Zarpara Vineyard

Open Year Round

In 2009, we embarked on this journey. With the nest empty and the daily commute grinding, we were ready to launch ourselves into a new adventure. Why not combine our love of wine and the outdoors? We could plant a vineyard where we could spend every day together and create a destination for sharing our wine.

We pointed our ship to Cochise County. This is the sky island country of southeastern Arizona, where broad valleys separate high mountains. In this part of Arizona, grape vines thrive in the sun and soil of the high desert. During the growing season, the cycles of warm, sunny days and cool nights infuse the grapes with flavor. The wines from this area burst with sun-splashed fruit and an abundance of fertile earth.

Starting with bare land, we marked out rows, put up trellis, and planted vines. There are now 5,000 vines in the ground, and we take care of each and every one - from training to hoeing to hand-harvesting. We touch every vine multiple times during the growing season to ensure high quality grapes and premium, hand-crafted wine.

In the spring of 2011, we broke ground and started construction of the winery and tasting room. The building also accommodates us! When it was completed, we moved out of our camper and into a studio apartment in one corner of the building. We opened the tasting room January, 2012.

Come pour a glass of wine and join us on this voyage. Welcome aboard!

Rhona MacMillan and Mark Jorve
Owners - Zarpara Vineyard