ELGIN, Ariz. | Grapes aren&rsquo;t supposed to grow in the desert.</p><p>But here in this southern Arizona town, surrounded by endless, rolling green and amber hills, the Callaghan family is de-stemming gigantic bins of grapes that will eventually produce a nice Petit Verdot.</p><p>As Kent Callaghan, the patriarch and proprietor, tinkers with his forklift in the 80-something-degree fall weather, one of his workers, Megan Haller, sifts through bunches of grapes.</p><p>&ldquo;You can actually have some excellent wines out of Arizona. It can be done,&rdquo; said Haller, who works at Callaghan Vineyards while taking winemaking classes.</p><p>The 25-acre vineyard was one of three in Sonoita-Elgin, a rural area an hour&rsquo;s drive from Tucson, when Callaghan&rsquo;s parents started it in 1990.</p><p>In the last decade, six other vineyards have moved in. Similar growth has also occurred in northern Arizona as more aspiring winemakers saw that the time was right and land was ripe for the taking. The ensuing clusters of vineyards have created a wine drinker&rsquo;s treasure map that has gone unnoticed by many, even Arizonans.</p><p>Talking with tourists who are surprised at the availability and quality of Arizona wine is almost a daily routine for vineyard owners.</p><p>&ldquo;It happens all the time, especially among people that know wine well. People really into wine are totally off the beaten path here,&rdquo; Callaghan said.</p><p>Besides Sonoita-Elgin, Arizona wineries have flourished south of Sedona in the Verde Valley, along the Verde River and around the southeastern city of Willcox. All three areas are at elevation levels between 4,000 and 5,000 feet. The location leads to cooler summers and low evening temperatures.</p><p> &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what the grapes really thrive in. It thickens their skin. It contributes more flavor to the wine,&rdquo; said Rhonni Boss-Moffitt, publisher of Arizona Vines and Wines magazine.</p><p> Boss-Moffitt said there are 39 licensed wineries across the state.</p><p> There is a competitive but also neighborly spirit among the wineries, most of which are boutique, family-run businesses. At an Arizona winery, a visitor has a good chance of being served by the winemaker.</p><p> That atmosphere is what drew Tim Mueller and his wife, Joan, to open Canelo Hills Winery next door to Callaghan in 2005. Transplants from Rhode Island, they thought Sonoita-Elgin was reminiscent of what Napa, Calif., was 35 years ago.</p><p>&ldquo;Back then, there were a lot of small, family-owned wineries. It wasn&rsquo;t a corporate liquor industry like it is now,&rdquo; said Mueller, also a practicing psychiatrist. &ldquo;You&rsquo;d walk in, meet the people making the wine, and you could look out the back door and see the people making harvest.&rdquo;</p><p>Josh Moffitt, co-publisher of Arizona Vines and Wines and a real estate broker specializing in vineyard land, said the timing is ideal for wannabe winemakers who want to start small. They have a chance to be a &ldquo;big fish in a small pond.&rdquo;</p><p>Between tourists and snowbirds, a majority of tasting rooms see the most foot traffic October through April.</p><p>&ldquo;Our busiest day of the year is actually the Friday after Thanksgiving. We probably see about 200 people,&rdquo; said Kief Joshua Manning, who runs Kief-Joshua Vineyards on the same road as Callaghan and Canelo Hills.</p><p>Manning has been operating his winery for only two years. He thinks being around several other vineyards is better for everyone&rsquo;s business.</p><p>&ldquo;It gives people more of an excuse to come down when there&rsquo;s more wineries to hit as opposed to spending more time driving than tasting,&rdquo; Manning said.