New Mexico blog
My wife Melissa and I were traveling to Santa Fe, New Mexico to visit my recently retired parents, so we decided to visit a couple of wineries. I was familiar with the Gruet sparkling wines, but had heard there were some good wines being made by some smaller producers as well.
I had booked a tour and tasting of Gruet on our way from the airport in Albuquerque with the intention of starting our anniversary vacation off with bubbles. Shannyn the tasting room manager greeted us warmly and we started the sampling session. Our tasting began with the N.V. Gruet Brut Sauvage - the nose was full of tart green apple, and followed through on the palate with an extremely acidic assault on my palate. Tasting this sauvage without at least a little foreplay just seemed wrong. I munched on a wine biscuit in hopes that my second sip would be friendlier. It somewhat worked, and I was able to pull out some very pleasant yeasty notes, but this wine was just begging for food. Next up was the N.V. Brut with which I have been familiar for several years and it did not disappoint. It is an extremely well done crisp style made from 75% Chardonnay and 25% Pinot Noir. It is an outstanding value that equals many other bubblies at twice the price. We moved on to the Blanc de Noir which showcased a lightly floral mix of red berries along with some Jonna Gold apple tones. Next up was the Rose, my favorite style of bubbles. It was a fairly rich, round, full bodied style that had elegance as well as complexity. The fact that a rose this good comes in at about $15 around the country blows my mind. With the Blancs de Blancs extra dry being almost identical to the Brut with the addition of jus a hair more sugar in the dosage that tops up the bottles before distribution. Perhaps we should have started with this one instead of the brutal Sauvage. This extra dry is like foreplay for the palate, allowing one to ease in to more advanced wines. It does not come across as sweet at all though, simply softer than the Brut. Delicious. I couldn't wait to have some with brunch on some Sunday in the future. We kept escalating the residual sugar level with the Demi-Sec; however it did not come across as cloying or too sweet as many Demi-Secs tend to. It is a mouthful of yeasty golden delicious apple that has a rich creamy texture on the palate.
At this point I had to munch a few more biscuits to cleanse the palate for the reserve style bubblies. The 2006 Blancs de Blancs is a superbly complex, yeasty wine with a hint of coffee on the nose and palate that complements the tart green apple tones that seem to dominate the Gruet Blancs Style. Next was the 2003 Grand Rose. WOW! This is a monster of a rose! The intense smoky nose was filled with raspberries, cherries and plums, but the smoke is what makes this a really interesting rose. They add barrel fermented Pinot noir to the sparkling wine to give it its own unique style and character, and boy is it a winner. I would rather drink this than a dozen other roses at twice the price.
Although the Grand Rose was a hard act to follow, Gruet succeeded with the 2001 Gilbert Gruet Cuvee. This barrel aged beauty has an intense nose followed by not just a complex palate, it was a full on explosion of complexity that just does not quit. It's hard to pick out specific tones and flavors, so suffice it to say that it is a spectacular sparkling wine that would put up a fight against any other bubbly in the world, and it would cost considerably less.
After taking a moment to take in the heavenly Grand Rose and the Gilbert Gruet Cuvee, we moved on to the still wines with the 2007 Chardonnay. Lots of prickly apple tones on the nose, a lovely rich mouth-feel, and a finish that goes on and on kept me coming back for more. A clean ripe style of Chardonnay, but very well balanced. Next up was the 2006 Pinot Noir. Very light color, with a nose of tart cherries. Once on my palate, it was not without redeeming characteristics of smoke and again the tart cherries. Shannyn explained to me that 2006 had been a tough harvest with lots of rain as she poured me the 2007 Pinot Noir. The light ruby, rhubarb color belied the powerful aromas of ripe cherries, plums, and even a tinge of chocolate and smoke. The wine was a mouth filling explosion of smoky cherry pie. The finish was elegant and well balanced with just a bit of fine tannin. Quite simply one of the best Pinots I have tried this year. Shannyn followed this up with the 2008 Pinot that had just been bottled. It seemed really tight and a rather monolithic. Lots of potential, but I need to taste it again after it settles down to get a true feel as to whether or not it will surpass or even equal the delightful 2007. The last wine in the lineup was the 2007 Syrah. The nose and palate were showing some nice meaty characteristics alongside some smoky blueberry tones. Big, but closer in style to a northern Rhone. Syrah would seem to have some good potential in New Mexico.
All in all, Gruet’s wines are very well crafted in a mostly old world style that only makes sense with the family's history of producing Champagne and wine in France. Gruet has been producing wine commercially for 20 years in New Mexico, lured by the possibility of cheap land and near perfect growing conditions. High elevation tempers the hot days with very cool nights, allowing the grapes to maintain high levels of acidity along with the ripe fruit. New Mexico was theoretically the first place the Spanish planted European varietals so there was quite a bit of history, although not much commercial planting. I, for one am glad the Gruet family took a chance on a virtually unknown growing region. Their wines deserve to be tried.
We spent the next several days hiking, watching sunsets, eating, drinking and just enjoying life before venturing to another winery. As we crossed over the Rio Grande, the suburban mall world gave way to quaint farms and village of Corrales. And, Home of the Milagro Winery. Upon entering the beautiful gardens surrounding the tasting room and winery, we were met by Rick Hobson, owner and winemaker. Rick wasted no time, and brought us into the winery (not much bigger than a garage). The smell of wine and barrels hit us as we walked in from the intense New Mexico sun. Rick explained to us his philosophy that great wine is grown in the vineyard, not made after the fact. Winemaking is pretty standard, so I'll leave out the boring stuff. Suffice it to say that the major difference in Rick's winemaking is that he macerates before fermentation instead of at the same time. His logic being that the bitter tannins from the pips are alcohol soluble and therefore one could extract color and flavor from the whole clusters of grapes without extracting the bitterness of the pips if done before the introduction of alcohol by way of adding yeast to start the fermentation. Certainly an interesting and unique method. As we entered the tasting room, Rick opened bottles of all 7 of his wines. We started with the 2008 Chardonnay. We were greeted by a lean, Burgundian take on the much maligned Chardonnay. Very rich and complex without being buttery, along a bed of tart green apple. The French oak was certainly not the star of the show, rather a bit player in a lovely ensemble.
Next up was the non vintage Corrales White table wine (a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Riesling and others). The nose was full of pineapple, lemon, stone fruits and clove. The rich, slightly spicy exotic fruit on the palate makes this a delightful white table wine.
Moving on to the non vintage Corrales Red table wine (Merlot, Zin, Cabernet) a pleasant nose of red pepper gave way to a soft, supple blend of red and black fruits and eucalyptus. The finish was persistent yet soft. The 2008 Zinfandel now being poured for us was very light in color, and the nose was predominantly red fruit and white pepper. On the palate, it is a delicate, feminine style of Zinfandel with bright acidity to balance the 14% alcohol. Not Jammy or heavy at all. Instead it is a very drinkable style of Zin, which would be happy to harmonize with food instead of stomping all over it in the typical California style.
The 2007 Cabernet Franc was also lighter in color than many I have seen, but the nose was quite expressive with lots of plum, bell pepper, and violets. The mouth-feel is rich yet light and the finish goes on and on. Again, the French oak, as with all Rick’s wines takes a backseat to pure elegant winemaking.
Next up is the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon. It showed a plumy, brick color in the glass and the nose was a pleasant blend of smoky bell pepper. The palate followed through with smoky raspberry tones, a hint of earthiness, and good balanced acidity. The last wine of the day was the 2006 Merlot. The darkest of all the Milagro wines, with a deep ruby tone. It is a rich round Merlot with good complexity of fruit and big bold tannins. Overall, Milagro's wines are on the lean side for those that tend to enjoy big new world wines. His use of French oak is omnipresent, yet somehow subtle at the same time, the wines are decidedly old world in style, and are of very high quality right across the board. Although Milagro has very little distribution, he does ship to states that allow it.
Although it is far too soon for me to make any judgments about New Mexico terroir, it would seem that the high desert climate of central and northern New Mexico has huge potential for producing wines of the highest quality. The dry climate and intense sun of the days combined with cool, crisp nights seems to be able to balance the ripe fruit with a good dose of all important acidity.
Big Thanks to Shannyn Harrison at Gruet - www.gruetwinery.com
And to Rick Hobson at Milagro Vineyards - http://milagrovineyardsandwinery.com/
- David Armin-Parcells
