Black Mesa Winery and Cidery — Attraction in New Mexico

Well I was naughty I was buying a single bottle of Black Beauty Chocolate flavored wine, a treat for myself that I have been putting off for a long time, when I ran into one of my very dear old Kitty friends and she wholeheartedly agreed that I should buy more. Her human counterpart Alek helped with the tastings, because as we all know cats don't have opposable thumbs but also because she decided to take a nap. Alek was a blessing in disguise today. Although Alek truly made the entire day worth the trip and it was really him that convinced me to buy more because of his amazing knowledge base and sales skills, it was his personable nature that cinched the sale. One of the wine makers, who is also a home goods craftsman who creates amazing and artistic furnishings from recycled wine casks etc... (candle holders, coat racks, tables, etc... which I can't wait to buy when he starts selling them), stopped in and suggested the Chocolate Wine Sauce. Alek also suggested the wine/cider clubs so I signed up and because I bought 6 bottles and became a member I got a 20% discount on my order. He also mentioned that if I wouldn't utilize the club then if I bought a half case (6 bottles) I'd still get 5% discount and 10% discount if I bought a case (12 bottles). After getting out to the car, sitting and waiting for it to warm up, I ended up going back in for a bottle of Chocolate Wine Sauce, just because Alek was so awesome.

I look forward to my next trip there.

Thank you again Alek!!!

P.S. The dessert was made with the Wood Nymph Reisling then the whole thing drizzled with the Black Beauty...

The gentleman serving wine when we stopped by was wonderful, friendly, and interesting. The tasting room and outdoor sitting area were beautiful. But it's with great regret that I admit that these are the worst wines I've ever tasted - and I tasted about 10 of the wines since I was with a group. Not a single wine was palatable, among wide-ranging varietals, both red and white. Every single wine tasted bizarrely sour, almost tasting of ammonia, and I wasn't alone in that opinion. I don't know if the argon they used to seal the bottles had this effect, or they let some wines get way too hot, or even maybe some wild yeast somehow infected all of their wines, but it was really, really bad wine. I even like sour beer, but this stuff was just undrinkable. I find it impossible to believe these wines won medals in competitions if it was what I drank when I visited. I really wish I liked it, I drive by the winery...

It was a little tricky pulling into Black Mesa since it's right off of a busy two lane highway. I was thankful we were heading north to make pulling in and out a bit easier. But the drive through that canyon on our way from Santa Fe to Taos was worth the stop alone!

The hosts were friendly and took time to share stories about how they came to own this lovely vineyard and why this was the perfect spot for them. They also encouraged us to explore the trails on the property and enjoy the ancient petroglyphs.

The prickly pear cider probably tasted even better since we could enjoy it under the canopy of flowering trees on their porch while hummingbirds darted...