Tool’s Maynard James Keenan to open new winemaking facility in Arizona

Maynard James Keenan – frontman for Tool, A Perfect Circle and Puscifer – has announced plans to open a winemaking facility in Cottonwood, a city in the Yavapai County of Arizona.

The Caduceus Cellars Hilltop Facility, which will open next month on October 6, will be run by the same team that oversees Keenan’s winery Caduceus Cellars and his Merkin vineyard that are located in Jerome – approximately a 15-minute drive from the new Cottonwood location. AZ Central reports that the complex will also include a new restaurant named the Trattoria, a tasting room dubbed the Ventura Room and a gelateria named Pocket Park.

In a press statement, Keenan said that the opening of this new facility was something he’d been “working towards” for “many years”.

“One of the things I discovered when it comes to bridging the hurdle of exposing people to Arizona wine is context,” he said. “So, by putting a place like this in the middle of Cottonwood with five acres of vines, to winery facilities with a full greenhouse and a full kitchen, all the context becomes visible. You… break down the barriers of whatever preconceptions you have of Arizona wine.”

Though best known for his music, Keenan has been working in winemaking for two decades – following in the footsteps of both his grandparents and grand-uncle, who made wine together in Northern Italy. He founded Caduceus Cellars in 2004, and has also previously served as owner and part-owner of Stronghold Vineyards in the Sulphur Springs Valley and Los Angeles restaurant Cobras & Matadors.

Next month, Keenan will reunite with Tool to co-headline the third and final day of the heavy metal festival Power Trip with Metallica in Indio, California. Guns N’ Roses, Iron Maiden, AC/DC and Judas Priest are also set to perform.