A New Focus - WINE

Haven't written in quite a while because the whole focus of FoodWineTravel Connection has changed. No longer is food and travel at the top of the heap, but wine is the new number one.

I recently became a part of the staff at Alcantara Vineyards in the Verde Valley of Arizona. A dream come true, and a new way to express my passion for wines, wine making, vines and vineyards, and drinking wine, of course.

Alcantara Vineyard is owned by Barbara Predmore, who affectionaly calls herself the farmer, and I am working closely with her to alleviate some of the day to day accounting and administrative tasks of managing the vineyard, making wine and monitoring the tasting room which is open daily to the public.

It feels like I am returning to my roots when I'm at the vineyard. I grew up on a farm in Iowa, not a vineyard, of course, but a farm just the same. Our farm was on gravel road, so the machinery and cars were usually dusty from travel. The vineyard too is on a gravel road. It is off the beaten path, down a winding mountain road, nestled near the confluence of the Verde River and Oak Creek. Those two rivers are the only rivers in Arizona that run year round.

The spot is a very special and spiritual place, full of history because of the importance of water in the desert, an the past residents. There are unexplored previously lived in caves on the river banks and historic Indian ruins that can be seen from the tasting room patio and grounds. One day I'll get a chance to explore, I hope. I love going to work every day, driving among the vines to get to the tasting room and offices. Seeing the vineyard workers as the trim, water, and maintain the vines.

I am excited about the future and the possibilities I can experience here at Alcantara.