Zarpara Vineyard

I agree with the other reviews. Five stars here. Really enjoyed meeting owner Rhona and her hospitality. Nice pet dog to greet us too!

Had an opportunity to visit the winery a few weeks ago and tasted through several of their red wines. We were greeted by Rhona, an owner who was very pleasant and related the story about how she and her husband started the vineyard and winery. It is clearly a labor of love. They use a combination of estate grown and sourced grapes and I found their reds full bodied, rich and flavorful with a long finish. Their tasting room is about 15 minutes from the center of town and well worth a visit in you’re in the area.

What a great little tasting room located in Wilcox. It is located off a dirt road, but this allows you to drive through the vineyard. The tasting room is nice, new, clean, bright and welcoming. Rhona, one of the owners, was pouring the day we arrived, and we couldn’t have been happier. She was very friendly and knowledgeable. With the AZ wine travel card, we were able to save $ 2 off our tastings too!

I was first introduced to this wonderful winery at an Arizona wine tasting at the Whole Foods. We tasted a lot of wines that day but Zarpara stood out. I think I bought a bottle to drink at home. The winemaker casually invited us to checkout their tasting room in the future.
Last year we went to a few of the Wilcox wineries on a tour with friends. Again Zarpara was my favorite. The wine is delicious the owners are calm and welcoming. It is a serious winery and their passion shows in the wine.
Last Saturday we found ourselves on another tour of the Wilcox wineries, this time with another friend. Our second stop of the day was Zarpara and it was a great experience.
It is harvest time and they were picking Syrah, I believe. I had just started my tasting focusing on their summer whites, yum. The winemaker came in from the vineyard and let his wife, the other winemaker, know he would be tasting the Viognier, now a week old. We were invited around the corner to taste the fresh very new wine. It was still cloudy, sweet, and gritty, pulled straight out of the barrel.
Even though the winemaker was tired from picking all morning he took the time to greet and joke with everyone in the tasting room. We returned to our scheduled tasting.
The tasting cost $ 8 for 5 pours but our tastings cost $ 6 because we already had a glasses from the previous winery.
The white wines were paired with white snacks, a very cute idea. I really liked the 2013 Sauvignon Blanc. It is made with the estate grapes, grapes grown on site. I bought a bottle to take home. I also liked the 2013 Viognier, it too is estate grown. It was interesting to try it after tasting the new 2014 Viognier.
On this visit I tried just two reds, the 2010 Origen was pretty good. It was described as a good steak wine, if you like red wine give it a try.
The wonderful white wines, expertly made at Zarpara are perfect for the Arizona heat. The vineyard with its tasting room is relaxing and inspiring. I highly recommend trying their wines and making the trip out to the tasting room.

Zarpara is always one of my favorite places to visit while in Willcox. It’s a bit of a drive, so try to do this one first or second on your route so you can practice safe driving ;) Their vineyard dog, Tilly, will meet you at your car and escort you to the front door.
The staff here is laid back and chatty. The tasting room has a good, social vibe and we always find ourselves making friends with whoever else is tasting with us. They have nice little pita bread bites, (which I know aren’t supposed to be fed to Tilly, but I just can’t help it!) and although they do not have a license to sell food, they can offer pre-​packaged cheeses and crackers which come in handy if you have an empty stomach.
They just released Mosaico which is a really nice blend of Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah. Try it! As always, we really enjoy the Origen which is a Garnacha based wine.

Zarpara was so much fun! We were on our way to Bisbee and driving through Willcox, we saw a billboard that said «Try the Willcox Wineries!» So we made a detour and went to five different wineries and had a simply delightful day trying wine and meeting new people.
This place was great. They have the greatest dog EVER who is so sweet and lovey, and the person doing the tasting was nice and personable and let us stay a good 45 minutes after they closed so we could finish our tasting comfortably and never even mentioned the time to us, just so we wouldn’t feel rushed.
I definitely recommend the syrah. As it turns out, Arizona can make some amazing syrahs. Apparently the grape needs to be very hot during the day and very cold at night, so really, the middle of the Arizona desert is perfect!
This was the last winery that we tried in Willcox, and I have to say, we couldn’t have ended on a better note.