Willcox — Arizona's Wine-Grape Heartland, Apple Orchards & Sandhill Cranes

Less than two hours east of Tucson, the wide agricultural bowl around Willcox grows the grapes behind the majority of Arizona wine, and the flat Kansas Settlement farm roads south of town string together a run of unpretentious tasting rooms among the vines. Day one settles into that wine country — Aridus, Carlson Creek, and their neighbors — with a stop at Apple Annie's Orchard for cider, pie, and pick-your-own fruit. Day two turns to the wildlife and small-town history that make Willcox distinctive: the tens of thousands of sandhill cranes that winter on the Willcox Playa, the folksy Rex Allen Museum on a historic main street, and the long views toward the Chiricahua foothills before the drive home. An overnight in Willcox keeps the tasting relaxed and the pace slow.