Emerging Wineries: Dewey-Humboldt

Located about an hour north of Phoenix along Highway 69, the town of Dewey-Humboldt is home to two emerging wineries — Mogollon Vineyards and AZ Setting Sun Vineyard. Situated at elevations of 4,500–5,000 feet, the high-desert Verde Valley Wine Region offers ideal conditions for growing wine grapes.

Mogollon Vineyards

Beauty shot over the vineyards at Mogollon.

Mogollon Vineyards owners Keith and D’Alene Moore spent years living and working in the Phoenix area while raising cattle in Northern Arizona. Alfalfa crops were needed to feed the cattle, but the high-water usage of the crop made it a financial challenge with high utility prices. In search of a crop that was low water usage and higher value per acre, wine grapes seemed to make sense.

Keith came across a brochure from Yavapai College in Clarkdale, located in Arizona’s Verde Valley Wine Region. He put it on D’Alene’s desk and said, “I’m going to go to viticulture school.” Her response? “Well, I want to go!”

Keith started classes at Yavapai College in 2013. Soon after, the couple planted their first vineyard in the White Mountains in Eastern Arizona.

“We were the first licensed, bonded winery out of Yavapai College. My first vintage was 2015,” Keith says. In 2017, they relocated to a commercial property in Dewey with 15 acres along Highway 69, right in the heart of the Verde Valley Wine Region. Keith, whose background is in construction, remodeled a 1949-built house on the property into a tasting room, keeping its original charm. They bought an adjacent house and built a winery.

D’Alene still uses her lessons from Yavapai College in the vineyard, while also managing the tasting room side of the business with Mercy Clark. Mercy, Mogollon Vineyard’s tasting room manager, coordinates the entertainment and music, and her background in the hospitality industry balances the team. Although she’s currently a student at Yavapai College, Mercy also lends a hand in the vineyard as needed.

The Moore Family smiling at a table in front of their vineyard in Dewey, Arizona.

With numerous regional and national wine competition awards in 2019 and 2020, the future is very bright for Mogollon Vineyards. The wines produced are from Chardonnay, Cabernet and Syrah grapes and are served along with pre-packaged selections of charcuterie, salads, snacks, desserts and other beverages. Future plans include a music pavilion and an event center, along with its own food preparation.

Mogollon Vineyards

www.mogollonvineyards.com

AZ Setting Sun Vineyards

Also in Dewey-Humboldt a little off the highway is AZ Setting Sun Vineyards, sitting at an elevation of 5,000 feet. Owners Troy and Hollie Noreuil established their vineyard in 2015 with six acres, two and a half of which are planted to vine.

Troy is a supervisor in the aerospace industry and Hollie is a middle school teacher, and both took classes at Yavapai College for viticulture and enology. Interestingly, Troy carpooled with Mogollon’s Keith Moore twice a week for three years, from Phoenix to Clarkdale for classes.

“[Yavapai College] is where we met some wonderful people on this journey of Arizona wines, like our friends at Mogollon Vineyards, where we currently make and store our wine,” Hollie says.

A trip in 2013 to Napa for Hollie’s sister’s birthday triggered their passion for wine. They fell in love with the whole process, from farming to the wine-making process. Spending time visiting other Arizona wineries to hear their stories and learn what they went through helped Hollie and Troy with their journey.

One thing they like most about having their own vineyard is the people they meet.

A family of four poses on an orange tractor in front of their vineyard with a brown dog.

Friends Keith and D’Alene Moore at Mogollon Vineyards have been an inspiration and influence from the collaboration they shared, as they all started their winemaking ventures about the same time, taking a lot of their first steps together. Other influences have been the past and present instructors at Yavapai College, including Nikki Check and Michael Pierce.

Grape varieties grown at AZ Setting Sun are Primitivo, Albariño, Carménère, Petite Sirah, and Cinsault. Sangiovese sourced from Golden Rule Vineyards in Arizona’s Willcox Wine Region, about an hour south of Tucson, was bottled in 2021. AZ Setting Sun Vineyard plans to eventually have a winery building and a tasting room to serve their wines and other Arizona labels.

These two Dewey-Humboldt vineyards are definitely ones to watch. Mogollon Vineyards is open with award-winning wine, food and entertainment. AZ Setting Sun Vineyard is not open to the public yet, but it’s close behind!

AZ Setting Sun Vineyard

@azsettingsunvineyard