The first vineyards in North America were grown in New Mexico, and the nearly 400-year tradition continues today at a winery within Albuquerque city limits.
John Calvin, owner of Casa Rondeña Winery, said he began making wine after a successful career as an architect and musician. He said his decision to start a winery was influenced by the time he spent abroad.
“While I was living in Spain as a musician in my early 20s, I was drinking the local wine,” he said. “I became interested even in my early twenties in wine-growing and winemaking.”
Casa Rondeña is the fourth-biggest producer of wine in New Mexico, and one of the newest, as it opened 14 years ago. Calvin said the vineyard has won multiple medals from around the nation for its wines.
“We don’t think we need to compete with anyone else in the world because we are making great wines right here,” Calvin said. “Casa Rondeña, as far as our dry red wines are concerned, is the most decorated winery in the entire Southwest.”
Unlike other New Mexican wineries, Casa Rondeña features a manor and courtyard for guests to drink wine in, watch musical events, and even have a wedding ceremony.
Casa Rondeña produces about 6,000 barrels of wine every year, Calvin said. The wine can be found in any specialty liquor store in the state.
“We like you to buy it here,” Calvin said. “We are everywhere, but the best place is to come here and have a nice experience, because we have such nice people working here.”
Jessica O’Callahan, one of Casa Rondeña’s bartenders, said she loves working at the winery, and that it’s a pleasure to work in a relaxed ambiance.
“The environment is beautiful, and it’s a good learning environment,” O’Callahan said. “I am really trying to learn more about wine and the whole process.”
Calvin said making wine is beyond complex, and for each type of wine there is a slightly different process. Put simply, red wines are fermented with the grape pulp, while white wines are fermented without. Calvin said these differences in fermenting lead to subtle taste differences.
“White wines tend to be more vibrant, tart, and a little bit more acidic,” he said. “The flavors tend to not last as long in your mouth. They tend to be brighter and fruitier. Red wines, you think about them being much more complex in flavor. Red wine is aged for a long time.”
Calvin said that even though New Mexico does not seem a likely place to grow grapes, the environment lends itself to excellent winemaking. Grapes do not require a lot of water, and he said the only trouble in New Mexico comes from sudden temperature changes.
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“New Mexico is associated with dry climates, which are actually really good for growing grapes,” he said. “The problem we have in New Mexico is we have dramatic swings in temperature. When we have rapid and dramatic temperature changes both in the spring and in the fall, we lose grape vines every year.”
Calvin said that, despite Casa Rondeña’s multiple awards, some wine enthusiasts question the quality of New Mexican wine.
“People have been accustomed to California cabernet, and that’s what they think the cabernet is all about,” Calvin said. “We make cabernet really well here in New Mexico, but it’s very, very different. It’s really wonderful for young folks to be interested… It gets people aware we’re making great wine in New Mexico.”
Calvin said the wine community in New Mexico is more accepting and less elitist than that of California.
“One of the great things about the wine scene in New Mexico, it’s the opposite of what is in California,” he said. “You don’t really have to know anything to have a really great experience. Wherever your particular taste is is where you should be – you shouldn’t let anyone tell you what you ought to be drinking.”
Josh Rades, a patron of the winery, said he does not see wine as high-class snobbery either, contrary to how it’s usually depicted in popular media.
“I am 25, and not an elitist, and I don’t feel uncomfortable at all,” Rades said.
Casa Rondeña will participate in the Bernalillo Wine Festival this weekend, but Calvin suggests people come to the winery instead for a tasting.
“It’s great for students to go out there, but it is also hot, and kind of raucous, kind of wild — it’s hot and sweaty,” Calvin said. “You’re drinking wine in the hot sun, and that’s not very cool. One of the nicest things to do in the Labor Day weekend is to come here. It’s a lot cooler, it’s quiet, and it’s peaceful.”
Casa Rondeña Winery
733 Chavez Rd.
Los Ranchos de Albuquerque
505-344-5911
