It’s 2 a.m., and we’re standing in the middle of Los Milics’ vineyards outside Elfrida, Arizona. The cuadrilla (crew) started harvesting just after midnight, and they are working steadily down the rows. Above us, the stars are unlike anything I’ve seen before. Constellations trace through the dark night sky, dimly illuminating the bustle of harvest. Around me, I can hear the low hum of insects, the rustling of dogs zigzagging through the vines, the clang of grapes dropping into plastic buckets, and the stomping feet of the crew as they run up and down the rows. But at dawn, as the sun peeks up over the Chiricahua Mountains to the east, everything quiets. The grapes are loaded onto a truck, and we drive an hour west to the Los Milics winery in Elgin.
Pavle Milić is Yugoslavian and Colombian, born in Medellín, Colombia, before moving to Queens. His stepfather was a cabdriver and bartender in New York who followed the restaurateur he worked for to Scottsdale, Arizona. Milić grew up there, caught the hospitality bug working as a busser at his parents’ restaurants, then was introduced to winemaking in Napa Valley. He returned to Arizona and opened his restaurant, FnB, in 2009 with chef Charleen Badman. They serve hyperseasonal food (“no peach cobbler in December,” Milić says) and are known for a surprisingly deep list of Arizona wine. That award-winning list captured the attention of diners — including one Mo Garfinkle, who would later become Milić’s business partner in Los Milics.
Milić lives in Scottsdale and regularly does the three-hour drive down to the southern edge of Arizona, where his winery is. This is the Sonoita American Viticultural Area, an “itty-bitty ecosystem that doesn’t look like anything else in Arizona,” Milić says. “There’s 175 degrees of sky here.” The Sonoran Desert that surrounds Sonoita is the most lush desert in North America, with robust aquifers and a three-month monsoon season to feed them. Its undulating grasslands, 5,000 feet above sea level, are surrounded by the Mustang and Santa Rita mountains. When Milić first visited Sonoita 15 years ago, he was immediately captivated.
“I had this weird déjà vu feeling,” he says. “To go to Napa Valley, I take Jameson Canyon Road. You get off this big California highway onto a two-lane, quiet highway flanked by vines.” That feeling of once again being surrounded by vines and mountains was what grabbed him, the kind of synchronicity he always looks for. Milić’s gift is finding connections, between dates, names, birthdays, languages, and stories. He has an unusual ability to create constellations of beauty and meaning from seemingly disparate things.
There are 17 grape varieties planted in Los Milics’ 70 acres of vineyards, an eclectic mix including Grenache, Syrah, and Tempranillo, along with lesser-known varieties like Teroldego from northern Italy and Vranac, a red grape native to Montenegro that harks back to Milić’s roots. “One of the beautiful parts about making wine in Arizona is that we’re not beholden to tradition or any rules,” he says.
Sonoita was designated an AVA in 1984. When he arrived, Milić talked to local winemakers to find out what could thrive in the Sonoran Desert. “I stood on the shoulders of the winemakers who figured out what varieties work here,” he says. That turned out to include Petit Manseng, an obscure grape from southwestern France. “This grape is like a freaking Volvo,” Milić says. “It’ll say, ‘Rain, eff you,’ and give you the bird.” Given Sonoita’s monsoon season, which usually hits just before or during harvest, that rot-resistant hardiness is crucial. Petit Manseng also has plenty of puckery tartness, which Milić uses in blends to add a pop of brightness — just as you would add lemon to a soup that’s kind of flabby, he says.
Grenache also does well but can be more finicky. “Age it too long, and it becomes a philosophy teacher driving a convertible Saab and smoking a pipe — really stoic.” For Los Milics’ award-winning Ita’s rosé (named after his wife and fellow winemaker, Ita Milić), he picks Grenache early to showcase its natural acidity and mitigate any risk of sun overexposure. “It’s like drinking a cloud,” he says.
At Los Milics, hospitality, intentionality, and embracing the natural world are paramount. The gorgeous single-story tasting room sits in the middle of the estate vineyard. When you arrive, Milić says (in true Milić style), “You’re confronted with this cavalcade of monoliths that hopefully do what good art is supposed to do: make you ask questions, make you emote and say, ‘What the hell is happening?’”
Visitors can stay the night in casitas made from shipping containers outfitted with kitchenettes and bathrooms — they sound spare but are surprisingly beautiful. Built on an angle through the vineyard, they create a constellation leading back to the heart of it all: the winery’s tasting room and its restaurant, called The Biscuit, headed up by chef Trevor Routman. There, you’ll find a shifting menu of elegant, wine-friendly dishes that might include a simple salad of potatoes, tomatoes, and preserved tuna, which pairs perfectly with Los Milics Ita’s rosé, and heartier dishes like tomatoey, ham-flecked Pollo al Chilindrón — inspired by founding chef Ana Borrajo’s home of Granada, Spain — that calls for robust reds. Classic cocktails and a short list of benchmark wines from around the world round out the menu. “In a 20-mile radius, I promise you,” says Milić, “you’re not going to find another Vesper Martini, or Negroni, or glass of Raveneau Chablis.”
Now that Milić is seven years in, with a maturing vineyard, increased wine production, a busy tasting room, and newly launched lodging for guests, he’s focused on “operational homeostasis.”
“The wine world grabbed me in a way, as the office was not a desk; the office was outside,” he says. “In wine country, you’re in a beautiful part of the world, almost always. There’s good food and a conviviality with wine folks that is really inclusive.” That confluence of creating something beautiful and elevating guest experiences keeps Milić striving, he says. “And though this project keeps me up at night, I try to do my very best so that we’re making the whole state look good. We’re trying to provide an additional story in that whole trajectory of Arizona wine.”
Los Milics — and Milić himself — is only just getting started. Arizona’s wine industry is only a few decades old. But the desert and the mountains, the stars above and the rocks underneath — those are ancient. And on long days, you’ll find Milić sitting at the top of his estate vineyard, glass in hand, reflecting on how it all comes together.
Arizona wineries to visit
Dos Cabezas WineWorks (Sonoita)
Todd and Kelly Bostock are early trailblazers of wine-making in Sonoita, and they are mentors to Milić. Dos Cabezas offers a robust menu of Italian-inspired dishes at their tasting room. “Don’t leave without trying the lemon pizza,” says Milić: It’s topped with burrata, snap peas, preserved lemon, and herbs. “Wash it down with their zesty house white: a kitchen-sink mix of Picpoul, Viognier, Petit Manseng, Malvasia, and a few others.” The canned sparkling rosé served with caviar and potato chips is also a can’t-miss.
Callaghan Vineyards (Elgin)
“With 34 vintages under his belt, Kent Callaghan stands as one of Arizona’s pioneering winegrowers,” says Milić. Callaghan’s wines are highly acclaimed and have been served at the White House. When visiting the tasting room, try Lisa’s White (named after Callaghan’s wife), a refreshing blend of Marsanne, Roussanne, Malvasia, and Clairette. “When you visit, ask Lisa to pour you Waverly’s Grenache,” says Milić. “Its quaffability is off the charts.”
Rune Wines (Sonoita)
Visit Rune’s “off-grid” tasting room, situated under a canopy in the middle of the vineyards with stunning mountain views. Arizona’s unique terroir is imbued into every aspect of winemaker James Callahan’s mission, from the solar energy used to power the winery to the top-notch wines. The balanced Viognier pairs perfectly with Rune’s housemade muffuletta, says Milić. “Another standout is his Graciano, a varietal proving to be well-suited to Arizona’s terroir that yields a deeply hued, dark-fruited, bold wine,” he adds.
Queen of Cups (Patagonia)
“Queen of Cups is worth the hunt,” says Milić. The boutique winery is tucked away in an alley in Patagonia, a charming town just 15 minutes from Sonoita. They employ low-intervention winemaking on grapes sourced from Arizona and Mexico to make vibrant wines that include zippy Picpoul Blanc and structured, elegant Tannat.
Dining and Cooking