New Mexico Wineries and Vineyards

New Mexico Wineries & Vineyards

wine New Mexico's sun-soaked soil and cool high-desert nights frame the modern return of wine making to the oldest wine producing region in the country. High desert climate and ideal soil feed Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Johannesburg Riesling, Merlot, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel and other classic grapes and fruits to produce award-winning wines.

The first grapevines planted in what is now the state of New Mexico were brought in 1629 to Senecu, a Piro Indian pueblo south of Socorro, by Fray Gracia de Zuniga, a Franciscan, and Antonio de Arteaga, a Capuchin monk. San Antonio de Padua Mission, at Senecu, was located on the east bank of the Rio Grande, slightly north of the present small village of San Antonio. The cuttings brought by the missionaries were a variety of Vitis vinifera, commonly called the "mission grape." This variety is still grown in New Mexico today. Historians think it is a European variety from Spain, called Monica.

These same historians generally agree that the first California vines were planted in 1769 at the Mission of San Diego de Alcala.

Wine production began at Senecu in 1633 and continued for over 40 years, providing the sacramental wine for New Mexico.

By 1800, New Mexico was wine country. By this time, a strip along the Rio Grande extending roughly from Bernalillo to Socorro and from the vicinity of Mesilla to El Paso had well-established vineyards.

By 1812, raids by nomadic Indians were having such a dramatic effect on trade that wine was the only revenue-producing product. Annual production from New Mexico wineries was estimated at 1,600 gallons.

The 1880 census indicated that New Mexicans had 3,150 acres of grape vines, almost double the figures shown in that year for New York State. Wine was such a popular beverage that by 1884 New Mexico was fifth in the nation in its production—almost a million gallons annually.

The Rio Grande and the weather were formidable adversaries of the early New Mexico vineyards. By the turn of the century, the Rio Grande had deposited enough sediment along its bed to elevate the channel above the surrounding terrain. Floods occurred frequently and the groundwater reached the surface of the soil converting once fertile land into a swamp. Grapevines developed root-rot, and alkaline deposits coated the vines, lowering yields.

From a high of almost a million gallons a year, wine production fell to 296,000 gallons in 1890, 34,208 in 1900, and 1,684 in 1910. No legal wine was reported in 1920.

The rebirth of the New Mexico wine industry began in 1978. New Mexico now has 26 wineries and 12 tasting rooms, producing almost 350,000 gallons of wine a year. The state's wine industry is once again thriving.