| Wine region | |
 New Mexico's AVAs | |
| Official name | State of New Mexico |
|---|---|
| Type | U.S. StateAppellation[1] |
| Year established | 1912 |
| Years of wine industry | 396[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Sub-regions | Mesilla Valley AVA,Middle Rio Grande Valley AVA,Mimbres Valley AVA.[2] |
| Total area | 78 million acres (121,298 sq mi)[3] |
| Size of planted vineyards | 1,200 acres (490 ha)[4] |
| Grapes produced | Cabernet Sauvignon,Zinfandel,Sangiovese,Pinot noir,Ruby Cabernet,Nebbiolo,Dolcetto,Refosco,Barbera,Merlot,Petite Sirah,Syrah,Tempranillo,Cabernet Franc,Mourvèdre, Gewurztraminer,Chardonnay,Chenin blanc,Malvasia bianca,Muscat Canelli,Pinot gris,Viognier,Riesling,Muscat of Alexandria,Orange Muscat,Sauvignon blanc, Baco noir,Chambourcin,De Chaunac, Leon Millot,Marechal Foch,Seyval blanc,Vidal blanc,Villard blanc[2] |
| No. of wineries | Over 42[1] |
New Mexico is home to the oldest wine-making tradition in theUnited States. ItsAmerican wine production lies primarily along theRio Grande River flowing from the capital ofSanta Fe, by the city ofAlbuquerque with itssurrounding metropolitan area, and through theMesilla Valley. Viticulture also thrives in theMimbres Rivervalley. In 1629,FranciscanfriarGarcía de Zúñiga and aCapuchín friar named Antonio de Arteaga planted the first wine grapes inSanta Fe de Nuevo México, in what became the currentMiddle Rio Grande Valley AVA. Consequently, wineries reside in the aforementioned MiddleRio Grande Valley, as well as theMesilla Valley AVA and theMimbres Valley AVA.[1]
Viticulture took hold since its 1629 introduction, in the middleRio Grande and the surrounding area, and by the year 1880 grapes were grown on over 3,000 acres (1,214 ha), and wineries produced over 1,000,000 US gallons (3,800,000 L) of wine. The editor of the Socorro bulletin predicted in 1880 that "We see in the present attention given to grape culture, an important and growing industry which, in a few years, will assume proportions of no ordinary nature."[5]
The wine industry in New Mexico declined in the latter decades of the nineteenth century in part due to flooding of the Río Grande.Prohibition also forced many wineries to close, while others remained operational providingsacramental wine to primarilyCatholic as well as otherChristianchurches. The modern New Mexico wine industry received significant support in 1978 when a government-sponsored study encouraged winegrowers to grow New Mexican heritage grapes, and to work in collaboration withItalian,Spanish andFrench wineries to makehybrid grape varieties.[6]
New Mexico now has more than 60 wineries producing 900,000 US gallons (3,400,000 L) of wine annually.
In 1598Santa Fe de Nuevo México was founded, after Don Juan de Oñate ledSpanish colonists to the upper valleys of theRio Grande nearEspañola, New Mexico.[7]Santa Fe, New Mexico was established in 1610, and further south near theMesilla Valley Franciscans followed the colonists to ministerChristianity to theNative Americans andHispanos of New Mexico. The Franciscans who settled along the Rio Grande needed to hold dailymass; central to each mass wasHoly Communion, a sacrament that includes the consumption of wine, which upon transubstantiation, becomes the blood ofChrist shed for the redemptions ofsinners. The friars needed a local source for their sacramental wine since the next nearest supply was several months' travel away. In this region of the Upper Río Grande is where grape vines were first introduced to New Mexico.
Before grapevines were planted in New Mexico, the Franciscans had wine shipped from Spain. The sacramental wine was light pink in color, had asherry-like taste, was 18%alcohol, and 10%sugar. The wine was transported in heavy jugs resembling those inRoman times. Thestoneware jugs held approximately 2.6 to 3.6 gallons (9.8 to 13.6 liters) each and were sealed with acork or wood plug. The jugs needed to be sealed with a greenglaze, applied to the inside of the jug. This glaze would have containedlead that leaked out into the wine during prolonged exposure to heat or to the acid in the wine.[citation needed]
Grapevine planting in New Mexico was initially hindered by Spanish law which in 1595 forbid the exportation of Spanish grapevines to protect the Spanish agriculture industry.[citation needed] At the time, Spanish wine exports provided one fourth of Spain's foreign trade revenue. Franciscans chose to ignore this economic law and smuggled vines out of Spain into New Mexico around 1629. Fray García de Zúñiga, a Franciscan, and Antonio de Arteaga, a Capuchín friar, planted the first vines at aPiropueblo just south of modern-daySocorro. The cuttings brought by the missionaries were aVitis vinifera grape variety known as theMission grape. This variety is still grown in New Mexico today.
AsEl Camino Real arrived in New Mexico, the city ofAlbuquerque was established to serve as an outpost for all of the towns and pueblos in the central Rio Grande. Wine was grown in these old towns, including nearBarelas,Corrales,Old Town Albuquerque,Sandia Pueblo,Los Ranchos, andIsleta Pueblo. This region is now referred to as theMiddle Rio Grande Valley AVA.
Between 1633 and 1800, numerous events took place which threatened the wine industry in New Mexico. Several pueblo revolts and hard winters threatened the grapes, but by the 1800s New Mexico had emerged as wine country. In 1800, vineyards were planted fromBernalillo toSocorro in central New Mexico and fromLas Cruces toEl Paso,Texas in the southern part of the state. In 1850, New Mexico became a territory of the United States. In 1868,Jesuit priests settled in New Mexico and brought theirItalian wine making techniques, founding a winery in 1872. In 1870, New Mexico produced 16,000 US gallons (61,000 L) of wine. By 1880, New Mexico produced 908,000 US gallons (3,440,000 L). The1880 census indicated that New Mexico had twice the grapevine area ofNew York, a more developed state. New Mexico was fifth in the nation in wine production.[8]
New Mexico State University has long played a part in the cultivation, expansion, and education of grape growing andwinemaking in New Mexico. In 1920, at the beginning ofProhibition in the United States, Giovanni Giorgio Rinaldi took over production of Christian Brothers Winery in Bernalillo. He enlisted the help of faculty at New Mexico A & M College, in Las Cruces, now New Mexico State University. With their help, Rinaldi improved grape production and experimented with othergrape varieties and grape growing styles.Zinfandel, a grape from EuropePrimitivo, was the result of experimentation with grape varieties by Rinaldi and New Mexico A & M. Rinaldi remained Christian Brother's Winery manager until 1933 when prohibition ended.[8]
At the turn of the twentieth century, the Río Grande and its tributaries experienced extensive flooding. In 1926, the first Río Grande flood occurred that impacted the vineyards throughout the grape growing region, from Bernalillo to El Paso. Prohibition began in 1919, and only a small amount of medicinal alcohol could be legally produced and sold. Though the sale of wine was hindered, the grapevine acreage doubled between 1920 and 1930. In 1943, the largest Río Grande flood of the century destroyed vineyards throughout New Mexico. Vineyards that had been producing wine for fifty years were destroyed. What remained of the old commercial wine industry in New Mexico never recovered from these floods.
By 1977, small commercial wineries opened their doors, creating wine from mostly French-Hybrid grape varietals. These cold-hardy grapevines prospered in northern New Mexico. The first of these wineries to open wasLa Viña Winery, now the oldest continually-operating winery in New Mexico.[9]La Chiripada Winery, in Dixon, NM planted its vines in 1977, the first vines to be planted in Northern New Mexico since prohibition. They opened with their first vintage in 1981, and remains family-operated to this day.La Chiripada Winery is the oldest continuously-owned winery in New Mexico.
In 1981, the Oppenheimer Corporation began marketing plots of "vineyard" land in theArmendariz Ranch, near Engle, which drew Hervé Lescombes and his family fromBurgundy, France. Many moreEuropean investors were to follow suit, attracted to the inexpensive land and underdeveloped wine market. Due to the lack ofwater rights, and the great distance forirrigation, the land was deemed unfit for farming and many investors went bankrupt or pulled-out. Hervé Lescombes continued buying better-suited portions of land across southwest New Mexico, planting again in 1982. By 1984,St. Clair Winery opened their winery and first tasting room, quickly becoming the largest winery in New Mexico. Today, Hervé Lescombes' sons, Florent and Emmanuel, own and operate 5 locations across New Mexico, with over 180 acres of family-ownedvineyards.
Between 1982 and 1983, 2,200 acres (3 sq mi) of vineyards were planted around Las Cruces. By 1986, there were 7,000 acres across New Mexico, falling to 700 acres by 1989. Many more vineyards and extensive acres of grapes were planted until present day.
