The Verde Valley and Arizona have been working to make a name for themselves when it comes to wine.
The state allowed winemaking for sale and distribution in 2006 for the first time since Prohibition ended. The soil in the area is good for the grapes and the benefits have flowed outward.
Since 2006, economic studies conducted with the University of Arizona show that the new industry is having an effect, creating jobs and bringing tourists to the Verde Valley.
So what is the impression in the outside world of Arizona wines?
“There isn’t one, really,” said Laurie Daniel, a freelance writer who covers wine, food and travel.
Daniel wasn’t being condescending.
Discovering the efforts being made in the wine industry here in Arizona was the reason Daniel was here, along with several other writers from around the country.
They were here as part of a several-day tour of the wine industry in the Verde Valley and beyond.
On Sunday, Nov. 16, the group checked into Four Eight Wineworks in Clarkdale after spending the day touring the areas where a great deal of local wine is produced.
The downtown business, located in the former National Bank Building, is part of a cooperative that lets wine producers work together to get their wines out for purchase.
It’s the creation of Maynard James Keenan, musician and local wine producer.
To read the full story, see the Wednesday, Nov. 19, edition of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
