United States of Wine

Merkin Vineyards – Chupacabra – 2023 – Willcox, AZ

Price: $26 – http://www.caduceus.org

The word chupacabra will either make you roll your eyes or straighten your spine. The mythical blood-sucking creature is a prominent figure in Latin American stories, and as a shape shifter in Native American legends. That’s where this red wine blend got its name, a wine that tastes different with every vintage, as the amount of the different grapes changes year to year.

But as Merkin Vineyards says, their Chupacabra is always primarily grenache, syrah and monastrell, grown in the Bulk Memorial Vineyard, east of Tucson, 4,300 feet above elevation.

As soon as I pulled out the cork, I was met with a fragrant fruity scent from the bottle. The wine became more floral the longer it was opened, and at one point, became like a bouquet of wild flowers that had been sitting in the sun, like at a farmers’ market.

This red blend poured very light, almost thin, as if it was been slightly watered down before bottling, and the rusted red color reminded me of dried blood.

First sip: Tannins for the first second or two. Slight tart, this wine was full of flavor. It starts quiet but gets loud with flavor on your palette. And it just stays flavorful throughout the sip. The wine is pleasantly soft and easy to drink.

But it’s apparent that the wine feels thin. The thicker texture of a regular red wine seems to be missing. The again, with how full of flavor this wine has, a less diluted wine could have been overpowering. Despite the thinness, it feels like this wine is exactly what it’s supposed to be.

Though the tannins are present throughout most of the bottle, you can taste the hints of spices, and pronounced leather. The flavor made me think of elegant houses on large beautiful ranches. Yellowstone, anyone?

Merkin’s Chupacabra is a light wine with bold favors, and I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I would recommend this Arizona wine and would drink it again. A variable remains that the flavor changes every year, especially due to the state’s weather. The vineyard had infrequent monsoon rain and a late harvest in 2023, but as we’ve seen with this year’s weather, the 2025 grapes could face a uphill battle.

Special shout out to Christine Pulliam for bringing this wine back from her travels through the Southwest!

Score: 8/10