Colibri Vineyard was planted in 2000, on the site of the old Morrow apple orchard which is located in East Whitetail Canyon, on the northeast slopes of the Chiricahua Mountains. Located on north facing slopes at an elevation of 5200', we have seven varieties of wine grapes planted, Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Counoise, Roussanne, Viognier and Petit Verdot. These varieties are found most commonly in the Rhône Valley of France, and many of these clones were originally collected there. Our vines are grafted to rootstocks, mostly 110R, 1103P, and 140R.

Trellising of the vines is done in a Vertical Shoot Positioning system, utilizing two sets of catch wires located above the cordon wire. This system gives us good fruit exposure, great canopy light penetration, and good control over vigor and stucture of the vines. It also allows us to maintain our cover crop below.....

We maintain a cover crop in the vineyard for a number of reasons, chief among them erosion control and soil nutrition . Our cover crop of mixed native grasses, clovers, vetch and others, renews the soils as we cut and mulch them through the growing season. It also protects the soil from the occasional very heavy rains during monsoon and winter that could carry away soils from our slopes.

Birds are part of what makes Whitetail Canyon so unique. The wildlife is abundant as we are located in a pretty wild part of Arizona, so we've had some challenges in growing lots of tasty grapes. We cover all, yes all, of our vines with bird netting. They light up on the outside of the nets and get some grapes but we get plenty. We also have an impressive electric fence which protects the entire vineyard from large animal (bears, deer, coatimundi...) entry. Mostly......