Kief Joshua Vineyards

The wine was less than desirable. The smell was off– putting so unfortunately I had to dump it. My friends much to their disgust, tasted it and then dumped it. We were not impressed with any of the other wines. The service was unorganized and less than friendly. The staff did not even take the time to educate us on their wine.

When someone mentions that Southern Arizona has an official AVA, you may think «How good can that wine possibly be?». The answer is «Pretty dang good». The Sonoita wine trail has a number of great stops, and Kief Joshua is one of the best. They have a tasteful, modern tasting room with a view of the vines and mountains outside. The best part is they’re pet friendly! I’ve stopped here with my dogs many times and they’ve always been welcome.
Several weeks ago I attended the Southeast Arizona Wine Growers Festival at Kief Joshua vineyards. It was a fantastic celebration of the wine culture of Baja Arizona. The weather was beautiful and the scenery was perfect! I enjoyed trying wine from vineyards all around the state. We even picked up a case of wine for $ 75! The attention to detail was fantastic, from the very organized parking situation to the high-​quality printing on the tasting tickets. Overall it was a great weekend. I’ll definitely attend the festival again next year, and I’ll stop by for some tastes in the meantime!

Definitely swing by on your AZ wine tour. The vineyard is really nice and welcoming. The house where the tastings take place looks straight up out of «Arrested Development» in the sense that the McMansion seems out of place in this rustic area. The backyard/​picnic area may have been the best in the area.
While I didn’t think the wines were sensational there were some good ones. I particularly enjoyed the Zinfandel.

the winery itself is absolutely beautiful… great location, stunning views, places to sit outside, lots of add on things to buy (crackers, cheese, salsa, etc.). But the wine is not very good, too acidic and slightly weak (in body) for my taste.

I’ve visited this vineyard before on a girls trip and wasn’t too impressed. This past weekend, I returned for the southern Arizona wine growers festival. The grounds of this vineyard are beautiful, especially in the spring time. I do feel however that for this event in particular, they were a bit unprepared. There was a lack of seating, so unless you brought your own chairs… You kind of just had to wait for someone to get up. They also only had 4 port-​a-​potties and one restroom indoors for well over 250 people. I also did not see any chili but the tickets had mentioned there was a chili cook off in addition to the wine event. Not one of my favorite wineries in Elgin but I understand they are probably one of the larger establishments and are able to host big events such as this one. Hopefully at the next big event, they’ll take some of the feedback into consideration.

I’ve been to several Arizona Wineries but Kief-​Joshua is always one of my favorite stops. The owner is never to busy to chat about wine and the entire family makes our group feel welcome. The wine is great and I usually gravitate to the Reds. A must stop

Enjoyable patio tasting experience. We liked their Sav Blanc and took a couple bottles with us. The highlight however, was Tommy’s Food Truck… the patty melt w/​green chili rockked my tummy!

I’m so sad to put in this rating at a 2. If you would have asked me after my first three or magdalena bottles at a local Sierra Vista restaurant or after my visit to the winery I would rated it a 5 stars across the board. But after buying the magdalena and the cab franc and drinking them at home I have to take it all the way down to a 2 at best. A 1 may be a better fit. The wine is sour and has a meaty taste as though it has been stored incorrectly or was bad when bottled. Or maybe it is because there is less control on the different batches due to the size of the winery. No matter what the cause I feel quite sad because a wine I loved has been ruined by three bad bottles.
I stored it in a dark dry and climate controlled environment with all my other wines so I know it wasn’t something I did wrong at home. My suggestion is to enjoy in a restaurant or at the winery but Never buy it in the bottle to take home. You will be left wanting and with far less money left in your wallet.

KJ Vineyards is my most favorite establishment in all of the Sonoita — Elgin area. Kief, the winemaker, is not only knowledgeable and friendly, but also creates excellent quality wines. The facility is reminiscent of gorgeous wineries I have enjoyed throughout Europe. Always a good time! Highly recommend a trip to Kief Joshua Vineyards for all.

We had gone here once before and returned for our anniversary to Sonoita recently. The server was rude as we were asking him about the wines for which he had no passion about. The chardonnay tasted like the grapes were soaked in chicken noodle soup, another I had to pour out because I couldn’t drink it. The zinfandel was way sweet, to the point of being grape juice. And we felt obligated to buy a bottle since we were picnicking there, which doesn’t come cheap. $ 30 – 35! All the other wineries there are great, the staff are knowledgeable and kind. Callaghan, Flying Leap, and Hops and Vines were our faves.

As with most of the lackluster reviews you can read here, I’m not giving KJ a bad rap because of the people or the winery itself. Everyone was really nice, the winery was very pretty, and the tasting room was… reminiscent of California wineries. Living in the Sierras, though, and having access to Amador, Paso Robles, Napa-Sonoma…I mean, I went in with a completely open mind when my in-​laws suggested we go to an Arizona winery. I really did. But it’s just not there.
We bought the Divino and a bottle of Tempranillo. The Divino, for a table wine, isn’t bad, though it does have the chemically, alcohol nose that other reviewers mentioned. The Tempranillo we bought purely as a novelty because rather than tasting like wine, it tasted like green bell peppers and we thought it would pair well with carnitas.
I kind of got the impression that it was a hobby business owned by a dude whose parents were wealthy and indulged a whim. The wine is only so-​so. That’s just how it is. Arizona soil, temps, humidities just aren’t ideal for growing grapes. As far as a customer service goes — spot on.
So, 2 stars because hey, if you’re in Tucson and you want to go to a winery, do it up. That’s pretty neat. Also, it’s always fun to go to a wine tasting and the staff was polite and enthusiastic. But… two stars because the winemaker needs to refine his fruit and technique entirely.
The wine is exactly mediocre.

Kief Joshua is like a home with a back patio where you can enjoy wine tastings with a view of the pretty vineyards!
although i didn’t think the wine was as enjoyable as Flying Leap, we came in the summer on a Saturday when they had a live band, which was awesome, except for all the flies!
$ 5 for the wine tasting (a discount since we brought our own wine glasses from flying leap)
NOTE: it may be pricey but they sell packaged cheeses, salami, & crackers to enjoy with your wine tasting (they give you a knife & wood board to lay out your items)

Disclaimer: I am a wine tasting novice.
My wine motto: the sweeter, the better. I do not enjoy dry wines.
The website states that their expertise is in «dry, full-​bodied» wine and I would agree. If this is your preferred wine, then definitely consider stopping here. The website doesn’t go into detail about their aging methods but during the tasting Kief kept mentioning that the wines were steel-​aged (rather than oak barrel aged). In my personal opinion, this made the wine taste drier. I understand the reasoning behind the steel; it’s more durable and cost effective.
The proprietors are friendly, the grounds are beautiful and the overall atmosphere is reminiscent of a California vineyard. A tasting is only $ 5 if you bring your own glass!

The wine is VERY sweet and has the aroma of rubbing alcohol, which I am not used to with red wines. In comparison to the surrounding vineyards I wasn’t impressed with the wines here. If you like super sweet wines this is the place for you!

Fabulous spot along the wine path.
The home is beautiful and built by the owners. They have a private room where they host private tastings and dinners.

Beautiful building and you get to the door and there is a pile of bird shit — caution Swallows above. On the left side of the front door was a pile of bat poop. Inside we were assaulted with flies … I would get rid or move the goat and sheep outback. The other winery down the road was not plagued with this.
They had the largest fly trap bottles I have ever seen — a couple gallon size.
There were flies all over the BACK outside as well.
This was a Big Open house weekend. At noon, we were the only ones there.
A roach coach outside offered food but with all the flies and them putting food in a ice chest, we opted to leave … no thanks.

This is one of the best wineries in the region. Wines are very very good. Kief is friendly and often conducts private tastings for small groups. This is one of those must visit places in the Sonoita-​Elgin Wine Country!

Our second and final vineyard stop was at Kief Joshua. We really enjoyed this place even though it was also a bit crowded when we arrived.
Same as before. You get to choose what wines you want to taste and the tasting includes 6 varieties. This time it only cost us $ 5 each as we had our wine glass from the previous vineyard we visited.
Kief Joshua Manning was actually behind the counter pouring. I didn’t realize this until I was waiting to use the bathroom and saw a few magazine articles on the man. He is a young winemaker and seems very passionate about his craft. Also very laid back which seems to be the case with a good deal of winemakers.
We ended up buying a few bottles to take back up north to Scottsdale with us for dinner at my friend’s place the next night. The Zinfandel was especially good and we polished that one pretty quickly. A bit more than we usually spend at $ 32 for a bottle, but it was well worth it.
I imagine we will be back in these parts again within the next year and I’m sure we would come back here.

This is definitely one of (if not my absolute) favorite wineries in Arizona. They have a beautiful estate, yummy wines but what tops it off is the people of Kief-​Joshua; everyone is so friendly & personable, which makes for a really great wine tasting experience. I love that they also sell a large array of snacks. We always seem to end up getting some cheese & salami here and sitting out on their gorgeous back patio with some wine. On Sundays, they also do an omelette bar, which is phenomenal and I would highly recommend checking it out. Whenever we’re wine tasting in Sonoita, stopping at Kief-​Joshua is always at the top of our list!

This winery is the most similar to California wineries in terms of asthetics. There is a large two story building with a big patio area and farm animals out back.
The wine was just ok. There was nothing we wanted to purchase after the tasting. What kept us there was the gentleman at the grill in the back. My husband got a huge baguette sandwich full of spicy shrimp. While we waited for him to finish his «snack», the chef gave me and my friend some rolls to feed their goats. It was a fun time even if the wine was disappointing.