In this occasional series, Pavle Milic (co-owner of FnB, Baratin, Bodega and AZ Wine Merchants in Scottsdale) will spill about his current mission to learn how wine is made -- literally from the Southern Arizona ground up. Today: What's in a name? And some advice from the pros on labeling.

Todd Bostock (winemaker at Dos Cabezas Wine Works) and I have been talking about the name and label of this wine since we started our collaboration. Naming anything that is close to the heart is taxing. I have three healthy, beautiful, precocious children and naming them was not easy. Needless to say, I've been obsessing over this.... What do I name this wine?

See Also:
- Pavle Milic's Quest to Make Wine: A Quixotic Exploit?
- Pavle Prunes the Vines -- and Keeps an Eye out for Rattlesnakes
- Pavle Prepares to Harvest the Grapes and Reveals the Blend
- Pavle Milic Harvests the Grapes for His Still Unnamed Wine

Stay with me because it's going to seem as though I'm detouring from the subject, but I'm not. I don't know what happens when we die.

In this occasional series, Pavle Milic (co-owner of FnB, Baratin, Bodega and AZ Wine Merchants in Scottsdale) will spill about his current mission to learn how wine is made -- literally from the Southern Arizona ground up. Today: the harvest.

Momentary Suspension of Reality

I have made the drive to Elgin's Dos Cabezas WineWorks many times, but this time -- at dawn on a mid-September day -- I feel an extra sense of ease as I exit onto State Route 83 from the I-10. Perhaps it's the majestic panorama that elicits a mood shift or the fact that I'm getting farther away from all things urban and going toward beautiful rural Arizona. It also helps that I'm listening to Baltimore's Beach House's latest album: "Bloom."

Or maybe it's the fact that it's finally time for the harvest.

See Also:
- Pavle Milic's Quest to Make Wine: A Quixotic Exploit?
- Pavle Prunes the Vines -- and Keeps an Eye out for Rattlesnakes
- Pavle Prepares to Harvest the Grapes and Reveals the Blend

Can you guess what the blend is?

In this occasional series, Pavle Milic will spill about his current mission to learn how wine is made -- literally from the Southern Arizona ground up. Today: preparing for the harvest.

See also: Pavle Milic's Quest to Make Wine: A Quixotic Exploit?
See also: Pavle Prunes the Vines -- and Keeps an Eye out for Rattlesnakes

For the past two months I have been going down to the Dos Cabezas winery on an average of every other week. On one occasion, I walked into the winery and Todd Bostock, who runs the place, wasn't there. Patsy Cline's "Crazy" was playing on the speakers. I thought to myself: "Wow, this is nice and relaxing and romantic all at the same time."

In this occasional series, Pavle Milic will spill about his current mission to learn how wine is made -- literally from the Southern Arizona ground up. Today: pruning and weeding.
The alarm goes off at 4:30 am. I jounce out of bed in fear of pressing snooze to enjoy the proverbial "five more minutes" that can possibly turn into "oh my god I overslept minutes." Everyone is asleep for the exception of Lucy and Luna (our pound doggies) following me around the house wondering what's going on.

Today's itinerary:

To say that I have been around wine all my life is a severe understatement. But it was not until my early 20s that wine spoke to me. It grabbed my senses, all of them. At the time, I was already a decade into my career in the restaurant industry (a business that chose me -- my first restaurant job was working for my stepfather at Franco's Trattoria in Scottsdale) working as a server at Rancho Pinot in Scottsdale. Then co-owner Tom Kaufman, a die-hard pinot-phile, asked me if I liked wine. I said no.

Let me paint a picture. I used to wear red Dr. Martens, sleeveless plaid shirts, pierced ears, platinum-white bleached hair (yes, I had hair) and a pearl white Honda CBR 600. Oh, and Morrissey and the Cure were my Discman buds. My drink of choice was Red Stripe beer from Jamaica, and it always seemed to taste better at TT Roadhouse.

One night after the shift at Rancho Pinto, Tom opened a bottle of Calera Pinot Noir.