Do You Like California Wines? Thank New Mexico

California and New Mexico are known for some very tasty wines but New Mexico actually was the first to jump on the wine making band wagon.

Even in the hotter, drier areas of southern New Mexico ... Las Cruces and Old Mesilla for example ... wineries are easily found and they make some of the best not only in the USA but in the world.

California may have surpassed New Mexico in terms of how much wine is made ... in 2020, California produced over 80% of all the USA's wine, 635,477,242 gallons ... but the land of enchantment still did it first.

New Mexico is the cradle of US viticulture; the first wine was made from grapes grown on the banks of the Rio Grande by Spanish missionaries in the 17th Century, several hundred years before vines reached California. Wine production grew over the years, and by the late 19th Century, the wine industry in New Mexico was thriving. - wineseracher.com

These days, wineries and wine fests abound all over New Mexico. If you're in the El Paso - Las Cruces area, you're not far from some grape-y goodness.

Not only is the wine good but a trip along Highway 28 is always a really nice drive. It's even better on a motorcycle. Just enjoy the wine responsibly and/or bring along a designated driver.

With my wife and our "whiner" friends, that ... believe it or not ... is usually me. I'm serious, it is. Don't you roll your eyes at me. Reason being, I don't like wine and if there's any beer available at all, it's usually some kind of fancy pants "craft" beer and I don't like those either.

If there's no Coors Light or tequila handy, then "gimme the keys Lisa".