Jessica Dupuy - The Wines of Southwest U.S.A.: A Guide to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado

THE INFINITE IDEAS CLASSIC WINE LIBRARY

Editorial board: Sarah Jane Evans MW, Richard Mayson and James Tidwell MS

There is something uniquely satisfying about a good wine book, preferably read with a glass of the said wine in hand. The Infinite Ideas Classic Wine Library is a series of wine books written by authors who are both knowledgeable and passionate about their subject. Each title in The Infinite Ideas Classic Wine Library covers a wine region, country or type and together the books are designed to form a comprehensive guide to the world of wine as well as an enjoyable read, appealing to wine professionals, wine lovers, tourists, armchair travellers and wine trade students alike.

Port and the Douro, Richard Mayson

Cognac: The story of the worlds greatest brandy, Nicholas Faith

Sherry, Julian Jeffs

Madeira: The islands and their wines, Richard Mayson

The wines of Austria, Stephen Brook

Biodynamic wine, Monty Waldin

The story of champagne, Nicholas Faith

The wines of Faugres, Rosemary George MW

Cte dOr: The wines and winemakers of the heart of Burgundy, Raymond Blake

The wines of Canada, Rod Phillips

Ros: Understanding the pink wine revolution, Elizabeth Gabay MW

Amarone and the fine wines of Verona, Michael Garner

The wines of Greece, Konstantinos Lazarakis MW

Wines of the Languedoc, Rosemary George MW

The wines of northern Spain, Sarah Jane Evans MW

The wines of New Zealand, Rebecca Gibb MW

The wines of Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, Caroline Gilby MW

Sake and the wines of Japan, Anthony Rose

The wines of Great Britain, Stephen Skelton MW

The wines of Chablis and the Grand Auxerrois, Rosemary George MW

The wines of Germany, Anne Krebiehl MW

The wines of Georgia, Lisa Granik MW

The wines of South Africa, Jim Clarke

The wines of Southwest U.S.A., Jessica Dupuy

THE WINES OF
SOUTHWEST
U.S.A.

A guide to New Mexico, Texas,
Arizona, and Colorado

JESSICA DUPUY

Jessica Dupuy is a freelance journalist who has covered wine and food for more than a decade. She has written about Texas wine, specifically for Texas Monthly magazine since 2007. In addition, she is a regular contributor as a wine and food columnist for Forbes.com and has written for Imbibe, GuildSomm, SevenFifty Daily, Wine Enthusiast, Southern Living, and National Geographic Traveler. She is a Certified Sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, an Advanced Certificate holder with the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust, and a Certified Specialist of Wine and Spirits through the Society of Wine Educators.

Jessica has also covered food trends for various publications throughout her career and is the author of Uchi: The Cookbook, The Salt Lick Cookbook: A Story of Land, Family and Love, Jack Allens Kitchen Cookbook, The United Tastes of Texas and The United Tastes of the South through Southern Living magazine, and Tex-Mex: Traditions, Innovations, and Comfort Foods from Both Sides of the Border.

Dupuy holds a B.A. in History from Trinity University and an M.A. in Journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She is a member of Les Dames DEscoffierAustin. Dupuy lives in the Hill Country town of Dripping Springs, just west of Austin with her family. Among the things she enjoys most are cooking with her kids, Gus and Ashlyn, sharing great wine with friends, and fly-fishing with her husband, Myers. Follow her on Instagram at @jessicandupuy and on Twitter at @JessicaNDupuy.

Copyright Jessica Dupuy, 2020

The right of Jessica Dupuy to be identified as the author of this book has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in 2020 by

Infinite Ideas Limited

www.infideas.com

All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of small passages for the purposes of criticism or review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise, except under the terms of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 or under the terms of a licence issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP, UK, without the permission in writing of the publisher. Requests to the publisher should be emailed to the Permissions Department, .

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 9781909652996

Brand and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Cover: Kenny Braun

Photos: Noisy Water Winery p. 9; Vivc Winery pp. 28 and 40; Jessica Dupuy p. 73; An Pham pp. 129 and 148; Jennelle Bonifield p. 156; Newport Photography p. 151; Armando Martinez p. 195; Kurt Weddle p. 53; Yavapai College p. 174.

Maps by T.J. Tucker

INTRODUCTION

In conjuring up the American Southwest, the imagination swarms with visions of arid, windswept terrain punctuated by vast ranches framed by barbed-wire fences and scattered with grazing cattle. The region evokes images of terraced rock formations and jagged mountain peaks towering in an array of vibrant, earthen reds and browns against the backdrop of radiant blue skies, with sunsets that fade these radiant colors into a brilliance of pastel pinks, oranges, and purples. Its the birthplace of the American frontier, a playground for outdoor adventurers, and the inspiration for countless watercolor canvases and vivid oil-painted landscapes. Indeed, this romantic imagery has swayed myriad settlers to the region for centuries. And while few would have ever associated this enchanting region with wine, it was here that the first Vitis vinifera vines in the United States were planted. However, it wasnt until the 1970s that the modern wine industry of the American Southwest was born. By and large, Texas has led the pack in terms of overall growth in vineyard plantings and production since then. But New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado have also evolved, with compelling stories and promising wine industries of their own.

I have to admit, taking on the project to share the story of wine in a quadrant of America that is most associated with cacti, cattle, and cowboys was a bit daunting. Its a task I met with conflicting emotions. On the one hand, I was ecstatic to have an opportunity to share with readers a corner of the country that Ive called home for my entire life. As a fifth-generation Texan from the central Hill Country area of the state, Ive traveled to all corners of its borders and continue to marvel at its vast geographical and cultural diversity. In my lifetime, Ive clocked thousands of miles on various vehicle odometers on repeated road trips throughout New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado. (I even spent a couple of summers as a horse wrangler on a Colorado ranch, but thats a story for another book.)

Inspired by its endless recreational outletsfrom hiking and fly-fishing to white-water rafting and skiingthe Southwest continues to lure me out for seasonal adventures with my own young family. The rich, one might say romantic, history of the wild west is what led me to focus my studies on history in college, and later capture the regions unique, deeply-layered flavors in a few different cookbooks. In short, the American Southwest holds a very special place in my heart.