Water to Wine Tour [April 2021]

It is finally time for me to write about the long awaited “water to wine” experience. [the one I mentioned way back during the Verde Valley Wine Trial] Let me start by saying that I had a very nervous excitement when I first read about this excursion, as I have never kayaked before!! But this activity was a birthday gift for my work daughter Hayley [who you have met many times before] and I felt up to the challenge!! I mean, it did end with wine so… LOL!! It was nothing short of amazing and I even said “everything I expected and more for my first kayaking adventure!! Water to wine.. just magical!!”

We started out by meeting our guide at Alcantara Vineyards in Camp Verde, AZ. Haley, Shawn, and I hopped into a van [with a couple other folks] and we were driven up the road several miles to the launch location. [Seen above] After some instruction, and help getting in the kayaks, we were sent on our way to enjoy the Verde River as we started our float. It was really nice that we were kind of on our own and we could move at our own pace since Shawn, and I were beginners. I was surprised that the inflatable kayak was so sturdy, and that I didn’t feel unbalanced at all.

The float was so much more relaxing than I thought it would be, we literally just went with the flow. There were a couple narrow spots and a few [what I would classify as] small rapids, [Haha!!] but the views were superb and the company I was keeping even better. We let Hayley go first [since she is an experienced kayaker] so I could watch to see what see did and I just followed her lead. Shawn was the caboose. I think I was most worried about missing the beach area where we were supposed to get off the river. This was where we were parked near the Alcantara Vineyard and the winery.

As you can see from the photo above, I was worried for no reason. They had multiple, and very visible signs to let you know when the beach was coming up, where you should be on the river. There were a couple guides waiting on the beach to help you navigate to the correct landing spot and disembark the kayak. The meet location, as well as the beach area where you got off the water were just through the vineyard from the Alcantara tasting room. You could get back in your car to drive up to the winery or walk through the vineyard and take in all the beautiful scenery. We opted to take walk.

The outdoor patio and cozy yard area were the perfect reward for all the [not so] hard work of kayaking several miles down the river. I had so much fun on this water to wine experience, and I talked it up so much that that I did it again, taking my friend Deb Flanagan. You can see evidence of this in the photo above!! It was another fabulous day, and since I wasn’t so nervous, the float was pretty spectacular. Did you know that AZ had otters, along the river!? Well, they do… we saw them, Deb even got a great video of one of them playing along the bank!!

Deb and I also opted to walk up through the vineyard, [seen above] I mean how can you pass up the chance to walk through and see the wine vines this up close and personal!? We had a wonderful time, as we always do, on the float trip and then at the winery!!

Next week Wine with Wixy will be traveling to a new location location, Spokane, WA!! We are pretty excited to try out a different summer spot and visit all the new places!!

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