for about $36 million a year and received nearly 20,000 visitors.


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