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You’re going to be there for a stretch.

He’ll start with the asterisk printed on the label of every bottle released by his family-run winery in the tiny town of Pearce, southeast of ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥.

That’s the wildcard, he’ll tell you.

“That depicts all that uniqueness and individuality that is around us,� Dixon says.

From there he will build a story that includes mathematical equations, references to the sci-fi comedy series “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy� where 42 is the asterisk symbol, which translates to “anything or everything� and therefore the entire meaning of life.

He’ll add to the layers with a reference to an early “Star Trek� episode in which the starship Defiant goes off on its own.

The number of that ship: 1764.

How do you arrive at 1764?

Forty-two squared.

You’re gonna scratch your head for a second as he pours from that bottle of Red Blend (grenache, syrah, petite sirah and petit verdot) that won double gold in the 2024 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition in January.

It is one of several 1764 Vineyards wines to take home awards in the 10 years since Bob and Jules Dixon started their wine journey.

Four of the couple’s wines won top awards at the San Francisco competition, adding to the handful of honors from statewide wine contests, including a silver medal for the first wine they ever released, a 2018 syrah made from fruit sourced by their neighbors, Keeling Schaefer Vineyards

“It was shocking. We were just getting started, trying to do the basics and not screw it up,� Dixon recalled. “Then lo and behold, here’s your silver medal.�

The Dixons didn’t set out to be award-winning winemakers. He worked on the operations side of a software company, she worked a bunch of positions for a national grocer.

They raised their two kids in Chandler and were known on occasion to enjoy a glass of wine or two, including ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ wines.

But in 2012, as their youngest was about to go to college, the couple started thinking about what life would look like as empty-nesters and retirees. Then, on a weekend trip to the Verde Valley to celebrate their 24th wedding anniversary, Dixon had what you might consider an epiphany.

“We were sitting there, enjoying wine and enjoying food and music and looking out at this beautiful vineyard,� he recalled, and maybe it was the wine or the ambience of , but Dixon leaned over to his wife and whispered, “I bet we could figure out this sort of thing.�

By we, Jules Dixon said she knew “he means me.�

The Dixons are not pipe dreamers; they are doers. So, after two years of getting their lives in order in Chandler, they sold their home and relocated to Cottonwood. It was a not-so-long drive to Yavapai College in Clarksdale, where Jules Dixon enrolled in the Southwest Wine Center viticulture degree program.

“It was exciting because we knew this was something completely different for both of us,� Jules Dixon said. “We’re not quite sure where and what was going on, but there was fear and excitement and there was, ‘Oh my God, I’m back in school again.’ There also was this whole ‘we’re going to do this.’�

After earning her degree, Jules Dixon worked in Verde Valley wineries while the couple looked for the perfect spot to launch their own winery. They found it in 2017 on a 30-acre parcel in Pearce backdropped by the expanse of the Dragoon Mountains and pillowy grasslands.

The property had a house, a 1,500-square-foot garage and outbuildings.

“The land for the most part was essentially cleared,� Dixon said.

It took them a couple of years to plant 7.5 acres of vines, which take four to six years to mature. In the meantime, they bought fruit from Keeling Schaefer and produced their first vintages in 2018 — a syrah, rosé and riesling — that they released at the height of the pandemic in September 2020.

Dixon said the vines are now producing mature fruit that will allow them to cut back on the 13 tons they outsource. They also plan to expand the acreage under vine in the next couple of years.

The couple’s two kids and their spouses are now working with the Dixons and their daughter also plans to go through the Yavapai wine program next fall.

Time to pour: Willcox Spring Wine Festival

In addition to 1764 Vineyards, dozens of wineries, mostly from Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, will participate in the spring Willcox Wine Festival Friday, May 17, through Sunday, May 19, at the historic Railroad Park, 157 N. Railroad Ave. A similar event is held in the fall.

Participating wineries include:

, which owners Chad and Monica Preston started in 2015 in Willcox.

, celebrating its 14th anniversary, is a veteran of the festival. The vineyard, on the Willcox Bench, produces wines from the 18 varietals grown on the estate vineyard.

The Carlson family’s sits on 320 acres in Willcox, where the family produces more than a dozen wines. The vineyard also provides fruit for 10 other ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ wineries.

Daojo and Roxanne Hicks bought in Willcox at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. The St. George, Utah, couple was the first Black and Native American family to own a vineyard in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥. In the years since the retired college professor and her lawyer husband pivoted to winemakers, they have expanded the business to include an extensive tapas and dessert menu and a restaurant in Phoenix.

lies on the western edge of Sulphur Springs Valley in Willcox, along the picturesque Gunnison hills and in the shadow of the Dragoon Mountain range in ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥, where Jim and Ruth Graham produce not only award-winning wines but also pistachios, grown on their adjacent ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ Groves Pistachios.

Rod Keeling and Jan Schaeffer have been bottling Rhone-styled wines at their in Pearce since 2000. Their wines have been featured in regional and national publications.

New Zealand film director Sam Pillsbury planed his first acres of grapes on 's Willcox vineyard in 2000. His boutique wines have claimed dozens of medals in 2015 and ‘16 including several golds.

Ryan and Desiree Gerth created in the Kansas Settlement area of Willcox in 2014. Strive is 100% solar-powered in keeping with the vineyards’ goal to be sustainable and maintain a minimal environmental footprint.

, located under the Dos Cabezas Mountains, creates French, Spanish and Italian-style wines, as well as a pair of whites and a dry rosé.

The boutique in Portal, about 50 miles southeast of Willcox, grows French Rhone type grapes including grenache, syrah, mourvedre and viognier, creating wines that have earned legions of fans and some pretty hefty awards including in the 2021 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition.

The folks at planted their first vines on the Willcox Bench in 2019 and had their first harvest in September 2022 of cabernet, sauvignon, petite sirah, syrah, viognier, mourvedre and grenache. They have released 10 wines since their 2019 releases.

in Elgin is a woman-owned-and-operated boutique winery, led by owner and winemaker Brooke Lowry Ide.

°ä´Ç³Ù³Ù´Ç²Ô·É´Ç´Ç»å’s and Cornville’s also will be pouring at the festival, which kicks off at 6 p.m. Friday with a Chamber of Commerce Wine Benefit Dinner.

The festival runs from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The cost is $35 in advance at , $45 at the gate, and each ticket includes a commemorative wine glass and 10 tasting tickets.

In addition to the wine, the festival features fine arts, vintage vendors and artisan foods vendors. A pair of food trucks will be on hand and there will be non-stop entertainment.

For more information, visit .