D.A. Ranch Estate Vineyard [May 2022]

I had no idea when we decided to check out D.A. Ranch Vineyard that its humble beginnings were as an actual working cattle ranch. The story is quite interesting, with its history going back to the 1870s. This is around the time when the first settlers were starting to arrive in the Verde Valley area. Around 1910 [and I love this part] a pioneer woman by the name of Gertrude Gates bought 360 acres here and named it Delta Alpha Ranch, better known today as D.A. Ranch. Gertrude built a homestead and used “DA" as her brand for her livestock, mostly comprised of Jersey cattle.

In 1926, Gertrude sold the ranch to Vesto Slipher, the director of Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff. He kept it as a cattle ranch, and I have to mention the old red barn [seen below] on the property that is over 100 years old!! Keep this in mind for I will be referencing it little later. After this, the ranch's history becomes a little bit hard to follow since Vesto started selling the property off in parcels. From what I can tell, starting in 2001, Earl and Pat Petznick purchased the first parcel to use as a family retreat. This spurred their son Earl Jr. and his wife Melinda to purchase another one of the parcels.

Not to be outdone by his brother, their second son Olen brought his wife Belle to jump on the ranch bandwagon and purchased the second-to-last parcel. A family from Southern Australia, the Brysons bought the last parcel. But in 2011, the Petznick family acquired the land from the Brysons to make D.A. Ranch whole again. The family has a long history of raising cattle, but on the advice of a neighbor, they planted some of the land with grapevines. It just so happens that this neighbor is none other than Eric Glomski, the owner of Page Spring Cellars. [I will be writing about Page Springs in a later blog] Small world, right!?

So, with Eric's counsel and many family trips to Italy, the Petznicks decided to make a go of turning D.A. Ranch into a vineyard. They started their planting with Syrah grapes, and the first vintage was ready in 2009. They got Eric and Page Spring Cellars to help with the grape crushing and bottling, under the family wine label “Stop Stage Vineyards.” It was named for the historic stagecoach stop that was found on the property. However, Melinda [one of the daughters-in-law] had a vision to modernize the winery and unify the family wine with the ranch. She brought back the D.A. Ranch brand and designed the current bottle labels.

In 2015, the Petznick family decided it was time to invest in their own winemaking space. Let me introduce Joe Bechard, Kris Pothier, Kim Koistinen, and Jeff Hendricks. Together they are the wine-producing team of Chateau Tumbleweed. [Again, another winery that I will be writing about in a later blog... ohhhh, how I love all of these connections!!] Today Chateau Tumbleweed exclusively produces and bottles all of D.A. Ranch Estate Vineyards' wine. Including the 100% estate-grown Syrah that is a fan favorite. It is on the D.A. Ranch Reserve list, and they named it after the lady who got it all started, “Gertrude,” around 100 years ago!! [awwww]

The ranch is gorgeous, as you can see from the photos, and the "old red barn" was converted into a tasting room!! After you choose the wines for your tasting, you can then take your glass and explore any room in the old barn, or go out on the beautiful wrap-around porch, which has a swing (I do love to swing) or walk around the grounds by the cute little pond. There are two tasting stations for your convenience, one inside at a bar area and one outside on the porch. It is unlike any place I have seen before. I’d say it’s kind of like a combination of a tasting room and a wine festival, definitely more of an experience than just a simple wine tasting.

Today the vineyard produces around 2,500 cases of wine per year, all with estate-grown grapes. There’s a whole lot more than Syrah now too; add Petite Sirah, Seyval, Vermentino, and Greco di Tufo grapes. I’ve never heard of the last three varietals, but you can bet I’m now going to look for them and give them a try!! Who knows, this may have to include a return trip to the ranch! Haha!! "Wine is the answer. I just don't remember the question." [unknown]

Next week, Wine with Wixy will be heading out of town for summer to another new location in Driggs, Idaho!! Driggs is a small one-horse town, and there are no wineries in the area. Yes, you heard correctly... I said NO WINERIES!! Despite that fun little fact, we are super excited to start a new adventure!!

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