For
Sale: Wine Property;
14+ acres of Sartorial Splendor
McCain’s neighbor, Winemaker Jon Marcus,
selling Page Springs, AZ home, acreage
For Jon Marcus and his
Echo Canyon Vineyards and Winery, it’s been quite a
year or two. For more than a decade, Marcus has
planted the grapes, developed a few wineries, sold
the wine, and spawned a local industry, quietly,
from a spectacular spread above Oak Creek.
Echo Canyon had no
on-site sales or wine tastings. No tourists, hardly
any visitors. It was just Marcus, and a few workers,
working the 14-plus acres of vines surrounded by
spectacular rock walls and volcanic scenery.
Then, the world
discovered Marcus’ secret.
Echo Canyon Vineyards
and Winery is located a short distance downstream
from the McCain Ranch. That’s the presidential
candidate John McCain Ranch - the fantastic spread,
outside Sedona, Arizona, where McCain entertained
political bigwigs , fundraisers, and the rich and
famous. The creekside property was featured on
national newscasts and pundit shows, nearly every
day, for almost a year.
Goodbye quiet, hello
world.
Besides a natural spike
in interest from nearly everyone in the country
about the area, Marcus’ property saw a touch of
increased traffic from some head muckety mucks, as
well.
It turns out, the McCain
posse likes Marcus’ wine. Marcus and the McCain clan
have shared many a vintage from Echo Canyon.
"John likes the Merlot;
Cindy prefers the Chardonnay," said Marcus.
So, when the McCain
Ranch became the de facto home of the McCain for
President campaign, the winery’s 6,000-foot barn was
a natural host for a number of out-of-the-way
gatherings and hobnobbings.
“One day, I’d be pouring
wine with someone; the next night, they’d be on the
6 o’clock news,” said Marcus.
Due to all the added
exposure, the winery “got calls from just about
everywhere, from Europe to New York to Napa Valley,”
said Marcus. “People either wanted to buy our wine,
our winery, or the land. The calls keep coming.”
Add to that, over the
past decade, Marcus has developed a number of other
properties, including Crop Circle Vineyard and
Winery, a huge farm, in Wilcox, Arizona. So, Marcus
has decided that it is time to sell the Page Springs
property.
“Somebody will end up
with the Nirvana of wine properties,” said Marcus.
The property has
outlived its usefulness for Echo Canyon Winery, said
Marcus.
“We were only holding on
to it, so that we might say we were next-door
neighbors to the president,” he smiled. “Our Wilcox
property produces more grapes than we know what to
do with. And, the property values, in Page Springs,
have grown beyond our farming model,” said Marcus.
“We love this property,”
said Marcus. “But … our loss may be somebody else’s
gain.”
For
information about the property, contact Joel
Kaplan, Echo Canyon Winery’s Director of Real Estate
Operations, at (928) 821-3774, or by Email:
joel@echocanyonwinery.com
