Birds and Barrels Vineyard [May 2022]

As I mentioned last week, I loved the wines from Birds and Barrels. To visit their vineyard was the sole reason we planned this little camping weekend to Wilcox. I had no idea how amazing it was going to be here, or how many vineyards were in this area!! I also did not that Wilcox was Arizona’s second, and largest established AVA in 2016. [I didn’t even know what AVA meant!! LOL] Sonoita was first in 1984, and Verde Valley joined the ranks in 2021. AVA means American Viticultural Area, which means this area is federally designated as a wine grape growing region in the United States!!

In the US, an AVA is unique and characterized by its geographic soil and climate, with the requirement that at least 85% of the grapes processed must be within the vineyards AVA location. The vineyards range anywhere from 62 acres to 19 million acres!! Since there are only three AVA’s in Arizona and sum 270 AVA’s in the entire country [half of them being in California] it’s a pretty big deal!! Birds and Barrels vineyard is part of the AVA in this specified area. The nights are cool with warmer days, and the soil is called sandy loam. [a versatile, nutrient rich soil made up of sand, silt, and clay] It is known to have excellent drainage, good aeration and is easy to work with.  

Many Arizona wineries are owned and/or operated by women, and Birds and Barrels Vineyard is no exception. Founded on a 50-acre parcel of land in 2015, Monica Preston with help from her husband, Chad. The vineyard is nestled in between mountain vistas and gently rolling fields of grain, vineyards, and orchards. Monica and Chad are nature lovers and avid bird watchers so you can guess what comes next… the winery name!! “Birds” is to represent the abundant natural wildlife [including many birds] around the vineyard, and “Barrels” is to represent the quality wine they produce and its process.

The Birds and Barrels Vineyard labels reflect this natural beauty as a way of branding their wine. [p.s. I also have a t-shirt with their label, purchased at one of the Art and Wine festival.. I am a known t-shirt whore, after-all!! LOL] The Preston’s are local Arizonians; Chad worked as a real estate agent, and Monica worked in the title and escrow industry. Even though they had no experience with viticulture [the science, study, and agricultural practice of cultivating grapes; which also involves managing vineyards through techniques like planting, pruning, irrigation, and grape quality] their passion and drive to learn have carried them through this far. 

You can see from the first photo that Birds and Barrels Vineyard has a tasting room lactated on the corner in town. This is actually right down the street from last week’s blog, The Wilcox General Store. [You know where the bus tour crashed our wine tasting!? Literally!! Hahaha!!] The photo above is taken at their vineyard location which doesn’t really have tasting room per se, but you can still get a taste of wine. I had to visit both since I am soooo team Birds and Barrels!! The vineyard location was beautiful, and they were just cleaning up the large patio from a private event the night before, so it was a little hectic. [this just means I’ll have to go again!!]

Talk about wide open spaces!! [seen below] Monica is proud of the fact that they are part of the AVA and involved with every aspect of the winery. From the grape quality grown on their property, to the hand harvesting, pressing, and finally wine crafting. They feel that mechanized mass production takes away from the quality that a more hands on approach brings and I believe you can taste it!! While we were there, they mentioned something about possibly becoming part of Harvest Hosts. This is a membership program that invites self-contained RVers to have unique overnight stays at farms and wineries. I know, it sounds like that's right up my alley, right!?

We actually heard about Harvest Hosts before from our Napa friend, Chad Cassell and became members. [for one year only] However, we found out that most places only allow you to stay for one night or maybe two. A lot of places didn't allow pets and/or running generators during the night and our idea and way of camping is to bougie for that!! LOL It is still an awesome idea though.

Next week Wine with Wixy will be getting down on a ranch!! You must be thinking that I misspelled winery, but the vineyard is actually on a ranch!! So, ya’ll come back now, ya hear!? Hahaha!!

Cheers to you my wine loving friends, and TTFN!!