Aridus Wine Company: A Tale of Two Soils

Aridus Wine Company is located in the quaint railroad town of Willcox, founded 1880, tucked away in Arizona’s southeast corner. We were first introduced to Aridus when they were still the new kids on the block in Willcox. Owners, Scott & Joan Dahmer, had recently completed the renovation of an apple warehouse into a large, state of the art winemaking facility in 2012. Locals we spoke to were very excited about the new winery and custom crush facility. 

Interesting Dirt

Three years earlier the Dahmers purchased 40 acres along Turkey Creek, a forty-five minute drive southeast of Willcox, located up against the Chiricahua Foothills. I think of Willcox as remote, but the vineyard location is really remote. We’ve not visited this vineyard, but we have driven along Arizona State Route 181 to reach a neighboring vineyard and the nearby mountains make a dramatic background. 

Turkey Creek runs through the 40-acre property, which sits at a 5200 foot elevation in the high desert. The soil is different on each side of the creek. The “North Side” soil, planted to white grape varieties, changes from dark grey to reddish brown and is so rocky that the rocks had to be jackhammered and holes augured to plant grape vines. The row orientation here in north-south. The “South Side” soil is rich, red loamy sand, and river rock. Red grape varieties are planted here at an east-west orientation to allow the wind to blow through the vines without damaging them. 

Aridus Wine Company on planting their vineyard:

“We started planting our whites in 2015, and was completed that year. We had our first estate harvest in 2017. The reds continued to be planted from 2016 until 2020. Our first harvest of reds was our estate Cabernet Sauvignon in 2019, and more will be coming online each year. “

The Aridus vineyard sits just outside the boundary of the Willcox AVA, one of three established in Arizona. When the application for the Willcox appellation was submitted to the TTB, a second was submitted for a Chiricahua Foothills AVA, which locals thought was distinct from Willcox. The TTB disagreed and the application for Chiricahua Foothills was rejected. Hence, the Aridus wines are labeled Arizona.

You must be curious about the name Aridus. It is a Latin word meaning dry or arid, pronounced AIR-i-dus. The name and the cracked earth rendering on the wine bottle labels tells the story of viticulture in the Arizona desert perfectly.

Weather in the High Desert

Weather in this corner of Arizona is unpredictable and can be extreme. Winters are cold. Spring and summer can bring wind, rain, snow, hail and temperatures to 100℉. Nighttime temperatures cool considerably, however. By August and September the monsoon rains arrive bringing cooler temperatures, but also increased humidity. To say harvest weather, July to September, can be challenging is an understatement.

Let’s Taste

We recently received a selection of Aridus Wine Company’s limited production wines sourced from the estate vineyard as tasting samples.

2023 Aridus Malvasia Bianca, Arizona — light yellow with generous floral aromas of citrus blossoms and orange zest. The wine tastes just like the aromas: orange and lemon blossoms, plus ripe melons. It is a bit round in the mouth with good acidity to balance the notable sweetness. 10.1% abv. SRP $40. Only 432 cases made. 20 g/l residual sugar.

Malvasia Bianca makes a pretty distinctive wine and this one is characteristic of the variety. It is 100% Malvasia Bianca made in stainless steel.

2023 Aridus Sauvignon Blanc, Arizona — light yellow with aromas of ripe melon, pineapple and white flowers. Flavors include oat hay, melon and citrus with juicy acidity. The wine has a bit of roundness and a clean finish. 13.4% abv. SRP $40. Only 485 cases made.

89.41% Sauvignon Blanc is blended with 10.09% Malvasia Bianca and 0.5% Muscat. The wine was made in stainless steel.

2022 Aridus Graciano, Arizona — dark ruby with generous aromas of ripe blackberries and blueberries along with ripe plums and a bit of dusty earth. Flavors include plums, dried tobacco, dusty earth and black pepper spices. The body is medium with fine, drying tannins and good acidity. 16% abv. SRP $65. Only 228 cases made.

100% Graciano spent 15 months in neutral barrels. The fruit flavors of the wine shine through in this Graciano.

2021 Aridus Tempranillo, Arizona — dark violet-ruby with aromas of baking spices, ripe red raspberries and blackberries. Flavors include dark fruit, red cherries, cocoa and earth. Tannins are significant, grippy and gauzy in a medium body. 16% abv. SRP $70. Only 239 cases made.

Once again, Tempranillo stands on its own in this wine, which was aged for 29 months in neutral cooperage. The tannins and fruit combination is pretty tasty.

2022 Aridus Malbec, Arizona — medium ruby with aromas of blueberries, red raspberries and dusty earth. Flavors include cedar, red plums and leafy tobacco in a medium body supported by fine, drying tannins. 14.9% abv. SRP $75. Only 393 cases made.

Yes, 100% Malbec once again with aging for 16 months in neutral and second-use barrels. Quite delicious.

2021 Aridus Cabernet Franc, Arizona — light ruby (almost translucent) with aromas of tobacco red plums and dried strawberries. Flavors include dried tobacco, blackberries and black cherries with notable acidity and fine, but drying, gauzy tannins in a barely medium body. 13.6% abv. SRP $80. Only 68 cases made.

100% Cabernet Franc was aged for 34 months in (almost) neutral barrels.

I so appreciate that these wines, with the exception of the Sauvignon Blanc, are 100% varietal wines and made using mostly neutral oak. That gives me the impression I’m tasting what the Arizona desert gives each variety and there’s no hiding behind filling in the gaps with other varieties. Now I’m really curious to taste a 100% Sauvignon Blanc.

Lisa Strid was Aridus’ founding winemaker and made all of the above wines. In July 2024 Aridus Wine Company introduced Jef Stebben as their new winemaker.

Plan a Visit

In addition to the winemaking facility in Willcox, Aridus Wine Company has a tasting room on Railview Avenue in the heart of old downtown Willcox. Willcox is a charming railroad town well worth exploring in addition to the wineries located in the Willcox AVA. A drive to wineries in the Willcox AVA involves significant distances, gravel roads, wild and wide open spaces. It’s completely unique. You will also find an Aridus tasting room in the Old Town Arts District in Scottsdale. It is part of the Scottsdale Wine Trail and a perfect way to sample some Arizona wines if you can’t make it to the vineyards.

There are many hiking trails in the mountains surrounding Willcox. Some of our favorites are in Chiricahua National Monument, Cochise Stronghold and Fort Bowie National Historic Site. To help you plan a visit to this beautiful corner of Arizona see the Wines of Willcox website for maps of the wineries and more. This is one of our favorite places to visit and we’ve shared many of our experiences in Willcox and neighboring Sonoita on Pull That Cork.

Thanks to Aridus for a taste of your current limited production wines.

Cheers!