Meet Kris Pothier

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kris Pothier.

Kris, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Me and my husband I, Joe Bechard, moved out to Sedona, Arizona from Eugene, Oregon in April of 2004. Joe was hired to write for the Red Rock News as a County reporter. Shortly after arriving, Joe was at a County meeting and watched Eric Glomsky get approval to open and operate Page Springs Cellars in Cornville, Arizona. We were winos from Oregon, having met working at a restaurant where the owner was generous with Oregon wine. So of course, Joe was excited to report on an emerging wine culture here in the Verde Valley. It was the early days of the modern growth of AZ wine so we were lucky to be in the right place at the right time. I was hired to pour wine at Page Springs, and months later, before the 2005 harvest, Joe left his job as a reporter and became the cellar rat at Page Springs. He slowly worked his way up to winemaker, learning on the job as Page Springs grew rather quickly. I left and attended film school in Sedona, and worked my way into a career in the local commercial industry. In 2008, Kim Koistinen and Jeff Hendricks moved to the Verde Valley from San Francisco and began working for Page Springs. Eventually, Kim became the controller and Jeff the Vineyard Manager. By 2011, Joe left PSC and was hired on at Alcantera as the winemaker. He hired me as his cellar rat. We had been hanging out with Kim and Jeff for years at this time and had been kicking around the idea of getting our label started. That 2011 harvest at Alcantera, Joe and I made three barrels of Merlot that would become the first Chateau Tumbleweed wine.

At the end of that harvest, Maynard James Keenan of Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards phoned Joe and asked him to help start a co-op winery. The endeavor would be called 4-8 Wineworks and would serve as an incubator for emerging winemakers. The idea was a shared facility so that new labels would not incur the intense financial output of machinery. Maynard created a place where Chateau Tumbleweed would be fully realized. A very generous thing for sure. Joe helped outfit the winery and grow the Merkin label for MJK, while increasing Chateau Tumbleweed to 1,000 cases in 2012, 1,500 in 2013. I was hired on at Caduceus Cellars in the tasting room, eventually moving down to the winery at 4-8 to take care of shipping and national sales for Caduceus/Merkin. I helped Joe to grow Chateau Tumbleweed and in the off times, worked to get our label out into the marketplace. The four of us sat around late into the night trying to come up with a next move, how to graduate out of the incubator and into our own space. We found the place we currently occupy but the bank was not willing to loan us the money until we showed a few more years of revenue. In late 2014, Earl and Melinda Petznick of the D.A. Ranch was looking around for a new place to have their D.A. Ranch label made.

For years they had been custom crushing at PSC and AZ Stronghold. They approached us and the timing was perfect. We already had it all lined out, and they became the 3rd couple to push Chateau Tumbleweed forward. By January of 2015, they helped us finance our winery and equipment. Harvest 2015 was accomplished at our new winery in Clarkdale. We also started making the D.A. Ranch that vintage and Jeff took over management of the D.A. Ranch Vineyard in Cornville. This harvest, 2019, we took in 93 tons, about 5,700 cases. 4,500 cases for Chateau Tumbleweed and 1,200 for The D.A. Ranch. Our future is bright, we now have five employees, our tasting room is open seven days a week and we have amazing love and momentum from AZ winos. Our next move is to build as we are out of space. We are grateful and lucky to be a part of this great AZ culture.

Has it been a smooth road?
Wine is a slow moving business. It takes guts and endurance. Once the reality sets in that you are working on a long game, it is hard not to get frustrated. We love what we are doing, there is nothing quite like pouring someone wine and creating an environment to allow them space to get out of their head. It balances the intense physical nature of the work. We source fruit from 12 or more growers every year. All of us are dealing with nature and this is a factor you can not predict. We have learned to be flexible in all aspects of this business. Then when the struggles hit, they are a bit easier to overcome.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
The four of us created Chateau Tumbleweed out of humor and drive. We do not take ourselves seriously but we are serious about wine making. We have worked this into every fibre of our company and know this is why we draw like minded people to us. As we grow, we work hard to keep this spirit alive, to be positive ambassadors for Arizona wine. Our style is clean, focused and honest. Our labels are silly and hopefully, keep the stuffiness out of our wine. Our tasting room is fun and open and we love what we do.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
Arizona is a great place to make wine. There is a huge population of wine drinkers and a big tourism flux from all over the world. The Department of Tourism and many State officials are wise to the dollar wine is bringing in and are helping to get the word out. It is a wonderful time to be a part of wine in AZ.

Contact Info:

• Address: 1151 W. SR 89A Clarkdale, AZ 86326
• Website: www.chateautumbleweed.com
• Phone: 928-634-0443
• Email: kris@chateautumbleweed.com
• Instagram: chateautumbleweed
• Facebook: Chateau Tumbleweed

Image Credit:
Photo of 4 owners taken by Jenelle Bass Bonifield

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