When I was 14 years old, my family and I took a trip to Italy to see the place our ancestors came from. We got to see the sights, spend time with family, and reconnect to our ancestral roots.

A Tuscan vineyard
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One standout location was Tuscany, Italy's famed wine country. Sure, I pray to go back every day, but why travel to Europe when I can get the same experience right here.

Willcox: Arizona's Wine Country

Maybe it's not Napa Valley, but Arizona has a very robust wine country, and it's growing bigger by the day. Arizona currently has three Viticulture areas, or the designation for areas that grow grapes to produce wine.

The Willcox Train Station
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Willcox is buy-and-large the largest and most important of Arizona's Viticulture areas, producing over 75% of the grapes used in Arizona wines. The Willcox wine area has grown rapidly in the past few years, but that growth has caused a problem.

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Cochise College Wine Program

As Willcox's popularity grows in the wine game, they're having trouble keeping up with the work. There's simply not enough workers to keep the operation running smooth, so Cochise College has offered a solution.

Sommeliers in training
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That solution is the Ann Marie Stephens Viticulture Program at Cochise College, opening in the fall of 2025. The program intends to teach aspiring vigneron's (winemakers) the ins and outs of the wine industry, like vineyard management, winery operations, and marketing. If this program grabs your interest, enroll at Cochise College to reserve your spot in the class.

More information available at cochise.edu

[AZ Central][Cochise Newsroom][Cochise College]

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