The Mesilla Valley AVA is an
American Viticultural Area
An American Viticultural Area (AVA) is a designated wine grape-growing region in the United States, providing an official appellation for the mutual benefit of winery, wineries and consumers. Winemakers frequently want their consumers to know abo ...
located primarily in the state of
New Mexico
)
, population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano)
, seat = Santa Fe
, LargestCity = Albuquerque
, LargestMetro = Tiguex
, OfficialLang = None
, Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
with a small area in the state of
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
.
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
explorer
Don Juan de Oñate
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
* Don (river), a river in European Russia
* Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
* Don, Dang, a v ...
arrived in the area in 1598 and named a
Native American village in the valley ''Trenquel de la Mesilla'', from which the valley as a whole became known as
Mesilla Valley
The Mesilla Valley is a geographic feature of Southern New Mexico and far West Texas. It was formed by repeated heavy spring floods of the Rio Grande.
Background
The fertile Mesilla Valley extends from Radium Springs, New Mexico, to the wes ...
. Although
viticulture
Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...
began in nearby
El Paso
El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...
as early as 1650, grapes were first planted in the Mesilla Valley only in the early twentieth century, near the town of
Doña Ana. The climate in the Mesilla Valley is dry and hot.
See also
;General
*
New Mexico wine
New Mexico has a long history of wine production, within American wine, especially along the Rio Grande, from its capital Santa Fe, the city of Albuquerque with its surrounding metropolitan area, and in valleys like the Mesilla and the Mimbres ...
*
Texas wine
Texas has a long history of wine production. The sunny and dry climate of the major winemaking regions in the state have drawn comparison to Portuguese wines, in addition to other regions in Europe like Spain, France, and Italy. Some of the earli ...
;Wineries
*
La Viña Winery
La Viña Winery is an American winery in La Union, New Mexico. It was established in 1977 and is the oldest continuously running winery in New Mexico. The winery was bought by Ken and Denise Stark in 1993. They moved the winery, originally located ...
*
St. Clair Winery
References
American Viticultural Areas
Geography of New Mexico
Geography of Texas
New Mexico wine
Texas wine
1985 establishments in New Mexico
1985 establishments in Texas
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