“I’ve been working towards this moment”: Tool’s Maynard James Keenan is opening a new ice cream parlour, a trattoria, a winery and his own tram line

Tool/Puscifer/A Perrfect Circle frontman Maynard James Keenan is opening an ice cream parlour, a restaurant, a winery and his own tram line in Arizona.

The new complex on a hilltop in Old Town Cottonwood will also include a tasting room, retail space, a greenhouse and a vineyard.

According to the azcentral website, The Merkin Vineyards Pocket Park Gelateria will be located at the entrance to the 7 acres  site on the former site of a Masonic Lodge, and, alongside their sweet treats, customers can purchase ‘a token for the Hilltop Tram that will transport them to the top of the development, a nod to the area’s copper mining past.’

Keenan has issued a statement about his new venture, which is expected to open on October 6.

“In the many years I’ve been working towards this moment, one of the things I discovered when it comes to bridging the hurdle of exposing people to Arizona wine is context,” he says.

“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, and you kind of break down the barriers of whatever preconceptions you have of Arizona wines.”

The Merkin Vineyards Hilltop Winery & Trattoria will be open from 11am to 8pm Sundays through Thursdays, and from 11am to 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays.

The Merkin Vineyards Pocket Park Gelateria, meanwhile, will be open 11am to 7pm Sundays through Thursdays, and from 11am to 8 pm on Fridays/Saturdays.

Source: loudersound.com