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Why this Arizona winery is ranked in the top 2 in the country

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Why this Arizona winery is ranked in the top 2 in the country


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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.





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Arizona

Former Arizona Coyotes franchise has fans vote on team name

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Former Arizona Coyotes franchise has fans vote on team name


The former Arizona Coyotes franchise, now the Utah Hockey Club, has chosen three names for fans to vote on for their permanent team name.

Not making the list is the fan favorite “Yeti” or “Yetis” name. The Utah Hockey Club filed for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, according to The Associated Press, that was rejected on Jan. 9. The “Yeti” name in relation to the hockey team would have confused the majority of people with the Yeti brand. Thus, Yeti and the Utah Hockey Club could not reach an agreement of coexistence with branding and merchandising.

The final three names up for consideration were Utah Mammoth, Utah Hockey Club and Utah Wasatch.

After Wednesday night’s first day of voting, Utah decided that the Wasatch name was not as popular to the crowd as they thought.

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On Thursday, the team announced that they would be switching the option of Utah Wasatch to Utah Outlaws after the first round of voting.

For the next three home games (voting started on Wednesday night against Pittsburgh) fans at the Delta Center can vote on their favorite name on an iPad. The next three home games are on Jan. 31 versus Columbus, Feb. 2 versus St. Louis and Feb. 4 versus Philadelphia.

The initial thought to use the Wasatch name was to still get across the idea behind the fans’ wishes of the Yeti, a mythical creature that lives up in the Himalayan mountains. The Wasatch Mountains run along the east side of the Salt Lake Valley.

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“We wanted to honor this idea people had for a mythical snow creature like the Yeti and bring a very Utah-centric approach to it,” Smith Entertainment Group executive Mike Maughan said in an article by AP’s John Coon. “Because we have the Wasatch Mountains, because we have the Wasatch Front, we have so many different iterations or ways we can do it. We wanted to honor the sentiment of one of those top names of the last iteration (of fan voting) while also including a Utah-centric version of it.”

A unique feature is that when fans click to vote on their favorite name, it will reveal logos, jerseys and branding for that particular choice.

The permanent team name will be revealed ahead of the Utah Hockey Club’s 2025-26 home opener.





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Michael Bidwill Elected To Arizona Sports Hall Of Fame

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Michael Bidwill Elected To Arizona Sports Hall Of Fame


Bidwill’s Hall class includes U.S. soccer star Julie Ertz — wife of former Cardinal Zach Ertz — who is from Arizona and prepped at Mesa Dobson High School; six-time Major League Baseball all-star Paul Konerko, who prepped at Scottsdale Chaparral High School; University of Arizona basketball star Mike Bibby, who went to Phoenix Shadow Mountain High School; college football Hall of Famer Ricky Hunley, who went to the University of Arizona; former Diamondbacks GM Joe Garagiola Jr.; three-time Olympic swimming gold medalist Melissa Belote Ripley, who attended Arizona State; and the late Matt Shott, the former senior director of amateur hockey development for the Arizona Coyotes.

Michael Bidwill, after time as a federal prosecutor, began working for his family’s organization in 1996. His drive to get State Farm Stadium built, from the vote to approve it to its completion in 2006, was critical not only to the health of the franchise but also helping to create some $6 billion in economic impact for the Valley, including three Super Bowls, a Pro Bowl, college bowl games, and two NCAA men’s basketball Final Fours.

Bidwill is also a member of multiple NFL committees, including the Management Council Executive Committee.

That’s all aside from the work Bidwill has done as a leader in the Valley’s business community, including stints as the chairman to the Greater Phoenix Leadership and chairman of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council.

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Bidwill will be inducted into the Arizona Sports Hall of Fame, along with the rest of the Class of 2024/25, on April 10 at Chateau Luxe in Phoenix.



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Junior college defensive lineman Ezra Funa commits to Arizona

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Junior college defensive lineman Ezra Funa commits to Arizona


Arizona coach Brent Brennan and his staff have made good use of the JUCO route to fill out the Wildcats roster.

On Wednesday the UA landed a commitment from the College of San Mateo defensive lineman Ezra Funa for the class of 2025. Funa has two remaining years of eligibility and can sign on Feb. 5 when the next signing period begins

Funa is a 6-foot-3, 300-pound lineman from Santa Ana, Calif. He is ranked as the No. 102 junior college player in his class, including the No. 22 defensive lineman and No. 14 player from California. He had offers from Oklahoma State, Colorado State, Hawaii and Nevada among other schools.

Funa is the fourth player from the College of San Mateo to transfer to Arizona under Brennan. In 2024 Arizona brought in linebacker Cyrus Durham, cornerback Johno Price and wide receiver Jeremiah Patterson from the college.

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Funa was a year behind those players at College of San Mateo. Funa graduated from Mater Dei High School in 2023.

Patterson had the biggest impact last season out of that group, leading Arizona and the Big 12 with 596 return yards on special teams to go with 196 receiving yards.

Funa is the 10th defensive lineman to added bythe Wildcats this offseason, including Texas transfer (and former Wildcat) Tiaoalii Savea.



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