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New Mexico wine
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New Mexico wine
New Mexico is home to the oldest wine-making tradition in the United States. Its American wine production lies primarily along the Rio Grande River flowing from the capital of Santa Fe, by the city of Albuquerque with its surrounding metropolitan area, and through the Mesilla Valley. Viticulture also thrives in the Mimbres River valley. In 1629, Franciscan friar García de Zúñiga and a Capuchín friar named Antonio de Arteaga planted the first wine grapes in Santa Fe de Nuevo México, in what became the current Middle Rio Grande Valley AVA. Consequently, wineries reside in the aforementioned Middle Rio Grande Valley, as well as the Mesilla Valley AVA and the Mimbres Valley AVA.
Viticulture took hold since its 1629 introduction, in the middle Rio 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."
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 providing sacramental wine to primarily Catholic as well as other Christian churches. 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 with Italian, Spanish and French wineries to make hybrid grape varieties.
New Mexico now has more than 60 wineries producing 900,000 US gallons (3,400,000 L) of wine annually.
In 1598 Santa Fe de Nuevo México was founded, after Don Juan de Oñate led Spanish colonists to the upper valleys of the Rio Grande near Española, New Mexico. Santa Fe, New Mexico was established in 1610, and further south near the Mesilla Valley Franciscans followed the colonists to minister Christianity to the Native Americans and Hispanos of New Mexico. The Franciscans who settled along the Rio Grande needed to hold daily mass; central to each mass was Holy Communion, a sacrament that includes the consumption of wine, which upon transubstantiation, becomes the blood of Christ shed for the redemptions of sinners. 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 a sherry-like taste, was 18% alcohol, and 10% sugar. The wine was transported in heavy jugs resembling those in Roman times. The stoneware jugs held approximately 2.6 to 3.6 gallons (9.8 to 13.6 liters) each and were sealed with a cork or wood plug. The jugs needed to be sealed with a green glaze, applied to the inside of the jug. This glaze would have contained lead 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 a Piro pueblo just south of modern-day Socorro. The cuttings brought by the missionaries were a Vitis vinifera grape variety known as the Mission grape. This variety is still grown in New Mexico today.
As El Camino Real arrived in New Mexico, the city of Albuquerque 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 near Barelas, Corrales, Old Town Albuquerque, Sandia Pueblo, Los Ranchos, and Isleta Pueblo. This region is now referred to as the Middle Rio Grande Valley AVA.
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New Mexico wine
New Mexico is home to the oldest wine-making tradition in the United States. Its American wine production lies primarily along the Rio Grande River flowing from the capital of Santa Fe, by the city of Albuquerque with its surrounding metropolitan area, and through the Mesilla Valley. Viticulture also thrives in the Mimbres River valley. In 1629, Franciscan friar García de Zúñiga and a Capuchín friar named Antonio de Arteaga planted the first wine grapes in Santa Fe de Nuevo México, in what became the current Middle Rio Grande Valley AVA. Consequently, wineries reside in the aforementioned Middle Rio Grande Valley, as well as the Mesilla Valley AVA and the Mimbres Valley AVA.
Viticulture took hold since its 1629 introduction, in the middle Rio 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."
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 providing sacramental wine to primarily Catholic as well as other Christian churches. 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 with Italian, Spanish and French wineries to make hybrid grape varieties.
New Mexico now has more than 60 wineries producing 900,000 US gallons (3,400,000 L) of wine annually.
In 1598 Santa Fe de Nuevo México was founded, after Don Juan de Oñate led Spanish colonists to the upper valleys of the Rio Grande near Española, New Mexico. Santa Fe, New Mexico was established in 1610, and further south near the Mesilla Valley Franciscans followed the colonists to minister Christianity to the Native Americans and Hispanos of New Mexico. The Franciscans who settled along the Rio Grande needed to hold daily mass; central to each mass was Holy Communion, a sacrament that includes the consumption of wine, which upon transubstantiation, becomes the blood of Christ shed for the redemptions of sinners. 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 a sherry-like taste, was 18% alcohol, and 10% sugar. The wine was transported in heavy jugs resembling those in Roman times. The stoneware jugs held approximately 2.6 to 3.6 gallons (9.8 to 13.6 liters) each and were sealed with a cork or wood plug. The jugs needed to be sealed with a green glaze, applied to the inside of the jug. This glaze would have contained lead 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 a Piro pueblo just south of modern-day Socorro. The cuttings brought by the missionaries were a Vitis vinifera grape variety known as the Mission grape. This variety is still grown in New Mexico today.
As El Camino Real arrived in New Mexico, the city of Albuquerque 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 near Barelas, Corrales, Old Town Albuquerque, Sandia Pueblo, Los Ranchos, and Isleta Pueblo. This region is now referred to as the Middle Rio Grande Valley AVA.
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