State Fair Wine Competition Winners

Monday, September 14

This year due to scheduling conflicts, I was unable to judge the State Fair wine competition, held by the NM Vine & Wine Society, of which I’m a member. Instead I helped set up the display of the winners in the agriculture building at the fairgrounds. It would have been more fun if the bottles used in the display weren’t all empty. Apparently, I missed that event as well. Darn!

The numerous multiple award winners included Ponderosa Valley, Luna Rossa, Black Mesa, and Southwest wines (St. Clair/DH Lescombes/San Felipe). The entire list of winners is available at the NMSU website. It was fun draping medals around the bottles and affixing ribbons to Best-of-Show winners, but now I’ll actually have to go out and buy the wines that most interested me. As Dickens once said, “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times” . . . sigh!

Now is a good time to visit New Mexico’s wineries, even though grape harvesting and crushing may still be going on. In the Deming area, the St. Clair and Luna Rossa tasting rooms are “must stops”. In the Albuquerque area, Ponderosa Valley in the heart of the Jemez Mountains is a wonderful fall destination. The St. Clair Bistro near Albuquerque’s Old Town will have their medal winners on display, with tasty snacks and cheese plates to go with them.

In the Velarde/Dixon area south of Taos, Black Mesa, Vivac, and La Chiripada are all within miles of each other amid breathtaking views of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. In Corrales, Corrales Winery and Milagro Vineyards continue to win my personal awards for quality NM wines.

Visit a winery, make some new friends, and take home your own “wines of enchantment”. Oops, was that a subtle plug? Maybe so. You can learn more about our fantastic New Mexico wines and wine history by ordering a copy of my book, “Wines of Enchantment”, by clicking here.