Richard Ruelas

The Republic | azcentral.com

On a recent fall morning, Maynard James Keenan, the singer for the bands Tool and Puscifer, was going over blueprints with his executive chef, Chris Smith. Equipment was being delivered that afternoon and the two wanted to make sure there was space in the kitchen for it all.

For the past few months, Keenan has worked to turn a building in Old Town Cottonwood into a tasting room for his Merkin Vineyards line of wines and an osteria, a simple Italian eatery focusing on pasta. On Nov. 26, Merkin Vineyards Tasting Room and Osteria opened on Main Street.

It is part of a grander transformation that has been taking place in Cottonwood for the past six years, turning a city that used to be bypassed by tourists into a destination.

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On this October day, Keenan was working to get the details right.

Keenan has been aiming to raise the profile of Arizona wine nationally and internationally, to break it out of novelty status and make it an essential part of the wine world. This restaurant is part of that mission.

“You’ve got to do better, you’ve got to work harder, longer hours, don’t cut corners because you’re under the microscope,” he said. “We have to raise ourselves to a higher standard just to get recognized. If we’re under standard, it’s not going to work.”

The blueprints in front of him showed a plan to make use of the large space: a tasting room and bar up front, tables for the osteria toward the rear; a food bar looking into a glassed-in area that would let patrons see stacks of fresh produce and the pasta being made.

The space is airy with a tall ceiling covered with etched copper tile. The imposing bar has an old saloon feel, though it is a replica. Keenan said that given more time, he would have hoped to procure an actual antique. But it would do for now.

The main kitchen is upstairs – a dumbwaiter will raise and lower dishes – and was designed by Smith, who had worked in the Verde Valley restaurants Asylum and Seed before being tapped by Keenan to head this spot.

Smith said he welcomed the chance to craft his own space. “I’m French trained,” he said before Keenan interrupted him with faux surprise. “You’re what?” Keenan deadpanned.

Some of the food was coming from Keenan’s kitchen, including a macaroni and cheese dish that essentially was pasta tinted with Merkin wine and mixed with mascarpone cheese.

He was working on perfecting a baguette made with a rosemary, basil and dill dough. He wanted to put it on the menu just so the juvenile in him, the same one who came up with the winery name, could hear people order it.

Keenan has a tasting room for his higher-end Caduceus Cellars in Jerome, a historic mining town turned tourist-filled art colony. That room offers neither food nor seats, a quirk of the crowded town’s parking restrictions.

For his more affordable Merkin line, Keenan wanted a tasting room that would allow the wines to be paired with food. He wanted to offer more than the standard cheese plate or prepackaged deli meats found in many rooms.

He lucked into a spot that had previously hosted a Greek restaurant. It's in the middle of Main Street, right near the signature Old Town Cottonwood sign put up years ago by a neighboring law firm.

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It also is on a street that, since 2010, has worked to court the Arizona wine industry. The city manager, Doug Bartosh, wanted to model it after wine towns in central California, like Los Olivos and Paso Robles.

“We needed to kind of remodel the area so it was more pleasing to the eye and also to develop that hook you need to get people to come and visit,” Bartosh said. “The wine industry played a gigantic role in that.”

The first tasting room was Arizona Stronghold, a label that was co-owned by Keenan and Erik Glomski of Page Springs Cellars. (Keenan left Stronghold in 2014.) Others followed: Pillsbury, Burning Tree, Fire Mountain, Winery 101 and a distillery, Desert Diamond.

Two hotels opened: the Tavern Hotel and the Iron Horse Inn. The latter was a gutting of a dilapidated motel that had been a drug den for years, Bartosh said.

And more restaurants and bars opened to join the antique shops that had previously dominated the street. There are the white- tablecloth Abbie’s Fine Foods, the casual Bocce Pizzeria and a revamped Crema for breakfast and lunch. This year, a gourmet market, Little Moo’s, opened, providing provisions for tourists ready for an afternoon trip through area wineries.

Bartosh says the Merkin tasting room and osteria will fit right in.

“It will be a fantastic addition to Old Town,” he said. “Maynard does it just right. He’s going in there and investing, doing the right thing and it will be a beautiful restaurant and wine tasting room.”

Bartosh, who spent time in the Scottsdale Police Department, said tourism in a community can attract new residents. “It creates that quality of life that people want to participate in,” he said.

Bartosh said that trend was already taking shape. One of the last vacant spots in Old Town Cottonwood will soon have a three-story tower with condos on the top two floors.

Keenan isn’t worried about attracting new residents. For now, he’s concentrating on attracting a clientele that can appreciate freshly made pastas served with quality Arizona-grown wines.

“If we do the pasta right and the wine, and people just get this in the glass...” he said, letting the thought finish itself.

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Keenan isn't done planning. After giving a tour of the restaurant, he walked down the street and up a hill to the abandoned Masonic lodge he hopes to turn into a tasting room for another label he's starting, Hidden Hand. Keenan was looking for investors so he could rehabilitate the building.

Along the walk to the lodge, Keenan pointed out where he hopes to plant vineyards on the sloping hillsides. At the edge of the property, he looked out over Old Town Cottonwood. It has transformed over the past six years and Keenan seemed eager to help propel it further.

“I think everything moves at the rate it’s supposed to,” Keenan said. “It may feel slow, but if it were any faster, I might not be ready for it.”

Details: Merkin Vineyards Tasting Room and Osteria, 1001 N. Main St., Cottonwood. Open 11 a.m.-9 p.m. daily. merkinvineyardsosteria.com.

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