For the past 20 years, Maynard James Keenan has worked tirelessly to bring Arizonas burgeoning wine industry to international attention. In the process, he has launched the award-winning Caduceus Cellars & Merkin Vineyards, introducing the world to some of Southwests most delicate and refined bottles -- campaigned for the Verde Valleys certification as an American Viticultural Area (designated in 2021), all while growing a thriving local infrastructure and community across the region.

While the sunny state of Arizona is most often associated with jagged red-rock formations, cacti and tumbleweeds, it has garnered quite a bit of attention of late for its wine. The state is home to three official AVAs. The first two, Sonoita and Willcox, are both near the Mexican border in the south. Meanwhile the Verde Valley, which received its formal designation in November 2021, is in central Arizona's Yavapai County, about an hours drive southwest of Flagstaff, near Sedona.

Relatively small compared to better-known growing regions in the US, the Verde Valley has about 40ha under vine. The free-draining soils are volcanic and sandy loam, with layers of calcium-rich caliche a defining characteristic of the subsoil here, believed to bring particular minerality to the wines.