Vino Zona [April 2023]

Once in a while, you come across a person, place, or thing that resonates. I have been pretty fortunate to have had more than a few people and my share of places over the years that fall into this category. Vino Zona is definitely right there with them. I can think of a number of reasons why Vino Zona has wormed its way into my heart. First of all, Shawn and I found it when we were taking a stroll while on holiday in Sedona. I’m not quite sure why even saying the towns name evokes its magic on me, but being there just seems to make everything feel better. We love taking little day trips, overnight, or sometimes weekend trips here. So close but also such a different world.

A little more about this stroll… after years of visiting Sedona, we finally stopped to walk around Tlaquepaque Shopping Village. Even though it looks a lot older, which I think is part of its charm, it was opened in 2017. Tlaquepaque means “place of clay” or “the best of everything,” and I think they both fit. The architecture reflects the spirit of a true traditional Mexican village. They preserved the sycamore grove, which offers shade, stillness, and continuity with the land. We have driven by it many times, and I always thought it was so beautiful. [but you see, I am not really big into shopping... window or otherwise] It was such a nice day that we decided to see what we could see.

While walking in one of the courtyards, an upstairs sign with "Vino Zona Wine Tasting" caught my wine-trained eye. [Hahaha] Now we just had to figure out how to get up there!! We saw a set of stairs beyond the fountain in the courtyard pictured above. We followed it around to an upstairs corridor [covered walkway] that came back around to Vino Zona. When we walked inside, it felt like we went through some kind of portal. We entered into a welcoming and comfortable environment with modern art, fresh flowers, music, and wine!! The atmosphere is another reason I love this winery so much. Vino means wine and Zona is kind of an abbreviation or play on letters with Arizona... this is how it came to get it's cool name of Vino Zona!!

Plus, [and this may be the most important reason] having Shawn there with me was just so special, and to capture the [rare] photo above... feel the LOVE!! Vino Zona was opened by Ginger Mackenzie [known as Ginger Mack] in August of 2019, but let’s back up a little. Ginger opened the first Vino Zona tasting room in Jerome in August of the previous year. I was actually there the year they opened and remember I told you in the wine blog I wrote about the Jerome wineries that I would expand on Vino Zona!? Well, here I am expanding!! Ginger is from Texas and moved to Berlin, Germany, to tour as a songwriter/singer, but after 12 years of overseas living, Ginger moved back to Jerome so she could be closer to her family.

Ginger took a job at Passion Cellars. If you remember anything about my Jerome wine blog, I talked about this winery as being where my cousin, Joyce had her first wine tasting!! Ginger focuses on small batch wines with 100% Arizona grown grapes. In May of 2023 she opened a third Vino Zona tasting room in Cottonwood, Arizona. [which I have also visited.. LOL] She is so much more than the owner and sommelier. She is a specialized curator of wine rather than an importer. She personally visits the local micro-wineries across Arizona to hand select the featured wines made available.  I have visited all three locations, and they are all equally charming, but the Sedona tasting room has a special place in my heart.

Unfortunately, the Vino Zona at the Cottonwood location has closed as of April 2023. Instead of simply closing, ownership was transferred to new owners, and then it was re-opened [after a few renovations] as The Eureka Room. I will be going into more depth about The Eureka Room when the time comes. Thankfully, the other two Vino Zona locations in Sedona and Jerome remain intact!

Make sure you "tumble" on back next week when Wine with Wixy will be visiting another Cottonwood based winery. This one I learned about while attending one of the Wine Festivals I love going to!!

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