This radio show aired April 18^th, 2020 on KIVA 1600am and 93.7fm. The week’s show focused on our local wineries to show our support for our hard-pressed winemakers as they work to stay operational during this trying time. Most local wineries have implemented wine pickup strategies, although wine tasting, other than virtual is not currently available.

I’m also providing an overview of New Mexico wine country and how you can pick up good local wines. So this virtual trip should cover cities and landmarks with which most of our listeners are already familiar. The Spirits of New Mexico is an hour-long wine show which features a wine from around the world that we sample on-air. The country of origin, wine region and sub-region and the history of the area and winery are covered.We are using the same format for our local wine sampling as well.

New Mexico Wine Regions

There are three defined American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) in New Mexico and two recognized unique regions that currently are not registered AVAs. The NM Wine Growers Association (NMWGA) divides the state into four geographic regions so we’ll begin there.

• Northern region includes Santa Fe, Farmington, and Taos. Most wineries are located in or near one of these cities. The Embudo Valley is pending approval of AVA status
• Central region includes Albuquerque, Bernalillo, Los Lunas and Belen. Many wineries benefited from close proximity to the Rio Grande, irrigating with its waters. This region contains the Middle Rio Grande viticultural area or MRG AVA, established in 1988.
• Southern region includes Las Cruces, Deming and Lordsburg. The Mimbres Valley AVA includes Deming and Silver City and out to Lordsburg, and was established in 1985. The Mesilla Valley includes Las Cruces-Mesilla down to El Paso, and was established in 1985.
• Southeastern region includes Tularosa, Alamogordo and Ruidoso. The Tularosa Basin is a recognized wine growing region that also has challenging weather.

New Mexico Wine History

The area around Socorro was the first area in the US where wine using Vitis vinifera grapes was successfully made. The generally agreed date is 1629. Vitis vinifera grapes are the Old World grapes of Europe and Asia. The Mission grape or Listan Prieto is still grown in New Mexico. It is related to the Palomino grape, a principal grape in making Sherry.

The mission at San Antonio de Padua located near Socorro, smuggled cuttings from a northeastern Mexico vineyard and began growing grapes and making wine in violation of King Phillip of Spain’s proclamation that only Spanish wine could be used in the New World. Financing his Armada was very costly. Franciscan friar García de Zúñiga and Capuchín monk Antonio de Arteaga braved the king’s wrath to make wine not compromised by a long sea voyage and overland transit.

Other accounts have suggested the cuttings were smuggled from Spain, but that seems unlikely as a ship’s manifest and the security for anything departing for the Americas would be subject to search. The same thing would occur at the destination port of Vera Cruz. Meanwhile there were already vineyards in Mexico previously ordered planted by Hernando Cortez in 1525. Since the terroir would be similar these New World clones would stand the best chance of becoming rooted in New Mexico soil.

Not to mention this was during the Spanish Inquisition. Monty Python claimed nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition, but I’ll bet Garcia and Antonio did and kept very closed-mouth about their activities.

By the 1800s vineyards were planted from Bernalillo to Socorro and Las Cruces to El Paso. Around 1868, Jesuit priests brought Italian wine making skills and later founded a winery in 1872. Between 1870 and 1880 wine production soared from 16,000 to 908,000 gallons. And that is some serious soaring as by then New Mexico had twice vineyard acreage of New York State. NY State is now the third largest wine producing state after California and Washington

Those conditions all changed in the 20^th century as the river that was our great benefactor began serious flooding. Due to the cold winters, the vines were head-pruned (head-trained) and buried in winter. However the soils became heavily alkaline turning the ground almost white. That and constant Rio Grande flooding prevented protecting vines in winter.

Prohibition was the coup de grace with recovery only beginning in the 1970s. The impact of prohibition caused serious problems for all American wineries. California, with the best soil and growing conditions and a much larger infrastructure recovered first. For New Mexico it was much later.

Modern Wine History

In the modern era, Anderson Valley Vineyards was founded in 1973. Maxie Anderson was also a world famous balloonist. He and his friend Ben Abruzzo successfully made a transatlantic flight in a hot air balloon. His Balloon Blush wine was a popular favorite. He was tragically killed in a flight over West Germany while trying to deploy the gondola. The Anderson-Abruzzo Balloon museum is named in their honor.

In 1977 both La Vina Winery near El Paso and La Chiripada in Dixon were founded. Both are still going strong. Santa Fe Vineyards followed in 1982 but was later bought by Black Mesa & Estrella Del Norte.

Balagna Winery was founded in mid-1980, but now closed. John Balagna was a nuclear chemist involved in the Manhattan Project who was also a winemaker. He assisted other winemakers in getting their start in making wine. His La Bomba Grande red blend celebrating the Trinity blast generated a lot of controversy. Glow in the dark wine, who knew?

It was in the mid-1980s that our two biggest wineries came to New Mexico. Gruet Winery planted vineyards in Engle, NM, near Tor C and opened a winery in Albuquerque. The founders were from Champagne, France where the parent company, Gruet et Fils, continues to make wine.

The Lescombes family opened the St. Clair winery in Deming, which I toured some years ago. It’s very large and very impressive and was renamed D. H. Lescombes Winery & Tasting Room. The St. Clair bistros in Las Cruces and Albuquerque have been renamed D. H. Lescombes Winery & Bistro. The winery was formerly Southwest Wines. They have very large vineyard holdings located in Lordsburg, NM.

Many boutique wineries were established in the 1990s and the renaissance was fully on. It was from one of these that our featured wine is from.

Milagro Vineyards Corrales, NM     http://www.milagrowine.com/

My personal favorite NM winery and that comes with 20 years of enjoying many cases of their wines. Some of the things that make Milagro special:

• “Handcrafted from vine to wine” is not just a slogan, it’s what they do
• Only French oak used for aging and bottles held one year before release
• Employ the sur-lie technique with no malolactic fermentation (MLF) on selected white wines, making wonderfully crisp wines
• Broad range of red and white wines for a small winery
• Vineyards locally managed; Old Church Road estate vineyard, plus several Corrales & Rio Rancho plots
• Hold library wines to see how wines age and make available later at winery
• First New Mexico winery to earn a Jefferson memorial award; now has several
• Coolest label with Wilbur the Pig & the best tee shirts (I’m wearing one now)
• Winemaker Rick Hobson, a passionate, dedicated vigneron (In France a vigneron is a grape grower and wine maker.)

Current Wine List

• Corrales White Blend, Riesling, Chardonnay, Semillon, and Gruner Veltliner.
• Rose (sold out)
• Corrales Red Blend, Merlot, Syrah, Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Syrah, and Red Cuvée Field blend
• Library wines: varies

What we are tasting: Milagro Vineyards 2013 Chardonnay ABV 13%, $32 at winery

The 2013 Chardonnay, now with four (4) years of bottle age, has developed additional complexity. It is a classic Chardonnay in the “Old World” style with round texture, restrained richness, aromas of citrus, quince and pear, flavors of lemon, mineral and pear, tangy acidity and a long finish. Limited availability and only at the winery. (winemaker comments).

We enjoyed this wine with triple-cream brie. Well made Chardonnay-based wines age well, yielding more elegance and refinement. This is true of many white Burgundy wines. This wine did not disappoint.

Buying Local – never more important

Even with the impact of Covid-19 our New Mexico winemakers are working hard to maintain and keep their unique wines flowing. Many of our winemakers believe in our terroir and its ability to make great wines. Many local wine lovers prefer sweeter wines so a high percentage of wine festival wines are sweet, but those preferring dry wines will find a wealth of such wines with Milagro being at the top of that list.

However nearly all winemakers do make dry or drier wines. Those with a focus on interstate commerce of wine focus on more popular styles, such as Gruet and DH Lescombes. Boutique wineries focus on local consumption and make wines the locals will love. Milagro wines being very popular sell out quickly.

How to order wine for pickup:

1. Go to nmwines.com; the NM wine growers website.
2. Find your local wineries, which are grouped by region
3. Go to the wineries that most interest you. The overview and winery details can help
4. Select the wines that interest you and follow their requirements for pickup

Cheers, salud and Slainte!