Buckeye wine trip

On one of the sunny but colder days last week, we visited southeastern Arizona’s wine country near the towns of Sonoita and Elgin.  The scenery on the drive was beautiful -- rolling hills, mountains and lots of grasslands.  Jim said it would be a good place to buy a house.

There are twelve winery’s near the teeny, tiny towns.  We stopped at three for tastings and almost everyone we talked with -- from fellow tasters to the servers -- was from Ohio, where I grew up.  The server at the second winery was from Kent, Ohio while two guests were from Columbus and another two from Coshocton.  The server at the second winery was from Salem, Ohio.  

After the tastings we went to dinner in Sierra Vista at a Mexican restaurant recommended to us by the first server (who was from Chicago -- he said after a terrible winter in the late 70's he sold everything he owned and moved to Arizona).  As we were walking in, a man walked out wearing an Ohio State University sweatshirt, so we had to talk with him -- he’d gotten his Master’s at Ohio State.  So it was pretty much an all-Ohio day.

Bev and Jim at the first winery called “Village of Elgin.”  We stayed here the longest, were the only customers, and had a great time talking with the server.  I liked the wine at this one the best.

The last winery was called Keif-Joshua and they had a herd of dogs, including this lover boy of a Basset Hound, a medium-sized mixed breed, a little tiny dog of indeterminate breed and a huge blood hound.  Long ago I had a Great Dane and this blood hound was way bigger than my Great Dane.

Jim took this photo of antelope near Elgin.