Cactus Cru founder Timo Geis’ meandering path didn’t follow the line of some traditional winemakers. Born to a French father and an Indian mother who had settled in Sedona, he grew up between Old World vineyards and red rock desert. While wine was always on the table, it wasn’t part of the family’s business. That was something he would invent for himself.
Geis’ globe-trotting adventures include restaurant experience in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, and Kentucky while attending college, along with time spent in the wineries of France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. But his first pivotal moment came thanks to a mentor at a wine shop in Seaside, Florida, who nudged him from casual interest to serious study and inspired him to earn the Court of Master Sommeliers Level 1 and Level 2 certifications. “Although I was already in the industry, that was really foundational for me,” he notes, “and brought me to a deeper understanding of wine from a traditional and historic standpoint.”
Another turning point came in Alsace, when Geis returned to France after completing his undergraduate degree. There, he took a harvest internship at Domaine Bott-Geyl, a winery that uses “incredible, all organic grapes.” On his days off, he explored other cellars. He recounts one memorable moment where he discovered a producer fermenting Muscat, Gewürztraminer, and Riesling on their skins in Georgian earthenware qvevri. “They were very raw wines, adding nothing at all, and it was kind of an epiphany,” he says. For someone who had always gravitated toward organic, local food, that philosophy of “native yeast and wild fermentation spoke to me,” says Geis. “I went to about 15 European natural wine festivals in a seven-month span to meet more winemakers and try their wines, and that’s how I fell in love with that style.”
Back in Arizona, he started as an importer and distributor, bringing in the kinds of European low-intervention wines that had inspired him. His first pallets landed in Phoenix in late 2019, and he built relationships with places like Sauvage, Restaurant Progress, and Century Grand. “As a new low-intervention wine importer who was just getting started, I was doing pretty well. And then the pandemic hit.” With dining rooms shuttered and inventory sitting still, Geis “needed to be creative and figure something out.” As he explains, “Even though I was really into European wine, I thought I should look into Arizona grapes. If I’m going to be locked down in Sedona, I might as well try to do that wild, fermented, natural wine style here.” That idea led him to enroll in the oenology program at the Southwest Wine Center at Yavapai College. He also started visiting vineyards across the state, and what he found surprised him. “I was kind of skeptical of Arizona wines,” he admits, noting that “in your sommelier studies, you romanticize the famous regions. But I realized how unique our high desert grapes are, and not just to Arizona. You’ll see high desert regions in Argentina, where there’s also very big diurnal swings with hot days and cool nights that preserve aroma and acidity. And once I realized the quality of the grapes grown in Arizona, I wanted to showcase that.”
Today, Geis sources grapes from five vineyards, three in southern Arizona and two in northern Arizona. He insists on organically farmed fruit so that the native yeast populations are alive and healthy, and keeps alcohol levels moderate. He’s meticulous about sanitation in the cellar, a discipline drilled into him by another mentor, winemaker Michael Pierce, the director of viticulture and enology when he attended Yavapai College. “What’s most important to me,” he sums up, “is high-quality grapes, wild ferments, and giving the grapes a clean environment to do what they do best.”
It’s low-intervention winemaking in the truest sense, trading polish and predictability for something rawer and more honest. The result is wine that reflects the actual conditions of the high desert — the intensity of hot days, the acidity-preserving cool nights, the rain-shadow terroir that makes Arizona’s wine country unlike anywhere else.
Each name in Cactus Cru’s portfolio carries a story. There’s “Gosse Négoce,” a Cabernet Sauvignon whose name is a playful riff on French slang (“gosse” for kid or dude, “négoce” for négociant winemaker). And homages to family appear in “Grâce à Vous” (“thanks to you”), a sparkling Cabernet decorated with a photo of his parents, and “Dance France,” a Barbera-Syrah blend honoring his late father and his dancewear company.
In the Phoenix area, look for Cactus Cru at restaurants like Lom Wong, Valentine, Kid Sister, Gertrude’s by Tarbell’s, and Bacanora, along with local shops such as Sauvage, Monsoon Market, Far Away Wine and Hidden Provisions, Hidden Track Bottle Shop & Wine Bar, and La Grande Orange Grocery & Pizzeria. “It’s very local-focused right now, so you won’t find them at places like Total Wine,” Geis adds, “but we’re working on an entry-level wine so I can distribute them more widely.” That same spirit carries into his role as a board member of the Arizona Wine Growers Association, where he helps promote festivals to push Arizona wine into that wider conversation.
Geis, however, is quick to point out that Cactus Cru is bigger than one person. “It’s not just about the wines, it’s about community and relationships,” he says, as he gratefully mentions the many willing hands who have shown up at harvest time—teams from spots like Monsoon Market, Bacanora, Arcadia Meat Market, and Joy Lush Club. “Keeping the community involved as we grow is one of the most important things to me, because I want Arizona wine to continue to be alive and thriving,” says Geis. “I have such respect for all the great wineries that paved the way, and now I’m just happy to be a part of it.”
written by: christina barrueta
photo courtesy: cactus cru