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Sonoran Wines won the prestigious “Double Gold� and “Best in Class� titles at the for its 2018 Real de Terrenate red blend.

It beat out some with a score of 97, with judges commenting on the vintage's "impeccable quality, complexity and expression of the Sonoran Desert terroir," according to a news release from Sonoran Wines.

"I think it really underscores that we should continue doing what we are doing," said Demion Clinco, who owns Sonoran Wines with partners Lisa Wagenheim and Michael Fassett. "We are very proud to be representing ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ wine industry."

Sonoran Wines was among the thousands of Sunset International winners, most of them hailing from Sonoma and Napa Valley in California. 

The May honors came after Sonoran Wines, located on 15 remote acres — 10 under vine — along the banks of Turkey Creek at the base of the Chiricahua Mountains, snagged the gold for its 2018 Real de Terrenate in the 2023 azcentral ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wine Competition. It also earned four other statewide awards in March, including silver for its 2020 Mourvedre and 2016 Petite Sirah.

Clinco and his partners, who are based in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, launched Sonoran Wines from an established ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ County vineyard that they acquired in 2019. The winery releases four or five vintages a year in limited batches of 75 to 150 cases that it sells through its website , and at a handful of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ retailers, including ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Hop Shop, RumRunner and ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Wine Collective.

Sonoran Wines also are served at a number of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ venues and restaurants; a list is posted on the winery's .

“We’re really very proud of the quality of wine that we are making," said Clinco, a ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ native who works in his family's health care business and runs the ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Historic Preservation Foundation.

Clinco said part of Sonoran Wines' mission is to shine a spotlight on Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥'s rich agricultural tradition, including its winemaking that dates back to the 1687 arrival of Father Kino. Kino was the first to introduce grape vines to the region, planting vineyards in the gardens of the legendary missions he established in the Sonoran Desert.

Clinco said he and his partners — Wagenheim is an attorney, and Fassett is a doctor who splits his time between ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and California — see Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ becoming a dominant player in the country's wine industry.

"There's been amazing pioneers doing it for 30-plus years, but it's really coming into its own and we're really excited to be part of that next chapter," he said, predicting that the state's wine industry is on track to become even more robust in the next decade or two. 

Several Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ wineries took awards in the statewide competition, including Callaghan Vineyards, which won the prestigious Governors Cup and Growers Cup awards for its 2021 Mourvedre.

Others included Deep Sky Vineyard, Dos Cabezas WineWorks, Bodega Pierce, Deep Sky Vineyard, Pillsbury Wine Company, Rune Wines, Vino Stache Winery, Soaring Wines, Strive Vineyards, 1764 Vineyards, Birds and Barrels Vineyards, Carlson Creek Vineyards, Four Tails Vineyard, Laramita Cellars, Omphalos Winery, Passion Cellars, Saeculum Cellars, James Callahan's Brigand Wines, Los Milics Vineyards and Twisted Union Wine Co.