New Mexican vineyards were and remain a critical part of American history, thanks to the colonial Spanish! It’s kinda sad that in our history books, the concentration always seems to be Jamestown or the Pilgrims. And yet 20 years before all that, there’s a huge colonial effort underway in the western part of the country that totally outclassed anything that would happen on the east coast. So let’s straighten this unfair situation out a bit and the subject of wine, or ale or booze &c is of course always a good way to do that...
BTW, that IS a wine-tasting place right over there...
Origins of Viticulture in New Mexico
In 1598, Don Juan de Oñate led Spanish colonists to the upper valleys of the Rio Grande. Franciscan monks followed the colonists to minister Christianity to the Native Americans. The colonial route followed the Rio Grande and was known as the Camino Real de Tierra Adentro (Royal Road of the Interior Lands). The Franciscan monks who settled there needed to hold daily mass; central to each mass was Holy Communion, a sacrament that included the consumption of wine, representing the blood of Christ shed for the redemptions of sinners. The monks needed a local source for their sacramental wine since the next nearest supply was several months' travel away. The region of the Upper Río Grande is where grape vines were first introduced to New Mexico (Yay!)
Before grapevines were planted in New Mexico, the Franciscan monks 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 amphora 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. 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. At the time, Spanish wine exports provided one fourth of Spain's foreign trade revenue. Franciscan monks 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 monk, planted the first vines at Senecu, 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, and guess what the vines in front of you happen to be...?
Expansion of the Wine Industry in New Mexico
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 from Bernalillo to Socorro in central New Mexico and from Las Cruces to El 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 their Italian wine making techniques, founding a winery in 1872. In 1870, New Mexico produced 16,000 US gallons (61,000 Liters) of wine. By 1880, New Mexico produced 908,000 US gallons (3,440,000 Liters). The 1880 census indicated that New Mexico had twice the grapevine area of New York, a more developed state. New Mexico was fifth in the nation in wine production.
New Mexico State University has long played a part in the cultivation, expansion, and education of grape growing and winemaking in New Mexico. In 1920, at the beginning of Prohibition 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 other grape varieties and grape growing styles. Zinfandel, in a Burgundy–style wine, 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.
Decline and Rebirth
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 1978, small commercial wineries opened their doors, creating wine from mostly French-Hybrid grape varietals. These cold-hardy grapevines prospered in northern New Mexico. By the 1980s, production of wine was up and a rush on New Mexican vineyard land began, led by a group of European investors who were attracted to New Mexico’s still underdeveloped wine market and inexpensive land. Between 1982 and 1983, 2,200 acres (3 sq miles) of vineyards were planted around Las Cruces. Many more vineyards and extensive acres of grapes have been to the present day and here now is the Tularosa Basin's contribution...!
Of interest, note that there is probably little likelihood here of a flood. Next item - no Europeans here - owners are just plain old Americans... References: Personal knowledge and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Mexico_wine