Arizonica

After a long hiatus I'm back at work on the vineyard, with plans to start building trellises in the next few months. For now I'd like to share some photos of Vitis Arizonica, the local grape variety. Finding ripe Arizonica berries is an extremely rare event. In my entire life this is only the second time I've seen them let alone eaten any. These were picked about a hundred feet from our cabin in Lyle Canyon where my future vineyard is going to be. Notice that the berries are quite small and there aren't very many per cluster. They tasted sweet with a nice tartness and a wild, brambly-herbal quality that reminded me of Petite Sirah. I'm hoping to grow some of these in captivity and turn them into wine. At this size it will take a heck of a lot of them to fill a bottle! Enjoy the photos!

Arizonica growing near the cabin.

A single berry.

A cluster in hand.

Alongside my trusty old pocket knife.