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WINEMAKER INTERVIEW June 2015 WINES&VINES 47 distinctive rusty color. Below this layer is a more basic limestone. The first cultivars were primarily chosen based on what was popular at the time—Cabernet Sauvignon, Chenin Blanc, Sauvignon Blanc. All of Dr. Dutt's original plantings succumbed to Pierce's disease in the early 1990s and had to be replaced. Today, the majority of vineyards in Arizona are free of PD, but the threat remains on the minds of grow- ers. Establishing a vegetation-free zone around your vine- yard and having IPM (integrated pest management) in place are the lessons that have been learned by any grower who has been hit. Sonoita is currently Arizona's only AVA, although there are two other established growing regions in Arizona: Willcox in the southeastern part of the state and the Verde Valley an hour and half north of Phoenix. As of 2012, ap- proximately three-quarters of the state's wine grapes come from the Willcox area, and a petition is pending to establish Willcox as an AVA. Region-specific wine characteristics are slowly starting to show themselves as farming practices become more uniform. Both vineyard yields and grape quality have surged in the past few years. Varietal selection in Arizona has not yet been refined down to a certain few. There is a large list of cultivars that will grow well here and a short list of bad cultivars. Some of the cultivars that have proven themselves in Arizona are things like Malvasia Bianca, Tempranillo, Grenache, Mourvedre, Graciano, Petit Verdot, Sangiovese and Tannat—cultivars that thrive on full sunlight and the large temperature swings we see at the higher elevations where most vineyards are planted. These varieties require a less invasive management approach from growers and create wines with good concentration and balance. Cultivars that are resistant to bunch rot and can hold up against the high humidity brought on by our late summer rains are certainly favored here. Kent Callaghan, one of the longest standing winegrowers in the state, tried to make Zinfandel work for 15 years. Kent said, "That was mostly a disaster due to rot. I grafted/replanted that plot to Graciano in 2009, and the result is some of our best wine in the cellar since then." It's the sharing of experiences like these that has lessened the learning curve for new potential growers in the state. There are some other vineyard-management experi- ments going on in the state where growers are trying to develop some best practices for our climate. For example, Merkin Vineyards is purposefully setting a smaller structure on their new vines through water and nutrient manage- W inemaker Michael Pierce grew up far from vineyards in Phoenix, Ariz. He studied elec- tronic media and visual communication at Northern Arizona University, and after gradu- ating in 2004 he went to work doing print and web design. But while he was in college, Pierce had taken up brewing and winemaking as hobbies, and after graduation he de- cided to take online viticulture and enology courses through the University of California, Davis, extension. He switched to Washington State University's program in 2007. After working harvest jobs in New Zealand, Oregon and Tasmania (Australia), Pierce took a winemaking job in 2010 at Ari- zona Stronghold Vineyards. In 2014, he became director of enol- ogy at Yavapai College in Clark- dale, Ariz. Meanwhile, his wine-loving parents, who were in their 50s and looking for a new adventure, bought land in Willcox, Ariz. The property had a neglected 8-acre vineyard, which they've renovated and expanded to 27 acres. The family now has two wine labels, Saeculum Cellars and Bodega Pierce, and Michael Pierce han- dles the winemaking. Q The Arizona wine industry is still relatively young. Where do things stand in regards to finding the best sites, best grape varieties and most appropriate viticultural techniques? Michael Pierce: The first post-Prohibition commercial plantings of Vitis vinifera in Arizona were done with the help of a grant sponsored by the Four Corners Commission, meant to study the viability of wine grapes as an economy- stimulating crop in the Southwest. The grant was written by a University of Arizona soil scientist named Dr. Gordon Dutt in 1976. Dr. Dutt had previous experience with table and wine grape vineyards in Tucson and Yuma (Ariz.) areas. Based on lessons learned from those projects, he looked for a site with good air drainage, a higher elevation and acidic soils. He chose the Sonoita (Ariz.) area, 60 miles southeast of Tucson, which sits at an elevation of 5,000 feet. The soil in that region has a top layer referred to as terra rossa, which consists of a clay-rich acid soil, with iron giving it a A CONVERSATION WITH Michael Pierce Program director discusses Arizona's progress in viticulture and enology By Laurie Daniel Michael Pierce is the director of enology at Arizona's Yavapai College.