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Going on a wine tasting trip is a pleasure not just for the wines, but also for the full wine country experience: trying local foods, staying at quaint inns and enjoying the scenic countryside of rolling hills arrayed with vineyards.
Customers 50-plus remain the biggest segment of wine drinkers, so there should be plenty of peers at wine tastings. A recent study from the U.S. Wine Industry Partnership reported that boomers along with older consumers make up 40 percent of today’s wine market, rising to 65 percent when the mostly 50-plus Gen X segment is included. Arizona’s wine tourism bureau confirms this trend with visitors 55-plus accounting for 40 percent of the state’s winery visits and 64 percent of wine festival attendees.
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Keep in mind that heavy drinking has been shown to raise the risk for high blood pressure. Older adults, both drinkers and nondrinkers, are already at risk for hypertension. Drinking responsibly is the key to enjoying any experience.
California’s Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley are the most famous American wine travel destinations, but for those looking for new experiences, the U.S. provides a breadth and depth of wine regions with great tasting opportunities unknown even to some connoisseurs.
From the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York to the high deserts of Arizona, the verdant valleys of Oregon and the traditional farm country of Wisconsin, here are tips on where to go and what to taste at some great alternative wine regions.
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Arizona: Verde Valley
Arizona doesn’t seem like a great place to grow wine, but the Verde Valley, comprising more than 200 square miles in the state’s north-central region, is home to the Verde Valley Wine Trail. The trail has more than two dozen wineries in the area, with wines made from more than 40 types of locally grown grapes. The Verde Valley is about 100 miles from Phoenix and 20 miles from Sedona.
The town of Cottonwood is considered the center of Verde Valley wine country, with nine tasting rooms located around Main Street in Old Town. Cottonwood and Sedona can both be used as a base for guided van tours of the valley with stops at multiple properties.
Page Springs Cellars in Cornville showcases a unique setting of vineyard rows arrayed between rough desert hills. Its tasting room also features a bistro menu, live music and an art gallery. Visitors can book harvest tours in September to get a behind-the-scenes look at the whole wine-making process. For a full immersion, a party of four can rent a cabana on the property.
The region even has its own wine school: The Southwest Wine Center at Yavapai College has amazing views over nearby vineyards, plenty of parking and easy accessibility for visitors to experience student-curated wine tastings. And this isn’t some wild and crazy party school. The average student age here is 48, as many retirees move to the area and enroll to learn the art of winemaking and grape growing, says Paula Woolsey, committee member for the Verde Valley AVA (American Viticultural Area).