Limited Memberships Available for Velvet Slipper Wine Club
COTTONWOOD, Ariz. — Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria has unveiled a new fall menu inspired by the autumn harvests across its farms, orchards and greenhouses. Curated by James Beard Award semifinalist Chef Brett Vibber, each dish highlights Merkin’s commitment to true farm-to-table dining with seasonal ingredients such as acorn squash, turnips, radishes, carrots and apples all designed to perfectly pair with Merkin’s award-winning wines. As a thanks to the local community, the trattoria is currently offering a 10% discount on food orders only by presenting valid proof of residency for Verde Valley locals.
“This is the time of year where the farm really shows off,” says Vibber. “We get to play with everything from earthy root vegetables to late-season fruits and build plates that feel like fall in Arizona. Every dish tells a story of what’s growing right now just a few miles from where you’re sitting.”
New menu items include:
House-Made Burrata with Merkin Orchards apple butter, focaccia and Sicilian olive oil
Merkin Orchard Apples & Artichokes with roasted artichokes, sunchoke purée, 18-month prosciutto, mojo picón and Marcona almonds
Le Verdure (vegan) featuring Merkin Farms turnips and radishes, pickled locally grown carrots, Merkin Greenhouse tomatoes, fall squash and cashew butte
Squash Bucatini with acorn squash purée, 18-month prosciutto, sage, showers of parmesan and house-made bucatini
Sweet Potato Gnocchi with acorn squash, fried sage and cream sauce
Shrimp + Polenta with Ramona Farms red corn polenta, pan-seared tiger prawns, tomato and basil agrodolce and lemon peel purée
Tuscan Ribeye, a 24-ounce bone-in wagyu ribeye with roasted garlic, sun-dried Italian plum tomato, cipollini onion, rosemary and aged balsamic
Guests are invited to make their visit even more memorable with a stop in the Caduceus Ventura Room, a by-appointment-only 90-minute private wine tasting and dining experience which also includes a vineyard tour, facility tour. The bottle list features selections only available at Ventura Room, including no longer available archive selections dating back to 2004. Reservations are available Thursday through Monday at 11 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. and are limited to eight guests per seating.
Merkin Vineyards has now opened a limited number of memberships to its exclusive Velvet Slipper Wine Club which offers quarterly deliveries of up to six individual bottles of wine and exclusive online and in-person club perks at their Caduceus Cellars Jerome tasting room and website. Each tier is hand-picked by owner winemaker, and Grammy Award-winning musician Maynard James Keenan. Prices range from $150 to $450 per shipment. Join now while spots remain at caduceus.org/vsc.
For more information on Merkin Vineyards Winery & Hilltop Trattoria or to book a reservation, please visit merkintrattoria.com/, call (928) 639-1001 or follow them online on Instagram and Facebook.
About Merkin Vineyards:
Sitting adjacent to our 9,500 square-foot, state-of-the-art production facility and surrounded by a 4.5-acre vineyard consisting of Graciano, Tempranillo, and Garnacha grape varieties, the Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria is our latest restaurant in Cottonwood, Arizona. While here, take in the sites of our winery and barrel room, on-site greenhouse and bottle shop, and more.