Wine tasting in Arizona.

Aridus Wine Company makes its wine in Willcox, in southeastern Arizona, and pours it at this tasting room on Main Street in Old Town Scottsdale. It is the easy way to taste wine from the state's biggest growing region without the three-hour drive.

A wine bar, bottle shop and tasting room that specializes in Arizona wine, so one stop covers bottles from growers around the state. It is on Scottsdale Road in the middle of Old Town, a short walk from the tasting rooms on Main Street.

Alcantara sits where the Verde River meets Oak Creek, a family-owned and sustainably farmed estate with more than 20,000 vines and 17 grape varieties. Tastings are poured indoors, on the deck or out on the lawn, and kayak trips on the Verde River are among the things to do while you are there.

Ignacio Mesa found this land in the valley of West Clear Creek in 1999 and planted the vineyard he had long wanted, farmed sustainably - geese and chickens keep down the weeds and the insects. The winery makes its wine only from its own grapes and was the first in Arizona to receive the Silver Innovator Sustainability Certification.

A relaxed, family-friendly winery on Page Springs Road, where children and dogs are welcome. Three other vineyard wineries are within half a mile, so it is one of the easiest places in the Verde Valley to compare several winemakers in one afternoon.

A small vineyard and winery run by the Norton family, who live on the land and do the work themselves, from tending the vines to making the wine. Five acres of grapes grow among pecan groves and small farms, with a leaning toward Italian varieties such as Malvasia Bianca and Sangiovese.

Willcox Wine Country is the group of farm wineries around the town of Willcox, in the high desert of southeastern Arizona, where most of the state's wine grapes are grown. The town has 14 tasting rooms, and the Willcox Wine Festival is held at Railroad Park in the middle of it.

Winemaker James Callahan's off-grid winery and tasting room stands on the open grasslands of Sonoita, southeast of Tucson, with chairs set out toward the view. Sonoita is Arizona's first officially recognized wine region, and Rune is a good place to begin a day in it.

Sam Pillsbury grows his grapes in the Sulphur Springs Valley outside Willcox and makes estate wines fermented with wild yeast, among them the Shiraz he calls Guns and Kisses. His wines are poured at the Willcox tasting room.

A small boutique winery about 30 minutes from downtown Tucson, making Arizona wine since 1995 and best known for its White Merlot. The tasting room patio looks out over the vines, and it is a fine place to be at sunset.