Maynard James Keenan is expanding his wine-making business in a big way. The TOOL, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer frontman has announced the grand opening of Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria, and Caduceus Cellars Hilltop Facility and VSC Ventura Room, a major expansion of his Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards companies.
The new, seven-acre facility in Cottonwood, Arizona, features a new winery and cellar, tasting room, restaurant, gelateria and food production greenhouse. Guests have access to all the functions of a standard winery, with the addition of private tastings, on-site gelato, and Keenan's 6,600-square foot restaurant, the Trattoria — serving salads, pastas, wood-fired pizzas and more.
"In the many years I've been working towards this moment," Keenan said in a press release. "One of the things I discovered when it comes to bridging the hurdle of exposing people to Arizona wine is context.
"So by putting a place like this in the middle of Cottonwood with five acres of vines, to winery facilities with a full greenhouse, and a full kitchen, all the context becomes visible, and you kind of break down the barriers of whatever preconceptions you have of Arizona wine."
Check out drone footage of the stunning facility above via YouTube, and get more info about the enterprise — which opens to the public on October 6th — at caduceus.org and www.merkinvineyards.org
