Mesilla Valley AVA
Mesilla Valley is an American Viticultural Area located in the Mesilla Valley landform that extends along the Rio Grande River encompassing an area from the vicinity north of Las Cruces, New Mexico within Dona Ana County on a north–south axis toward the Mexican border, across the state border to El Paso County, Texas and the vicinity of El Paso. It was established as the nation's 76th, and the initial appellation in New Mexico and Texas, on February 14, 1985, by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, Treasury after reviewing the petition submitted by Mr. George Newman, President of the Las Cruces Chapter of the New Mexico Wine and Vine Society, proposing a viticultural area located in New Mexico and Texas named "Mesilla Valley."
Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel and Syrah are the most important grape varieties planted there. The plant hardiness zones are 8a and 8b. The climate in the Mesilla Valley is dry and hot.
History
The Mesilla Valley derived its name from the Spanish explorer Don Juan de Oñate who led expeditions to the area in 1598, and named a local indigenous village Trenquel de la Mesilla, from which the valley became known as Mesilla Valley. "Mesilla", means "little table" or "nightstand" describing the plateau landform on which the village was situated. Although viticulture began in nearby El Paso as early as 1650, grapes were first planted in the Mesilla Valley only in the early nineteenth century, near the town of Doña Ana. According to evidence provided by the petitioner and acknowledged by ATF, grapes have been planted in the Mesilla Valley for over 100 years. The first vineyards were planted in Doña Ana, the oldest settlement in the valley. The first grapes grown were of the Mission variety from Mexico. The area known as Mesilla Valley was depicted on a nineteenth century map, based on the explorations of 1849–1852, by Captain R.B. Marcy of the 5th U.S. Infantry, under orders from the U.S. War Department. A photocopy of that map was submitted by the petitioner.The area of the Mesilla Valley is also depicted on United States Geological Survey maps. According to a magazine article submitted by the petitioner, that appeared in "New Mexico Magazine" in March 1982, the fertile Mesilla Valley was once dotted with wineries, typically small and family run.
Terroir
Topography
Elevations within the viticultural area range from approximately 3,700 feet to 4,200 feet above sea level and in the mountains outside of the viticultural area elevations reach up to above sea level. To the east of the Mesilla Valley viticultural area is the Fort Bliss Military Reservation. Also to the east are the Organ, Doña Ana and Franklin Mountains. To the west lie the Portillo, Robledo and Sierra de las Uvas Mountains and the Aden and Sleeping Lady Hills. Much of the eastern and western boundaries are found along the elevation contour lines. The petitioner claimed and ATF agrees that these contour lines appropriately mark the transition from valley-foothills to dry land mesas where water availability is poor and soil types differ notably. The northern border of the valley ends at Tonuco Mountain where the river valley narrows. To the south lies the New Mexico, U.S.A.-Mexico international border. The area to the south in Mexico consists of mountains and arid plains. While most of the irrigated land in the viticultural area is found at less than above sea level in elevation, some areas within it reach above sea level. The higher mesa areas and mountainous elevations of the Mesilla Valley above have been excluded from being within the boundaries of the viticultural area since very few grapes are grown in these locations. The irrigation water available from the Rio Grande River watershed surrounds most of the prime farmland that makes up the viticultural area. At the higher elevations of the viticultural area, water must be pumped from wells to irrigate the land.Soils
The soils found within the Mesilla Valley differ from those found in thesurrounding mountain, foothill and dry mesa land areas outside of the viticultural area. The soil associations within the viticultural area are predominantly derived from the Glendale-Harkey series. Soils from the Glendale-Harkey series are stratified, deep, well drained, nearly level soils that are formed in alluvium. The surface layer is loam or clay loam and the layers
below are clay loam and very fine sandy loam. These soils are formed on floodplains and stream terraces. Soils to the east and west of the viticultural area tend to be more steeply sloped and contain more sand and stone. At the higher mountainous elevations located outside of the viticultural area the soil is formed in residium from sandstone. It contains rock outcroppings and is generally shallower. It tends to be hilly to extremely steep and contains igneous rock land and limestone rock land associations.