A former naturalist is helping to build Arizona winery Page Springs Cellars
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Eric Glomski still remembers the first time he discovered his “liquid world.”
“I remember closing my eyes and smelling this wine, and it reminded me of the place where I picked those apples,” he recalled in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Glomski had never been a winemaker at the time. He was a restoration expert, riding the endless streams of central Arizona, cataloging river systems and abandoned homes.
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This is where they find heirloom apples growing in the wild. He took them out of a bag, made apple wine with a counselor and, eight months later, experienced what he called his epiphany.
“I realized that I had an artistic experience with an unanalyzed environment, and it wasn’t scientific,” she said.
Eric Glomski from Arizona was a conservationist before he decided to devote himself to winemaking. (Springs Cellars Page)
He dropped out of school, moved to California and volunteered at wineries – sleeping in his truck.
He eventually landed a position at what is known as David Bruce Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
For nearly six years, Glomski focused on a culture guided by one principle: “What’s good for wine?”
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Glomski said he always intended to return to Arizona.
“I’ve always wanted to go back to Arizona and make wines that represent Arizona,” he said.
In 2003, he founded Page Springs Cellars & Vineyards in the Verde Valley. The region’s volcanic soil, limestone and elevation provided what he saw as a potential resource.
Page Springs Cellars & Vineyards has been serving wine to guests since 2003. (Jill Richards)
Contrary to popular belief, Arizona’s wine country is not a blast desert, Glomski said.
“My two biggest problems are snow and ice, and heavy rains – the exact opposite of what people expect,” he said.
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His vineyards range from 3,500 to 5,500 feet in elevation.
“It always snows in my vineyards,” he said. “People don’t see this, because Arizona is very mountainous.”
“I like to think of myself as an ambassador for Arizona.”
That elevation, combined with volcanic soil, limestone and granite, allows him to grow Rhône varieties that express a different personality depending on where they are planted.
He grows Syrah in many vineyards, and said the difference is unmistakable.
The vineyards in Page Springs range from 3,500 to 5,500 feet in elevation. (Jenelle Bonifield)
“They’re very different because of these different natural characters,” he said.
For Glomski, that distinction is the point.
“I like to think of myself as an ambassador for Arizona,” he said. “I mean, obviously I have my own business, and I’m happy to do well, but I really believe in Arizona as well.”
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That belief was tested in 2006, when out-of-state distributors introduced legislation that would have prohibited small Arizona wineries from selling directly to consumers and retailers.
Glomski and a small group of winemakers received a notice from the Arizona Department of Liquor Licensing and Control ordering them to “cease and desist from all direct-to-consumer sales.”
The vineyards in Page Springs are home to a variety of wines. (Grace Stufkosky)
Wine producers would be forced to sell only to wholesalers — even buying their own bottles to pour into tasting rooms, Glomski said.
“It was a serious move to control the market,” he said.
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Working with a volunteer attorney and a handful of other winemakers, Glomski spent two months “going door to door” at the state Capitol, meeting with “every senator and every representative in our country” to help change the law, he said.
“In the end, we beat them,” Glomski said.
Glomski, left, dropped out of school, went to work in a California vineyard and eventually opened Page Springs Cellars in Arizona. (Page Springs Cellars; Grace Stufkosky)
Over the next ten years, the number of wineries in Arizona grew from eight to more than 100.
“If that doesn’t happen properly, what difference does it make to having a free market and these businesses to grow,” said Glomski.
“I think in the next decade-plus, you’re going to see Arizona really make waves.”
Today, that growth is finding a national audience. Alma del Suelo’s Page Springs red and white wines are featured in the Fox News Winery.
The wines aim to introduce drinkers to Arizona’s emerging identity.
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“We knew we wanted it to really talk about Arizona,” Glomski said.
He believes that the state is still defining itself.
Glomski took on an Arizona law that would have prevented Page Springs and other small wineries from selling directly to buyers and sellers. (Grace Stufkosky)
“Arizona is still, I think, getting that,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s going to be as limited as that. I think we’re going to have developed districts with a very different theme.”
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If lawmakers continue to modernize laws and allow investment to flow, you see great potential.
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“I think in the next decade-plus, you’re going to see Arizona really make waves,” he said.
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