PART 1
NEW MEXICO—WHERE THE SOUTHWEST BEGINS
The Rio Grande and its resulting river valley have played a significant role in the development of the state’s wine-growing regions. Vacillating between the fourth and fifth longest river in North America due to its occasional course changes, the roughly 1,900-mile (3,058-kilometer) river begins in a small canyon of the Colorado Mountains. It flows south, cutting the Rio Grande Gorge and the White Rock Canyon of northern New Mexico before flowing into the open expanse of the Basin and Range Province and meandering further south to form the border between Texas and Mexico, ending its journey in the Gulf of Mexico through the Mexican Chihuahua desert.
In New Mexico, the Middle Rio Grande Basin, also known as the Albuquerque Basin, is one of the largest structural basins in the Rio Grande rift. Though the climate of this geographic feature is considered semi-arid today, there is evidence to suggest that around 12,000 years ago the region was wetter and more fertile. The basin relies heavily on the Rio Grande for irrigation and drinking water. Covering about 3,100 square miles (8,029 square kilometers), it is bound by the Sandia and Manzano mountains to the east, the Jemez Mountains to the north, the Rio Puerco on the west, and the Socorro Basin to the south.
Geological characteristics of the area include alluvial fans from mountains that form the eastern boundary of the basin as well as isolated volcanoes and mountains to the west depositing basalt and andesite rock along the west side of the basin. Alluvial sediment can be found from the adjacent highlands as well as fluvial sediments from southern Colorado and northern New Mexico.
New Mexico’s soils are characterized as rocky and sandy, providing excellent drainage, which helps to safeguard against rot deep within the roots. The Rio Grande valley is located in the lower plane of the state and is made up entirely of alluvial soils containing loose river sediments of clay and silt. The groundwater throughout the region generally has high salinity, which can have adverse effects on vines.
REGIONS
The state is home to three American Viticultural Areas (AVAs), including the Middle Rio Grande Valley, the Mimbres Valley, and the Mesilla Valley, which spills into Texas along the eastern border. In total, New Mexico has about 1,500 vineyard acres (607 hectares) planted, the majority of which are in the Mimbres Valley AVA.
Mimbres Valley
Located in the southwestern part of the state, the Mimbres Valley AVA was established in 1985. Spanning more than 636,000 acres (257,380 hectares), it is New Mexico’s largest viticultural area, both in geological boundaries and in overall plantings—accounting for more than half of the estimated 1,500 acres (607 hectares) planted in the state.
The majority of the vineyard plantings in the entire state are located near Deming, in the southwestern corner, and fed by the watershed of the Mimbres River between Deming and Silver City. Soils are predominantly alluvial from river deposits, including some clay and loam. Here, elevations are around 4,300 feet (1,311 meters) but can rise to 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) in other parts of the region. Considered to have a continental climate, the area is marked by hot, sunny summer days, cool nights during the growing season, and cold winters. The average rainfall for the Mimbres Valley is 9 inches (229 millimeters), thus making drip irrigation a necessity for vineyard growers.
Vivác Dixon vivacwinery.com
Just north of Santa Fe, this stunning winery escape is the creation of brothers Jesse and Chris Padberg, and their wives, Michele and Liliana, respectively. Growing up, the brothers had experimented with making fruit wines on the family farm. Still, it wasn’t until shortly after college that the two decided to begin their careers as winegrowers. In 1998, following classes and certifications through UC Davis and the International Wine Guild—an ongoing pursuit, which helps to shape their continued path toward quality wine—the brothers launched Vivác.
Located on a family property in the small town of Dixon about 26 miles (42 kilometers) southwest of Taos, the winery is framed by the rugged sandstone cliffs of the Barrancos Blancos, which juts out over
The Vivác vineyards lie just beneath the cliffs of the Barrancos Blancos
the rolling New Mexico scrub-brush terrain. The mountain reveals a picture of the rich mineral content of the region’s soils. Spanish for “white canyon” or “white ravines”, this mini-mesa, which gradually rises from the southern bank of the Rio Grande, was created when water and sediment became trapped by basalt flows from volcanic uplifts. Compressed by enormous amounts of hydraulic pressure, the towering rock formation emerged when the seas receded millions of years ago, leaving an abundance of alluvial soils behind.
While the majority of their fruit is sourced from Luna Rossa vineyards in the southwestern town of Deming, the Padbergs also farm three separate estate plantings—all of which are organically farmed. In 1999, they planted the Fire Vineyard—which sits at 6,000 feet (1,829 meters) with French hybrids, including Léon Millot, Baco Noir, and Marechal Foch. The 1725 Vineyard sits at 5,800 feet (1,768 meters) and is planted to several varieties, including Grüner Veltliner, Petit Verdot, Pinot Noir, Meunier, Riesling, and red Arrandell. (The vineyard name relates to the year in which Francisco Martin settled the surrounding Embudo Valley.) The third vineyard is the Abbott Vineyard, a four-acre (1.6-hectare) vineyard of Syrah, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, and Riesling that was planted in 1989.
With the overall philosophy that wine is created in the vineyard, the Padbergs’ approach to winemaking is simply to usher the wines along to reveal the best expression of place and vintage. Notable wines include the 1725 Estate Vineyards Petit Verdot with notes of ripe blackberry and baking spices; the Abbott Estate Vineyard Syrah, with smoky tobacco and a silky, blackberry mouthfeel; and the bright and berryforward Rosé of Sangiovese.
Though fewer grapes are grown in east Texas, this region does have a reputation for producing quality hybrid varieties. The climate here is significantly more humid and subtropical, receiving an annual rainfall of about 60 inches (1,524 millimeters), the highest amount in the entire state. Severe thunderstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes are frequent in the region overall during the spring season; the summer is hot and humid in the east, while the coastal sections to the south receive cooling breezes from the Gulf of Mexico.
As the state is accurately associated with sweltering heat, it’s not surprising that the challenge during the growing season is a condensed time frame. Depending on where you are in the state, bud break may begin in early March, and in recent years, harvest has started as early as the last week of July.
Caliche soils in the Southwest
When it comes to similar soil types in the Southwest, one common thread you’ll find across this arid region is the presence of caliche, a whitish-gray or cream-colored soil layer of cement material, typically made up of calcium carbonate. The term “caliche” is Spanish, originating from the Latin “calx”, meaning lime. Caliche is known by many other names, the more common of which are calcrete, hard-pan, duricrust, and calcic soil.
This unique material is formed when carbonates in the soil are dissolved and leached by rainwater. In arid regions such as the Southwest, the water rapidly evaporates, or is absorbed by vegetation, leaving behind the carbonates to bind with other soil particles such as gravel, sand, clay, or silt. The result is either a soft, thin soil layer, often coating rocky soils, or a solid, hard-pan layer, ranging from a few inches to several feet in thickness. The softer caliche can impose some nutrient-related issues for crop growth, due to its elevated pH and the presence of bicarbonates, while the hard-pan layer offers poor soil drainage and poses a difficulty for root penetration. (Note that though the cement is primarily made of calcium carbonate, other known types of cement include magnesium carbonate, gypsum, silica, iron oxide, or a combination of these materials.)
Caliche layers are often found in calcareous soils with high pH, ranging from 7.5–8.5. These alkaline soils can limit the availability of phosphorus, iron, boron, zinc, and manganese since the solubility of these nutrients is reduced at high pH. This makes it necessary for grape growers to monitor micronutrient levels in the vines and amend nutrients as needed, particularly during the growing season.
Occurring commonly throughout the Southwest, caliche is also found in central and western Australia, in the high desert terrain of the Andes mountains in South America, in parts of Central America, including the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, and in eastern Saudi Arabia.
REGIONS
The phrase “everything is bigger in Texas” isn’t an exaggeration, especially when you consider that the state is roughly the size of France and Switzerland combined, plus a little bit of Germany. At 268,820 square miles (696,240 square kilometers), Texas surpasses France in area by more than 20,000 square miles (51,800 square kilometers). Knowing this makes it easier to put Texas in perspective when defining its wines
Phillips Vineyard
Brownfield, Terry County
Owned by: Tony and Madonna
Phillips
Established: 2015
Acres: 30 (12.1 hectares)
Soleado Vineyards
Seagraves, Yoakum County
Owned by: the Nelson family
Established: 2015
Acres: 10 (4 hectares)
Texas Hill Country AVA
Enchanted Rock Vineyard
Fredericksburg, Gillespie County
Owned by: John and Susan Curtis
Acres: 3 (1.2 hectares)
Robert Clay Vineyards
Mason, Mason County
Owned by: Dan and Jeanie
McGlaughlin
Established: 1996
Acres: 20 (8.1 hectares)
Tallent Vineyards
Camp Air, Mason County
Owned by: Drew Tallent
Established: 2000
Acres: 60+ (24.3 hectares)
McPherson Cellars
Lubbock www.mcphersoncellars.com
Reddy Vineyards
Brownfield, Terry County
Owned by: Vijay, Subada, and Akhil
Reddy
Established: 1997
Acres: 270 (109.3 hectares)
Parr Vineyards
Grit, Mason County
Owned by: Robb and Dilek Parr
Established: 2006
Acres: 20 (8.1 hectares)
Salt Lick Vineyards
Driftwood, Hays County
Owned by: Scott Roberts
Established: 2006
Acres: 60 (24.3 hectares)
Tio Pancho Vineyard (Bear Vineyards)
Bend, San Saba
Owned by: Noelle Montag
Established: 1996
Acres: 9 (3.6 hectares)
The son of Texas wine pioneer Doc McPherson, Kim McPherson has deftly slipped into his father’s shoes as one of the patriarchs of the
modern Texas wine industry. The Lubbock native received his undergraduate degree in food science before moving on to the University of California, Davis to study enology and viticulture. He worked for a few years at Trefethen Winery before returning to Lubbock in 1979 to be a winemaker for Llano Estacado Winery. During his time there, he made the first Texas wine to win a double gold medal at the San Francisco Fair. McPherson left Llano Estacado to pursue his own interests for a few years before joining CapRock as head winemaker in the late 1990s. He would stay here, making wine and consulting for up-and-coming producers before launching his brand, the eponymous McPherson Cellars label, in 1998. At the time, he used the CapRock facilities to build his brand, but severed ties as the producer continued to struggle, opening his winery and tasting room in 2008 out of the historic Coca Cola bottling plant in downtown Lubbock.
Today, McPherson Cellars produces about 15,000 cases and is one of the most widely recognized Texas producers in the country, with a substantial presence on retail shelves and restaurant menus throughout the state and distribution beyond Texas borders into seven states. Much of McPherson’s success is due to his business strategy of bringing wine to the general public at an approachable price (most of his wines retail for between $13 and $18). In contrast, the majority of the wines found throughout Hill Country tasting rooms are well above $30. To him, getting his wines into the hands of more consumers is what will ultimately win the day.
But McPherson has done more than make good wine at a reasonable price. He has also served as a mentor to any and every new winemaker seeking advice and assistance in the past decade. It’s a sizable list. In fact, ask any quality Texas wine producer who helped them get their start, and you’ll hear the name Kim McPherson. This generosity, combined with his business savvy, has been one of the driving forces behind taking the quality of Texas wine to the next level. It helps that those who he has mentored are doing their part to push the message forward and carry the weight as well.
McPherson was one of the first in the state to champion warm-climate varieties, including those from Southern France, Italy, and Spain. Among his choice varieties, he sees the most promise in Sangiovese, Carignan, Cinsault, Mourvèdre, Roussanne, Viognier, and Picpoul Blanc. Since the beginning, he has championed regionality for the High Plains, managing his father’s Sagmor Vineyards (13.5 acres—5.46 hectares—of
resembles a valley, the region is more of a basin comprising the headwaters for three distinct drainages, including the Sonoita Creek to the south, Cienega Creek to the north, and the Babocaman River to the east.
Surrounded by the popular tourist towns of Sonoita, Patagonia, and Elgin, Sonoita’s geography sits at elevations between 2,500 and 5,000 feet (762–1,524 meters). It is heavily influenced by its nearby mountain ranges, with a unique mixture of iron-rich reddish loam soils. Compared to the Willcox region to the east, Sonoita’s soils tend to be thinner and more shallow, forcing vines to take longer to get established. For grape growers, the early years of a vineyard are a game of patience. Once established, yields tend to be lower, but the quality of the fruit tends to reveal more structure and concentration. During the growing season, high temperatures range between 80 and 90°F (27–32°C), and average rainfall is 15–20 inches (380–500 millimeters), most of which occurs during monsoon season.
Some of the state’s most revered vineyards are located in Sonoita, including Callaghan Vineyards and Sonoita Vineyards. The region is home to more than a dozen wineries and tasting rooms of note, including Callaghan Vineyards, Dos Cabezas WineWorks, Rune Wines, Deep Sky Vineyards, and the new Los Milics Winery.
Willcox AVA
East of Sonoita, near the southeastern border of the state, the arid, dusty mesa of the Willcox region is a cornerstone for Arizona wine. Though it only received its official AVA designation in 2016, the district has long been one of the most productive growing regions of the state. Currently, it accounts for more than 70 percent of Arizona’s grape production. A large percentage of these grapes are planted on the “Willcox Bench”, an alluvial fan that elevates the vineyards along the historical Kansas Settlement farmland. The result: excellent grape-growing conditions.
The AVA covers a total area of 526,000 acres (212,864.6 hectares) within Graham and Cochise Counties, including the town of Willcox along with Kansas Settlement, Turkey Creek, and Pearce. The area is a shallow “closed basin”, separated from neighboring valleys by the Pinaleño, Dragoon, Chiricahua and Dos Cabezas mountain ranges. Most of the region’s vineyards are planted in the Sulfur Springs Valley and along the bases of the mountains in the area, at between 4,000 and 5,500 feet (1,219–1,674 meters). At this elevation, vineyards in the area can experience up to a 50-degree Fahrenheit variance (27.7° Celsius variation) in diurnal temperature during the growing season. This basin is reliant on its average rainfall of 13–18 inches (330–457 millimeters), most of which comes from heavy summer monsoons, to recharge its underlying aquifer. In contrast, the area surrounding it has year-round creeks and streams. The dry, desert climate benefits the grapevines by placing stress on them during the growing season, slowing the vegetative growth and adding complexity to the grapes.
The soils of the Willcox AVA are mainly alluvial and colluvial and composed of loam made up of nearly equal parts sand, silt, and clay. These loamy soils retain enough water to hydrate the vines while allowing sufficient drainage through to the aquifer. The soils are referred to as the Tubac, Sonoita, Forrest, and Frye soil types, and are not found to a great extent in the area surrounding the AVA. Compared to Sonoita, Willcox’s soils are generally more productive, though there is a high degree of variation from site to site.
Most vineyards in the Willcox AVA are harvested by machine
Willcox is home to roughly 1,000 acres (404.7 hectares) of vineyard, including the Al Buhl Memorial Vineyard, planted by Arizona wine pioneer Robert Webb in 1984, and now owned by Maynard James Keenan of Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards. Nearly two dozen wineries and tasting rooms are scattered throughout the region, including Bodega Pierce, Pillsbury Wine Company, Sand-Reckoner Winery, and Keeling-Schaeffer Vineyards.
For years, the Willcox area has been a rural agricultural area devoid of much tourism infrastructure. In fact, the primary road leading to the majority of vineyard sites wasn’t even paved until a couple of years ago. Producers and visitors alike had to make their way along open dirt roads that fast became muddy pits, where vehicles without four-wheel-drive would often get stuck. (Access improvements came thanks to forwardthinking producers, including Barbara and Dan Pierce of Bodega Pierce, who worked with the county to have the road paved.) More restaurants and guesthouses have sprung up in and around Willcox with the hope that they will transform the region into a weekend destination for visitors.
Verde Valley
Though the Verde Valley is not yet an official AVA, its location in the northwest part of the state boasts high elevations and ideal growing conditions, with ample water from the Verde River and well-draining soils.
Located in the red-rocked canyon lands of Northern Arizona, about two hours north of Phoenix by car, the region is home to the towns of Sedona, Jerome, Camp Verde, Cottonwood, Clarkdale, and Cornville, the geographic heartland of Arizona. The Verde Valley is part of Yavapai County, bordered in the northeast by the red-hued rock formations of Sedona, with the craggy rise of the Black Hills mountain range to the south, and, to the west, a rolling landscape peppered with the towering pines of the Prescott National Forest.
The region is home to a range of volcanic soils at higher elevations, leading to sandy and clay loam soils throughout the valley along with alluvial deposits near Oak Creek and the Verde River. The common thread for the Verde Valley with its compatriot wine-growing regions to the south is a layer of calcium-rich caliche deep beneath the topsoil. Vineyards in the Verde Valley can be found hugging the foothills of mountain rises at elevations hovering around 5,000 feet (1,524 meters) or near the valley areas of Oak Creek and the Verde River at around 3,400 feet (1,036 meters). Compared to Sonoita and Willcox, the Verde Valley is considered a lush, verdant desert region, with an abundant water source from its two primary rivers as well as a higher percentage of rainfall, which averages about 16–18 inches (404–457 millimeters) per year—mostly during monsoon season.
Winegrowing began taking off in the Verde Valley just after the turn of the millennium, starting with just a handful of vineyards and evolving to include more than two dozen wineries and tasting rooms spread throughout its 450 square miles (1,165 square kilometers). Though an application for AVA designation is still pending, the past decade has seen an increase in wine tourism that has revived the area’s small towns with new restaurants, shops, and accommodations. Its proximity to Sedona, in particular, has made it a perennial tourist favorite for winetasting excursions. Among the region’s top tasting rooms are Chateau Tumbleweed, Merkin Vineyards Osteria, Bodega Pierce, Caduceus Cellars, Page Springs Cellars, and the Southwest Wine Center.
Mavericks and pioneers
Although the three central growing regions of the state are relatively well defined, several other growers and producers have been experimenting in other parts of the landscape. These vineyard sites can be found on the outskirts of valleys and mountain areas, such as the Chino Valley, Young, Kingman, Williams and Portal, and the Chiricahua Mountains.
A donation from Caduceus Cellars owner Maynard James Keenan allowed students to plant their first acre (0.4 hectares) of a vineyard at the site near Clarkdale (they planted Negroamaro). As the program gathered momentum over the following years, the need to include a wine-production facility became a reality, and in 2013 the racquetball courts were transformed into a full-scale winery. What used to be the racquetball bays became a tank room, a barrel room, and a sleek, inviting tasting room. By 2014, the first class was graduating from the program with degrees in applied science in viticulture and enology.
In the past decade, the original one-acre (0.4 hectare) planting has grown in size to become 13 acres (5.3 hectares), all of which is planted, managed, and harvested by students who then produce their own wines, design their own labels, and formulate their own business plans for their own potential winery. The overall case production from the Southwest Wine Center is 2,000.
In 2015, the program opened its own tasting room, allowing the general public to taste the wines made by students. The tasting room is staffed by students who learn direct-to-consumer marketing as part of the college’s curriculum and have a chance to hone their customer service skills.
According to Michael Pierce, the Director of Viticulture and Enology for the Center, students get a clear, unbiased look at how a wine business is run, learning what it takes to do everything from planting a vine to understanding the licensing process and managing a wine club.
The course offerings at the Southwest Wine Center have attracted students with a mix of ages and life experiences—the average age of students in the
Vineyards at the Southwest Wine Center in the Verde Valley
program is 48. There are professionals looking for a career change studying alongside twenty-somethings looking to get in on the ground floor of a new career. By 2019, enrollment was at capacity, with 105 students entering in the fall.
Many graduates of the program have been hired by other Arizona wine producers including Chris Brinkmeyer at Pillsbury Wine Company, and Tom Messier with Rune Wines and Deep Sky Winery. Other graduates have launched their own wine brands in Arizona, including Valerie and Daniel Wood of Heartwood Cellars, and Mitch Levy of Burning Tree Cellars. Though perhaps not the original intent of the program, its steady stream of graduates has undisputedly become a boon for the Arizona wine industry, helping to fulfill its need for a skilled, educated workforce.
In addition, the Southwest Wine Center is equipped with a lab for wine analysis. This facility will eventually serve as a resource for Arizona’s wineries to use rather than sending samples to California, and become another source of revenue for the school. The college has also partnered with the University of Arizona’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences to create a data repository, which will help catalog vineyard data, grape variety successes, and best practices. This will eventually become a community resource for state-specific information about grape growing and winemaking. In 2020, it launched an additional Certificate in Brewing Technology to support many of the craft beverage industries in the region.
Today, the Southwest Wine Center is not only an educational hub for aspiring viticulturists and enologists and a destination for wine enthusiasts out to sample the fruits of student labor, but also serves as a model for other wouldbe wine university programs in emerging wine regions around the country.
Chateau Tumbleweed
Clarkdale
www.chateautumbleweed.com
Chateau Tumbleweed is perhaps the best example of a winery bred out of Arizona’s modern wine industry. Each of its four owners, all originally from the west coast, has a unique experience with some of the state’s top producers. Joe Bechard, a journalist-turned-winemaker, earned his chops at Page Springs Cellars before making wine at Alcantara Vineyards and Winery and helped grow the Merkin Vineyards label for Maynard James Keenan. His wife, Kris Pothier, label artist and marketing guru, worked tasting room, shipping, and sales for Page Springs Cellars and Caduceus Cellars. Jeff Hendricks, vineyard manager and graphic designer, also
