How My Arizona Wine Journey Began

During the pandemic, I decided to make some changes to help protect my immune system. The first thing I did was transition to an all-organic diet. I also eliminated sugar, energy drinks, wine, and I started taking my vitamins regularly. Within about seven days, I noticed improvements. I felt better, had more energy, and I slowly became addicted to my new routine. Changing my diet didn’t bother me at all — in fact, I thought the organic food tasted better, so I started having more fun in the kitchen.

But something was missing. Wine.

I had been doing so well sticking to my new routine, but eventually the craving caught up with me. On our next grocery store trip, I spotted an organic Pinot Gris and decided it was time to indulge again. When we got home, my husband grabbed a bottle of Arizona red from the rack. We made dinner and poured our glasses.

The Moment Everything Changed

I gave my wine the usual swirl, then followed it with a sniff. I froze. This wasn’t wine like I remembered wine. I repeated the swirl and sniff several times before I found the courage to take my first sip. I have a picky palate, and I was afraid of hating it.

I was right. It was awful.

I didn’t like anything about what I was tasting. It didn’t complement my meal, and I was left with this strange emptiness — like being teased with something you want but can’t quite have. Meanwhile, I glanced over at my husband. He looked like he had just died and gone to heaven. He was leaning back in his chair, completely relaxed, like every sniff of that glass was giving him a massage. I’ll admit, I was jealous. I wanted to feel the way he looked when I smelled my wine too.

So I asked if I could smell his. I swirled the glass, closed my eyes, and took a long, slow sniff. In that moment, I was transported. I was suddenly standing inside a quaint little tasting room we had visited together. I couldn’t remember exactly where it was, but I could see everything clearly — the vintage frames hanging on blue walls, the antique furniture, the little trinkets I had so much fun digging through.

Then I opened my eyes. It was gone. I handed the glass back. It wasn’t mine to sniff.

What followed was a strange feeling of devastation. I didn’t want to go back to smelling my own wine after that. My mind began drifting, wondering how I could capture the scent of that wine and turn it into a candle. My husband laughed when I said that. What he didn’t realize was that we weren’t sharing the same experience.

He was in heaven. I was in hell. And both places existed in the same living room.

Trying to Capture Wine in a Candle

The curiosity began eating at me over the next few days. I kept thinking about the idea of putting wine into a candle. Eventually, I found some wine fragrance oils from one of my suppliers and ordered samples to test.

They all failed. They weren’t bad… but they weren’t what I had smelled in his glass. That was disappointing.

That’s when I realized something important. If I really wanted this scent, I was going to have to figure it out on my own. So, I had one of those sit-down talks with myself — what I like to call an “employee meeting.” I was getting a lecture about my ridiculous ideas from my own self.

“Okay… am I crazy? Why do I want this so badly?”

The answer was simple. Wine was the one thing my life was missing.

Not the buzz.

Not the alcohol.

But the experience.

The smell. The taste. The feeling.

There are good wines and bad wines — and I’m not just talking about flavor. Some wines make you feel energized, joyful, and connected to others. Others feel heavy, uncomfortable, or isolating. These are the things I pay attention to when I taste wine. Wine isn’t just about taste — it’s about how it makes you feel.

It used to take me about two glasses to understand the spirit of a wine, but now I can sense it within the first three sips. I suppose that comes with practice.

There are Arizona wines you could blind taste me on and I could probably tell you exactly where they came from in the state. But give me a wine from Washington or Michigan, and I’d have no clue what I was drinking.

Falling Down the Rabbit Hole of Wine

At that point, I started researching how to make fragrance oil from wine. I called my mom, who gave me just enough advice to point me in the right direction.

But there was a problem.

I needed the fermented grapes.

So I started studying wine grapes and their fragrance notes. I learned that Arizona has three distinct wine regions, and that each region produces grapes with unique characteristics shaped by terroir. Until that moment, I had no idea how diverse Arizona wine country really was, or how many unique wineries and vineyards were quietly growing across the state. This was a whole new language to me. I had a lot to learn.

After running the numbers, I realized it would cost roughly $5,000 just to experiment with what I was trying to create — with absolutely no guarantee of success. From a business perspective, it was a terrible idea. But the curiosity wouldn’t leave me alone. I built charts of grape varietals, breaking them down into tiers of fragrance notes — base notes, mid notes, and top notes.

But no matter how many words I collected on paper, something was missing. I didn’t have the DNA of the wine — the development of the grape, the nurturing of the vineyard, and the artistry of the winemaker.

If I truly wanted to create an authentic wine candle, I needed to understand these grapes on a deeper level — how they smell, taste, and evolve throughout their entire lifecycle. But it’s not just about the grapes. It’s also about the people who interact with them. The energy of the vineyard. The hands that harvest the fruit. The winemakers who guide the transformation.

I know that might sound a little strange, but there’s scientific evidence behind it — something I’ll explore in a future blog. At this point, the candle idea wasn’t about customers or sales. It was personal. I wanted it for myself, and I didn’t care if anyone else liked it.

The Moment I Realized I Wasn't Crazy

Then one night I stumbled across a documentary called “Blood Into Wine.” Of course, I watched it immediately. That’s when I learned that Maynard James Keenan — from Tool, A Perfect Circle, and Puscifer — was growing grapes in Arizona. During the documentary, there was one moment that stopped me in my tracks. I had to rewind it. Eric Glomski of Page Springs Cellars said:

"The moment I took a sip of that wine, it took me straight back to that apple orchard."

I sat there stunned. Wait. Did he really just say that? Because that was exactly what I had been trying to explain to people. Wine can transport you. In that moment I felt something powerful. Relief. Maybe I wasn’t crazy after all. Watching him say that — with this calm confidence — felt like a quiet message.

It won’t be easy. But it’s not impossible.

That moment pushed me forward with my “crazy candle idea.”

Planning Our First Arizona Wine Tour

Soon after, I began building a wine tour itinerary based on specific grape varietals I wanted to experience.

The trip would last three days and include six locations — no more than two per day. Since wine was involved, food was essential. And because I’m naturally adventurous, I also added historical tours and activities along the way.

I like to call it a sensory experience. For me, it only takes one 6-ounce glass of wine to reach the sweet spot — not quite buzzed, but somewhere between sober and relaxed. Within about 10–20 minutes, your brain chemistry shifts slightly — GABA increases, glutamate decreases, and dopamine rises. In simple terms: relaxation, mood elevation, and reduced tension.

That’s when the magic of wine reveals itself. With tasting rooms, restaurants, and activities planned, we were finally ready to embark on our first Arizona Regional Wine Tour. Our mission was simple:

Find the grape varietals that define each region for my aromatherapy candles.

We documented the entire adventure over twelve months and released it on YouTube.

If you’d like to watch the series, you can find it here: The Art of Candle Making

The Journey Takes an Unexpected Turn

Featured Passport Pick: The Asylum Restaurant - Jerome

But this is where our Arizona wine journey takes an unexpected turn. What you won’t find on YouTube are the behind-the-scenes experiences I chose not to share on my candle business page...

To be continued in the next blog: “The Day Jerome Changed Everything.”