An Arizona winery has made the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards 2024 for best tasting rooms in the country.

Los Milics Vineyards, in the southern Arizona community of Elgin, is the No. 2 tasting room in the U.S.. The list came out July 31.

A panel of experts, including editors at USA TODAY and 10Best.com, selected the nominees. The public then voted for their favorites.

Pavle Milic, co-owner of FnB restaurant in Scottsdale, opened Los Milics tasting room in Elgin in 2022. Before that, Milic and Mo Garfinkle purchased 20 acres of land in southern Arizona to establish their vineyard in 2018. With that, Milic’s decade-long dream came to fruition.

“First, we thank the panel of experts who nominated us for this honor,” Milic said in a press release. “Secondly, a huge thank you to everyone who voted for us. We are grateful to all of you for your belief in Los Milics Vineyards and your support.”

What to know about Los Milics Vineyards

In 2022, Milic hired the architectural firm of Chen + Suchart to design a tasting room akin to an art installation at the vineyard. The result is a beautifully modern and minimalist space with floor-to-ceiling windows that reveal dramatic views of the grapevines and the Mustang Mountains.

For those wishing to stay overnight, the winery has nine one-bedroom, one-bathroom casitas.

Los Milics also has a tasting room in Old Town Scottsdale.

This is not Los Milics’ first award. In 2023, the Elgin tasting room was named one of the three best new wine tasting rooms in USA TODAY’s list of 10 best new winery experiences in the US.

“This award belongs to the entire Los Milics team who believe in our vision to bring a new wine tasting experience to Arizona,” Garfinkle said in the press release.

“Our goal has always been to make excellent wines and invite our guests to experience them in an exceptional setting with superb service. We are still a young winery, so for our tasting room to be voted the 2nd best in the US is a huge honor for us.”

Details: 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Thursdays-Mondays. 423 Upper Elgin Road, Elgin. 520-221-0180, losmilicsvineyards.com.

Cheers: Phoenix bars named 2 of the best in US. Everything to know

Reach the reporter at BAnooshahr@azcentral.com. Follow @banooshahr on X, formerly Twitter.

PHOENIX – A tragic trend is on the rise in Arizona. Children are dying from exposure to fentanyl.

“It is heartbreaking,” said Kenneth McKinley, Director of Childhelp Arizona. 

The Arizona Department of Child Safety recorded 34 child deaths due to fentanyl last year. Eight of those children were under the age of five. 

“Almost on a weekly basis, I’ll get a call-out that says there’s a three-year-old, a two-year-old, a one-year-old at the emergency room at Phoenix Children’s and they’re administering Narcan,” McKinley said.

Phoenix Police say the rising use of fentanyl is due in part to its low cost. 

“Heroin, methamphetamines, they were higher costs. We’re seeing these pills as cheap as 50 cents. So, again, they’re very accessible, they’re very plentiful. Even the residue itself can be fatal,” said sargent Phil Krynsky of Phoenix Police.

“This can be found in locations where kids are supposed to frequent”

Not all cases of exposure come from a household where drug use is happening. 

“This can be found in locations where kids are supposed to frequent: parks, or just walking down the street with their parents, sitting at a bus stop. Sometimes individuals that see law enforcement and they ditch whatever drugs that they have, and again, they leave it behind because it’s not that high of a cost and it could be in the grasp of kids,” Krynsky said. 

Once the powerful drug is in that grasp, the aftermath of any exposure sticks with families. 

Family history of drug use is a contributing factor

“The families – I think – deal with a lot of blame and guilt and shame and that sort of thing and we know that there’s a connection to – even outside of drug exposure – there’s a connection between drug use, family history of drug use, and child abuse,” McKinley added.

Fighting the epidemic includes educating the public and working to break the cycle of drug use in families in every community. 

“Getting it out, letting us know, educating our children, and again getting people off the use of these drugs or at least letting them know that one pill that you take or you try could be your last one,” Krynsky says.

Officials encourage people to keep Narcan handy

In Arizona, any licensed pharmacist can distribute Narcan over the counter and it’s widely available through various organizations and agencies. 

Officials encourage anyone who knows a drug user to keep Narcan handy in case of an accidental overdose.

There is a lot of anticipation surrounding Arizona’s preseason practices as they get ready to take on New Mexico for their 2024-25 season opener that ushers in a new era.

Not only are the Wildcats competing in the Big 12 for the first time, but they also have a new head coach in charge after Brent Brennan took over for the departed Jedd Fisch.

Coming off their 10-win season and victory over Oklahoma in the Valero Alamo Bowl, the hope is this group can have similar success since many of their star players stayed with the program instead of departing in the transfer portal.

Star quarterback Noah Fifita should be able to lead another high-powered offense, especially when their elite wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan returns to the practice field following the injury he suffered in the spring.

Beyond the passing attack, though, there are some questions about how this running game might look following the departures of their three leading rushers.

On paper, it looks like the Wildcats might have actually gotten deeper at this position, bringing in New Mexico transfer Jacory Croskey-Merritt who ran for 1,190 yards and 17 touchdowns and San Jose State transfer Quali Conley who had 842 yards and nine scores on the ground.

Conley is familiar with the offense that Brennan wants to run, so that should help this group pick up on the concepts quicker than they otherwise would. It could give the senior an edge when it comes to being named the starter.

But it sounds like Arizona isn’t going to go with a traditional approach to their running back room.

Brian J. Pederson of Arizona Desert Swarm reports they are expected to “heavily rotate” different players across the position with the idea of potentially featuring all five of their scholarship backs in games throughout the year.

There will certainly be competition to see if someone can earn the majority of the workload, and holdover Rayshon ‘Speedy’ Luke will try to have a good showing in camp to build upon his 153 yard and one touchdown output last season in a reserve role.

While Conley might have the edge in terms of knowing the offense and having a familiarity with the coaching staff, that isn’t stopping newcomer Croskey-Merritt from trying to win the job and pushing the room to be at their best.

“Every day we’re competing to get better. We’re competing to be one of the best running back rooms in the nation,” he said.

Brennan was able to feature a strong rushing attack during his last year at San Jose State, getting the Spartans to average 184.1 yards per contest that ranked them 31st out of all Division I teams.

Adding an explosive running game to pair with Fifita and McMillan through the air should help Arizona get off to a good start in this new era of their program.