Callaghan Vineyards, University of Arizona team up on wine highlighting Tucson history

A pioneering southern Arizona winery uncorked a new wine earlier this month in collaboration with the University of Arizona, celebrating the university's contributions to the wine industry and Tucson's rich history.

Callaghan Vineyards launched its Arizona La Osa 2019 on Nov. 2, an ode to the family's winemaking history and to the University of Arizona's critical role in developing Arizona's wine industry.

"It's a way to also publicize the fact that there is a vibrant Arizona wine industry, "said Kent Callaghan, who owns the winery. "It's our wine, but it's also representative of the whole industry, and ... it's a great way to advertise the industry as a whole."

The family-run winery, owned by Lisa and Kent Callaghan, was established in 1990 by Kent and his parents and has since received numerous accolades. Its wines have also been served at the White House on four occasions.

The Arizona La Osa is a 2019 Grenache aged 18 months in neutral 500-liter puncheons and bottled unfiltered. The red wine was recently given a score of 92/100 by the Purely Domestic Wine Report and won a Silver Medal in the San Francisco Chronicle Competition.

The wine's name honors Lisa's great-grandfather, J.C. Kinney. Kinney was a major cattle rancher and the primary owner of the La Osa Livestock Company. He was also a founding member of the first annual Fiesta De Los Vaqueros.

"It's a classic Western story. He became a cattle rancher. He started a bank. He ran for governor," Lisa said.

University of Arizona collaborates with the Callaghans Lisa Callaghan first heard about the opportunity to collaborate with the university from her good friend who worked for the school's marketing department. She told Lisa about the university's licensing arm, which includes an option for local businesses called Old Main Mercado . To become a member, licensees must be local businesses in Southern Arizona that create niche, shelf-stable products that connect people with the University of Arizona.

With Lisa and Kent's connection to the university — Lisa has four generations of Wildcats in her family and Kent has two — and as Tucson natives, they were the perfect candidates to become members.

While members develop their products, the university offers assistance with design work and marketing materials. Collective members pay a $500 fee in the first year of the contract and 20% of gross sales of the products in the following years. Other products licensed through the university's Old Main Mercado licensing arm include a hot sauce by Si Charro, the parent company of El Charro Cafe, and a range of other restaurants, a Pueblo Vida beer, a line of candles by CICADA launching in the Spring of 2025, and more.

The Callaghans worked with a graphic designer from the university's team to design their label, an illustrated timeline outlining Kinney's accomplishments and the history of Arizona winemaking. The label includes lassoing cowboys, a vintage cartoon of the university's wildcat mascot in cowboy boots and spurs, and university branding.

The two cowboy drawings on the label have historical meaning for the Callaghans. They were originally designed on envelopes sent to Kinney by Native American artist Hart Merriam Schultz, who called himself Lone Wolf.

Callaghan Vineyards has 180 cases of wine available. The Arizona La Osa can be purchased in Phoenix, Tucson, and Callaghan Vineyards. In Phoenix, the wine can be found at GenuWine. In Tucson, it can be found at the Feast Restaurant, Parish Restaurant, Tap and Bottle, Westbound, Time Market, the Arizona Wine Collective, and Plaza Liquors.

Arizona La Osa celebrates Arizona's winemaking history Arizona's wine industry, although smaller than the well-known wine regions like California and France, has made a good name for itself.

Wine was first cultivated in Arizona when the Spaniards arrived and established missions and vineyards.

"If you're going to have a Catholic church, you have to have wines," said Shane Burgess, the vice president of UA's Division of Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension.

During the Prohibition era in the 1900s, commercial wine production ceased and was replaced with speakeasies, illegal stills and bootleggers, according to the Journal of Arizona History . It wasn't until the 1970s that the wine industry started again, thanks to Gordon Dutt , whose name is included on the label of the Arizona La Osa.

As a soil expert at the University of Arizona, Dutt studied the impacts of water quality on soil and crops. Grapes were a good crop to study because they needed relatively little water.

"In terms of amount of money per drop of water, wine is the most efficient crop we grow in Arizona," Burgess said.

After leaving the university, Dutt opened the state's first commercial vineyard, Sonoita Vineyards, which is still open and run by his granddaughter.

"He thought Sonoita was the best wine-growing area in the state," Burgess said.

Where to taste the best wines in the state Arizona has more than 120 wineries dotting the state's landscapes. The state's three designated grape-growing regions, or American Viticultural Areas, include Sonoita-Elgin and Willcox in southern Arizona and the Verde Valley in northern Arizona.

Winemaking areas in southern Arizona , like Sonoita-Elgin and Willcox, are located at a higher altitude. The area's heavy rains, paired with cooler nights and warmer days, make for great winemaking.

The Verde Valley American Viticultural Ara is in Yavapai County. Famous wineries can be found along the Verde Valley Wine Trail, which invites wine enthusiasts to savor the distinct flavors of northern Arizona wine.

Other vineyards and wineries exist throughout the state at the bases of mountains and in valleys, including Chino Valley, Young, Kingman, Williams and Portal, according to the Arizona Wine Growers Association.