Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards Tasting Room — Restaurant in Jerome

Amazing Wine, Coffee (morning only), and Tasting Room.

I have been drinking wine for about a decade, though I don't have much actual knowledge about it, the two flights I tried are the best I have ever had. Though I can't say for sure whether it could be partly because I drove about 26 hours across the US, had the car break down in the desert, and drove without A/C with fear of something overheating again...

Regardless, my brother owned a coffee/wine place for years and always fed me the best that he had come across from various tastings etc., having also gone to Italian vineyards. So, I would hope I have some kind of idea of what good wine is.

The two tastings were 4 kinds from Caduceus Cellars and 4 more from Merkin Vineyards.

2012 Dos Ladrones, ???? Shinola Rose (Instead of Lei Li Nebbiolo Rose), 2011 Kitsune, 2012 Nagual del Marzo, 2012 Anna Goat, 2012 Chupacabra Blanca, 2012 Shinola Bianca, and 2012 Shinola.

I am writing this days after the fact, so I can't recall all of the unique variety to all of the flavors, but I do know my favorites. Everything was very good. They all seemed like they had more elaborate flavors (nose, finish, etc...) than other wines I have had, especially the whites. I normally don't even like white wine because it is often too bland and/or sweet for me. I prefer the more intricate flavors that reds generally have. I believe they only served the whites chilled, and again it could be the desert car ride swaying my judgement, but they were delicious. None too sweet or too close to resembling just white grape juice as some whites I have had in the past. The Shinola Bianca was my favorite white, but my wife preferred the Dos Ladrones.

There were only 3 reds. Nagual, Shinola, and Kitsune. The Nagual was a bit too dry for me, though it still had very good flavor. Shinola was very good, but as soon as I had a sip of Kitsune, I wanted to buy 10 bottles. Sadly that one is $50 per bottle, so I only bought one along with a bottle of Shinola and Dos Ladrones.

I was a bit surprised that the gentleman working did not describe the wines as he was pouring them, but he seemed happy to answer any questions I had. He made us feel welcome, was easy to talk to, and he joked around a bit. There are plenty of souvenirs: shirts, hats, cups, etc. All a bit expensive, in my opinion. $75 for a hoodie, $10 for a small stemless wine glass with their logo, for example. I bought a couple of the bottle openers though, as they are pretty slick.

I will have to see what I think later on once I can't resist temptation anymore and I open one of the bottles I brought home with me. All in all, even with a bit of a higher price - finding a new favorite wine and being in a unique little town on the side of a mountain...

I'm not sure where this should be posted, or if it SHOULD be posted. But here goes. I notice that there are basically two (2) types of people in the world of education and in the health field specifically. There is one who is academically much smarter than me. They can read a book, absorb the information and recite it backwards and forwards. Yet, there may not be an attempt to draw an accurate, practical conclusion outside the intellectual sphere that was projected through books. They take knowledge at face value. They may be smart, but they don’t know how to use their knowledge to REASON. And reasoning requires answering the question WHY. Then there’s the second type of person who learns and looks around the world to see how the things written about in books fall true within the laws of nature. This type may be called radical, a non-conformist, a little crazy. But they can draw practical conclusions because they can put knowledge to the test through experimentation, application, and reasoning. Not to toot my own horn, but as an example, though I was deficient in the academic world, I loved discovering things after reading about things in books. In 9th grade, we were to do a Career Notebook for history class. I discovered the amazing way fruit juice can turn into wine by a bacteria working. So, I took Ocean Spray Cocktail Juiice and let it open to the air. Soon, it began to ferment. But I’m not the type of person who could just study it in a book. I had to discover it by questioning the physical realm around me which moved me to experimenting and applying what I learned. By 10th grade, I had a 30 gallon wine barrel in our basement making wine. I was 15. My parents just shook their heads. I was never any good at being the first type of person. And I was certainly never good at it at the rate of grind that is put upon students in the world of academia. I'm a slower learner. One herbalist says it’s because I’m a Spleen type according to the 5-Phase Theory and said I’m a slower learner, but once I learn it, I never forget it. Perhaps that’s true. There is much value in developing characteristics of both types of people. After all, we need some book-learning along with the ability to be an individual thinker whereby we ask ourselves “Why”. Taking our academic aspects of our education, we need to be able to look around and make practical application of that knowledge to the physical world around us. This will allow us to develop our intuitions in our health field career which is so greatly needed in order to become a...

Is it possible to leave more than 5 stars, because this place is Awesome! I flew out to Vegas on a trip to pick up a vehicle in Lake Havasu City, the headed up to 40 to take a pit stop in Jerome. So I went down to Prescott Valley then started up the hills about ten miles outside of Jerome. Man, talk about some of the most beautiful country side of this nation I had ever seen. Along the way I got to see the Hoover Dam and the Grand Canyon and parts of Sonoma with the red rock hills. Then as I am driving through all of the curves going up into Jerome, over 400 curves it seems, I am all of a sudden in Jerome and what a fancy little town it is. Not to mention the view. No wonder Maynard lives here and picked this spot. What a brilliant mind and great taste in life and creation he has. I found a parking place and walked down the street until I saw the hanging sign to the Caduceus Cellars and then walked into the little shop. Needless to say I am a huge fan and had watched all the videos about this place and had also just listened to the Fear Inoculum Album on the way up. I was amazed by the craftmanship of the winery and had hoped to meet Maynard, although I didn't get to, I did get to meet Brian and me and him had a great conversation for hours. I bought one box with a Judith and some older aged Red Wines. Then I bought 6 more newer wines that I plan to age myself. I had always heard that Maynard used the cellar as his recording studio, but I wasn't sure if any of the wine I purchased had been "Blessed" by his music while aging. I did a taste of a flight and continued to talk with Brian for hours. Interesting guy has known Maynard for about 20 years and used to make picture frames (as Maynard did too) Brian told me that Maynard had asked him to frame some televisions in that shop for him (which you can see inside. Now Brian works there serving and selling the wine and accessories that they have on display there in the shop. Brian says that he lives there but is never there. I can imagine he wouldn't want to be barraged by his fans all day where he lived, but it would have been nice to just have a small conversation with him to let him know how enjoyable his art is in both creation of this wine and music. On the way back home to Joplin, MO the next day me I got back just in time for the birth of our Daughter Eve born 9/22/19. What a great trip and I'll never forget Brian or Caduceus Cellars and thank you for a great time and great...