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Where Desert Meets Vine: Exploring Southern Utah’s Wineries

Where Desert Meets Vine: Exploring Southern Utah’s Wineries

Discover six wineries that are defining the Utah Wine Trail on the outskirts of Zion National Park.

Written By Melissa Fields

Zion Vineyards, Leeds | Zion Adventure Photog

Words like “hiking,” “biking,” “motorized,” and “ski,” are de rigueur when describing the myriad trails that crisscross Utah’s incomparable mountain and desert landscapes. But in the state’s far southwestern corner, one more descriptor applies: wine.

There, in a seemingly unlikely locale for vineyards, are six wineries that make up the Utah Wine Trail. Located within an hour’s drive of St. George — as well as The Mighty Five^® and multiple state parks — all six wineries offer a selection of surprisingly sophisticated varietals. Best yet, all are boutique wineries, producing less than 2,000 cases of wine per year. More often than not, the person pouring your taste of a locally grown Tempranillo or Sauvignon Blanc is the winery owner, a member of the winery owner’s family or the winemaker him- or herself.

"For visitors, the Utah Wine Trail provides an unexpected and worthwhile addition to Southern Utah’s ever-growing list of things to do."

The oldest of the Utah Wine Trail wineries, I/G Winery, opened in 2012. But Utah’s winemaking tradition began much earlier. Pioneer horticulturists transplanted the first wine grape vines in Southern Utah around 1850. Hearing about how well the vines fared, then president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Brigham Young, sent members of his flock to the area to launch a wine mission. Southern Utah’s viticulture grew, becoming an important commodity for residents who traded wine with farmers from the northern half of the state for produce not easily grown in the desert, like potatoes and wheat. Around the turn of the century however, Mormons became more involved in the temperance movement. Church guidelines that had previously been focused on moderate alcohol consumption swayed toward teetotaling, eventually leading to abandonment of the LDS Church’s winemaking project.

But as Micheal Jackson, owner of Zion Vineyards in Leeds, attests “Southern Utah is at the 37th parallel, the same latitude as Spain, Italy and Greece,” all areas well-known for producing fantastic wine. Like those more famous European winemaking regions, Southwest Utah’s volcanic soils and sizable diurnal shift, or daily temperature swings (often as much as 30 degrees), coalesce to create a surprisingly apt environment for wine making grapes to grow. And for visitors, the Utah Wine Trail provides an unexpected and worthwhile addition to Southern Utah’s ever-growing list of things to do.

Southwestern Utah is steeped in agricultural history, but wine making didn't truly take root until around 2012.

Photo: Zion Adventure Photog

It may be surprising, but pockets of Southern Utah lend themselves very well to great viticulture, thanks to altitude, climate and geology unique to the area.

Photo: Zion Adventure Photog

Some of I/G’s more notable varietals include its Barrel Aged Seduction, a California grape red blend that tastes like Christmas in a bottle.

Photo: I/G Winery

I/G Winery

59 W. Center St, Cedar City

While working in human resources in Las Vegas’s casino industry, Doug McCombs was exposed to fine food and, in turn, fine wine. He became so interested, in fact, that he began traveling the path to become a sommelier.

“But I found that I was more interested in wine production,” McCombs says.

So, he shifted his attention to learning winemaking from experts in both Washington State and Sonoma County, California. When he started to look around for somewhere to open his own winery, he quickly zeroed in on Southern Utah and more specifically Cedar City. I/G Winery opened in 2012 and since then has been making, blending and vinting wines from grapes grown in Washington, Oregon, California and Utah. The winery’s stylish tasting room, replete with velvet-covered sofas and locally made art, is an anchor business in Cedar City’s charming downtown area.

Some of I/G’s more notable varietals include its Barrel Aged Seduction, a California grape red blend that tastes like Christmas in a bottle. Others include Exhilerate, a refreshing and light Sauvignon Blanc and 9 Barrels Red blend, a flavorful but not overt Merlot made from grapes grown just northwest of St. George on Pine Valley Mountain. I/G makes 20 wines in all, available to taste at the winery in Red, White, Mix & Match or Reserve flights; by the glass (I/G Winery has a bar license); or by the bottle.

Side trip: Architectural Digest aptly described Cedar City’s gracefully impressive Southern Utah Museum of Art (affectionately known as SUMA) as the “best designed art museum in Utah.” Inside are thousands of high-quality art pieces, including a significant body of work by Jimmie F. Jones, a distinguished landscape painter whose estate laid the foundation for the museum's creation. SUMA is open year-round. Admission is free.

"More often than not, the person pouring your taste of a locally grown Tempranillo or Sauvignon Blanc is the winery owner, a member of the winery owner’s family or the winemaker him- or herself."

Cool nights and hot days in the Dammeron Valley prevent grapes from becoming too sugary or too acidic.

Photo: Zion Adventure Photog

Bold & Delaney

1315 N. Horsemans Park Drive, Dammeron Valley

Winery co-owners Mark Bold and John Delaney were brought together by The Painted Pony, a St. George dining and wine destination where Bold was a frequent diner and Delaney was the sommelier (Read: Where to Eat and Drink in St. George). The two struck up a friendship and then decided to go into the winemaking business. Delaney now is the winemaker at the charming Bold & Delaney Winery, made up of 20 acres tucked into the gorgeous Dammeron Valley, just north of St. George along State Road 18. Standouts among the 14 grape varietals grown there include Sauvignon Blanc, which they pick early to make the flavor “light, bright and crisp,” Delaney says; Malvasia Bianca, first introduced to the Desert Southwest by Maynard James Keenan, winemaker and lead singer of the band, Tool; and Pinot Noir, a thin-skinned, finicky grape that many other of the region’s wineries do not grow, but that “does very well for us” Delaney assures.

When you go, sit either inside the intimate tasting room, or outside under the pergola among the vines where you can choose from 15 different wines to taste, all of which are unfiltered.

“As soon as you filter a wine,” Delaney says, “you immediately take away some of its character.”

Side trip: Along State Road 18, running between St. George and Dammeron Valley, is the Cinder Cone Trail, a short (1.9 miles round trip) hike to the top of an ancient and now dormant volcano, offering views into the nearby Snow Canyon State Park and a more up-close glimpse of the volcanic soils that make the area so apt for growing wine grapes.

Thanks to the geology of the Dammeron Valley, especially the volcanic remains in the soil, Bold and Delaney's vineyards can boast a much sought after minerality in their wines.

Photo: Zion Adventure Photog

The Vine Yard

1282 N. Shadow Lane, Leeds

I arrive at an unmarked home surrounded by rows of tidy grape vines. The grapes make me assume I am in the right place, but just in case, I double check the address before knocking on the front door. When it opens, I’m greeted by a smiling Roberto Alvarez, owner of The Vine Yard. “Come in, come in,” he says and leads me to his dining room where two women are seated. “You’re in for such a good time!” they exclaim before purchasing a bottle and saying their goodbyes.

I take a seat at the table as Alvarez brings me a beautiful plate of cured meats, cheeses, figs and blueberries. We chat as he pours me my first taste, a deliciously fruity yet dry Garnacha. I learn that in 2009, following a career in real estate development, Alvarez purchased the land his vineyard now occupies just north of St. George in Leeds.

“The elevation here is 3,600 feet and the weather patterns are very comparable to Spain,” he says. “In other words, a great location to make excellent wine.”

Others of the 10 grape varietals Alvarez grows at his winery include Cariñena, Petite Syrah, Tempranillo, Syrah, Zinfandel, Albariño, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon Blanc and Viognier. Alvarez is also the winemaker at The Vine Yard and has earned multiple local and national recognitions for his wines, including a red blend cheekily titled, G.O.A.T. But when I ask him to name his favorite, he replies “It’s like asking me ‘which is your favorite child?’”

Side trip: Take a walk through a bona fide ghost town with a visit to the Silver Reef Museum & Ghost Town. Exhibits inside the museum, housed in the circa 1877 Wells Fargo Express Stop Building, include a replica of a silver mine (open on Saturdays only). Outside visitors can stroll trails that pass by the original town’s building remnants, the re-built Silver Reef Jail and site of the Elk Horn Saloon. (See also: Ghost Towns in Utah)

Alvarez began his winemaking venture in Leeds in 2011, and with each year's success building upon the previous year's, he is now producing 15 different wines from 10 varietals grown on site.

Photo: Zion Adventure Photog

Zion Vineyards

5 Hidden Valley Rd, Leeds

Wine was a hobby for Michael Jackson, owner of Zion Vineyards, until nine years ago when he purchased a plot of land just outside of St. George in Leeds.

“It turns out grapes were grown on this very spot in the 1880s,” says Jackson as he looks out over his 4.5 acres of vines.

We’re sitting within the property’s tidy, white clapboard tasting room while I sample several of Zion Vinyards’ current offerings, whites that include a lovely Grenache Blanc, a refreshing Albarino, a sweet Moscato and a delicious selection of reds including Tempranillo, Petite Syrah and Zinfandel.

“All our white wines are aged in stainless steel tanks, and all the reds in oak barrels,” Jackson says.

Since producing its first wines in 2015, Zion Vineyards has received multiple awards from both Colorado and Utah state wine competitions. Zion Vineyards’ existing tasting room will be dedicated to production when construction of a larger building — customizable for both small, intimate tastings and larger parties and wedding — is completed sometime in 2025.

Side trip: On the west side of Interstate 15 near Leeds at the Red Cliffs Campground is the start of the Red Reef Trail, a short (1.1 miles round trip) and easy hike to a waterfall with a swimming hole. Those with something more strenuous in mind can hike the trail’s entire length or another 2.5 miles past the first waterfall.

Their tasting room completed in 2023 invites guests to experience the miraculous breadth of varietals and complex taste of their wines derived from the arid soils of Southern Utah.

Photo: Zion Adventure Photog

Water Canyon Winery

W. Field Ave, Hildale

In 2018, Shane and Kalie Tooke traded the relative hustle and bustle of St. George for the off-the-grid appeal of Hildale, a nearby community their daughter, Emma, touts for its “Zion-like views without the crowds.”

Soon after relocating, the Tookes purchased an existing private vineyard, studied winemaking for a couple of years and then in 2022 opened it as Water Canyon Winery. There, framed by views of the surrounding red rock cliffs and the actual Water Canyon, visitors can partake in an experience they can’t get anywhere else: sipping Water Canyon’s all-natural wines.

“There are no additives in our wines, whatsoever,” Emma says, “which means that once you open one of our bottles, it needs to be consumed within 24 hours.”

Varietals grown at Tooke family’s winery include Sangiovese, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Barbera. The winery’s lovely grounds include a large pavilion, two indoor spaces—one large and the other small—for private events, and the Winery Café. Opened in 2024 by another Tooke, Emma’s twin brother, Indy, the cafe is open daily for lunch and dinner. Water Canyon Winery also hosts festive public events year-round like Chef’s Table Dinners, an annual September Harvest Festival, Paint & Wine Nights, Mother’s Day Brunch, and Father’s Day BBQ. Watch for a second Water Canyon Winery tasting room opening in Springdale in late 2024.

Side trip: Along the 42-mile drive to Hildale from St. George, just west of Hurricane, you’ll find the renowned Jem Trail and Gooseberry Mesa National Recreation Trail. Water Canyon Winery’s namesake land feature is located just outside of downtown Hildale, offering about a mile long hike to a spectacular section of the canyon with hanging greenery and a small waterfall.

Water Canyon Winery's stunning facility is surrounded by red stone cliffs and has lodging and space for private events.

Photo: Zion Adventure Photog

Southwest Utah Vineyards & Wineries

About the Author – Melissa Fields

Melissa Fields is a Utah-based freelance writer and editor covering outdoor recreation, travel, fitness, nightlife and interior design for Salt Lake Magazine, Utah Style & Design, Park City Magazine, Visit Utah and others. When not at her laptop, Melissa can be found hiking the Central Wasatch, pedaling (dirt or pavement), skiing (all genres), rock climbing or attempting to get better at playing the guitar.