Carlson Creek Vineyard

The Carlson Creek winery stands due north of Robbs Road outside Willcox, in Cochise County. The owners’ own directions say it is hard to miss, “as it is the biggest building for miles around.” The tasting room is inside, on the vineyard itself. A tasting runs $25 and covers five wines of the visitor’s choosing, poured by staff who, the winery promises, will see that no one is rushed. A patio looks out over the vines, and tours of the winery and vineyard go out weekly. In summer the room keeps Thursday-through-Sunday hours, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The winery on Robbs Road

The building opened in 2022. It covers 15,000 square feet and holds the tasting room, a private meeting room, a wine library, and indoor and outdoor areas for gatherings among the vineyards. Behind the guest rooms is a working production plant. It has a crush pad, climate-controlled barrel storage, and fermentation and production areas, with capacity for up to 10,000 cases a year. Every vintage is handled there from harvest through aging. Robert Carlson III, whom the winery page calls co-owner and winemaker, says on that page: “Being able to produce our wines entirely on-site strengthens our connection to the vineyard and gives us greater control over every step of the process.” The winery’s tasting-room page still lists a wine library, an exposition kitchen, and an indoor-outdoor event space for weddings as coming soon.

A second Carlson Creek tasting room operates in Old Town Scottsdale, on Marshall Way. It occupies a 2,300-square-foot former art gallery fitted with a 20-foot distressed copper bar, a barrel-stave installation by the Tucson firm Bootleg Barrelcraft, and an art deco tin ceiling.

Sixty acres under vine

The estate runs to more than 300 acres; the family’s history page puts it at 320. More than 60 acres are planted, and the vines come up around the winery on all sides. The vineyard page gives the elevation as 4,200 feet, while the home page says the fruit grows at 4,300. The growers describe warm days, cool nights, and a long ripening season, a climate they say winemakers more often associate with Argentina, Chile, and the south of France. The white grapes are Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling, Muscat, and Malvasia Bianca. The reds are Syrah, Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Malbec, and Mourvèdre.

Some of the crop leaves the property. Each harvest Carlson Creek sells fruit to a select group of other Arizona wineries, which the family describes as repaying the support others gave it in its early years. On August 31, 2026, the winery posted that the harvest had been one of its busiest, “between harvesting for ourselves and our clients.” By September 4 it was “in the books.” Releases the winery has announced include a 2023 Rule of Three, a 2022 Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2025 Grenache de Soleil, a 2022 En Banc, and a 2024 Dry Riesling. The company says it held the 17th winery license issued in the state.

A stockbroker goes back to the farm

The Carlsons had farmed in pre-war Poland and in the fields of Illinois. In 2008 Robert Carlson III, then 26, left his career as a stockbroker “to live a happier, less stressful life,” in the family’s words. He sought out mentors and schooling in winemaking and vineyard management, then went to his family with the idea of getting back into farming. A 2015 Arizona Farm Bureau profile introduced Robert but ran its interview under his father’s name. In it the reason is given plainly: “I was a stockbroker with an appreciation for wine who was ready to leave corporate America, and with our family’s farming background this seemed like a natural fit.”

The first vine went into the original 40-acre plot in 2009. The vineyard page says the family planted seven acres that year. His father, Robert “Bob” Carlson, Jr., oversaw the planting with him. Bob had graduated from the Naval Academy at Annapolis and flown as a fighter pilot in the Marine Corps. He then practiced law for more than 30 years as a name partner at Koeller, Nebeker, Carlson & Haluck, and he carried memories of a childhood on the family farm in Illinois. The family now lists his jobs as co-owner, financial advisor, and day laborer at the vineyard.

The rest of the family divided the work. John Carlson took winemaking and viticulture courses at UC Davis after he learned of his brother’s plan, interned at other local wineries, and became head winemaker. The Willcox Chamber of Commerce & Agriculture named him Wine Person of the Year. A 2014 vintage won a gold medal and 95 points, which the family page calls its highest-scoring wine to date. Their sister, Katherine Carlson, oversaw the logo and labels and handles the company’s legal affairs as a lawyer at her father’s firm. Their mother, Elizabeth Carlson, keeps the accounts, runs retail merchandise, sets up events, and represents the winery at festivals around the state. Bob, Elizabeth, and Katherine live in San Diego, while Robert and John keep homes in both Scottsdale and Willcox. The 2015 interview put the work this way: “There’s nothing like spending a day in the vineyard, whether it’s planting, harvesting or even fixing a water line.”

From Railway Avenue to Robbs Road

In 2015 the Farm Bureau described a 160-acre vineyard off Kansas Settlement Road, with the winery operating in historic Willcox and a tasting room on Railway Avenue. A 2017 Tucson Foodie notice placed that room at 115 Railview Ave., along the Willcox Wine Trail.

On December 17, 2017, Carlson Creek broke ground on Robbs Road for a winery then planned at 12,000 square feet. It was to hold a tasting room, a wine library, a private meeting room, a kitchen, and an indoor area for wedding receptions. “The winery has been a long time in the making, and we are thrilled to be able to unveil it in our company’s tenth year in business,” Robert said. Completion was expected by June 2018.

That August, Robert described one day of his working life for a lifestyle magazine. He rose at 4 a.m. to hike Camelback Mountain by sunrise, then drank his daily cup of Earl Grey. At the Scottsdale tasting room, which served as his office, he coordinated grape sales and worked on plans for a tasting room in Cottonwood. After visits to accounts, he left Queen Creek at 2:30 and drove down to Willcox to meet John. Five more acres of Malbec had just gone in, because the last vintage had sold out quickly, and the grapes were flowering across the vineyard. He reviewed progress on the new winery, which he expected to open that fall. The winery’s own page gives the opening year as 2022. At six that evening he and John opened a bottle of Rule of Three, the flagship, and ate dinner at the vineyard.