Noisy Water Winery

The Santa Fe Tasting Room

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Did you know we have a tasting room in Santa Fe!? Located just off of the historic Santa Fe Plaza, 219 W. San Francisco St is a one of a kind experience. Do we need to say more? ↓ A warm and welcoming space to enjoy a glass of wine before dinner in the plaza, explore some new wine varietals, share a charcuterie board with friends, and see some beautiful NM original art. Plan Your Visit!

Sep 26, 2019 at 1:00 PM Permalink Comments (1)

It's a Zoo Out Here!

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The Barn Doors Have Opened! and turned out there was our own little farm inside! Over the last several months we have made quite a few additions to the Family, and they're ready to meet you! As always Beans (everyone's favorite donkey) will be the first to greet you, but now you'll see a few more faces at Enchanted Vine in Alto!   Here's the entire crew! 4 miniature horses: Bordeaux Blanc The paints are unnamed 3 Goats: Snoop Dre Wayne 1 Donkey: Beans (the Diva) and a whole flock of chickens, silkies, ducks, & guinea fowl   Come see us soon and meet all the new animals!

Sep 18, 2019 at 11:00 AM Permalink

A Look Inside the Crush Pad

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Head Winemaker, Jasper Riddle walks us through the process of how whole berries are made into juice that is then turned into wine on the crush pad, at Noisy Water Winery!  *no feet were used in the crushing of these grapes

Sep 11, 2019 at 10:56 AM Permalink

Sunset at the Vineyard in Engle, NM

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Watch the sun set at the vineyard! Desert thunderstorms were circling us all evening...a beautiful end to the day.

Aug 22, 2019 at 2:49 PM Permalink

Brix Testing at the Engle Vineyard

During harvest we continually test the brix level (sugar content) of our grapes. Head Winemaker, Jasper Riddle explains how we measure brix and what it means in the vineyard.

Aug 16, 2019 at 7:28 AM Permalink

Wine Terms 101, Learning the Tasting Room Lingo

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At Noisy Water Winery, we make wine, grow our grapes, and take our craft seriously. In fact, our mission statement says exactly that! It also states that we believe people should drink wine for fun! Not for prestige or approval from others.  That being said, there are some commonly used wine terms that can make discussing wine seem a bit intimidating to some. Letting fancy language scare you away from wine could lead to a huge disaster -- like missing out on some of the best wines you’ve ever had in your life.   That’s why we put together this list to help you decode 10 basic wine terms (and ease your wine anxiety at your next tasting).  Acidity Acidity generally refers to the tart, sour, crisp, or fresh tasting characteristics of wine. Have you ever drank a refreshing glass of lemonade that made your mouth pucker or salivate? The same concept applies to wine. A wine with a high acid level will have a lower pH than a wine with a low acid level.  (Source)   As wine ages, acidity can also help with preservation since low pH wines ward off the growth of bacteria. This term is usually used to describe white wines (Tighty Whitey), although some red wines can also contain higher acidity (like our 2017 Sangiovese). Aroma Aroma refers to the smell of the wine in your glass, also called a wine’s “nose.” To examine the aroma of your wine, swirl your glass for several seconds to lift the wine’s scent upward. Then, stick your nose in the glass and give it a good whiff! The aroma of wine can be tropical, fruity, spicy, earthy, buttery, floral, herbal, and more. Body When talking about a wine’s body, one is referring to how heavy or light a wine feels inside the mouth. Wine can have a light, medium, or full body. A good comparison is to think of the weight of skim milk (light-bodied), whole milk (medium-bodied), and cream (full-bodied) inside of your mouth. Wines with higher alcohol content generally have a fuller body.    Jo Mammas Sweet Red - Light Big Legs Red - Medium 2018 Winemaker's Select Merlot - Full Complexity Wines with complexity have many different layers of characteristics to be discovered with each sip. Have you ever tasted wine and discovered several flavors in the glass? Was it fruity, yet spicy, while also earthy? This means that the wine has high complexity.   Fermentation Fermentation is a process that occurs in winemaking where yeast converts the sugars present in grape juice into alcohol. Fermentation can take place in stainless steel tanks, wine barrels, or inside of the wine bottle itself once bottling is complete. Fortified When a wine is fortified, a distilled fruit spirit is added into the wine that gives it a higher alcohol content and a distinct taste. Wine was originally fortified to help with preservation since alcohol wards off bacteria. In fact, Sherry, a type of fortified wine, may have been created as early as 1260 AD. Fortified wines are still enjoyed centuries later due to their unique taste.  2016 Alliance is made with sweet white grapes that have been fermented with brandy Legs Legs or “tears” are the droplets or streaks that form on the inside of your wine glass as you swirl it around. Legs relate to the alcohol in wine, which has a smaller surface tension than the rest of the liquid inside your glass, causing it to run down the sides. Wine with a higher alcohol content will have slower, thicker tears or legs. Try our Big Legs Red to see this phenomenon in action! See the Legs in Action Port or Port-like Port wines are sweet wines (usually red) from Portugal that have been fortified with brandy. Port-like wines refer to wines fortified with the same method that aren’t from the Portugal region. Port and port-like wines usually have hints of dark fruits, caramel, cinnamon, or chocolate.    Sweet Temptation is a  "Port-Like" fortified wine where we have taken Ruby Cabernet grapes and infused with brandy for a dark and fruity traditional port-like wine.  Tannin Tannins are bitter compounds commonly found in nature. Tannin, also known as tannic acid, is present in tea, oak, plants, coffee, dark chocolate, cranberries, leaves, fruit skins, and more. Tannins are also found in wine thanks to grape skins, seeds, stems, and aging barrels, making the wine taste “dry” or astringent.    Varietal When talking about a wine varietal, one is usually referring to wine produced from a specific grape variety. For example, a Pinot Noir varietal wine is made primarily with Pinot Noir grapes, a world-famous grape that originated from France.  Browse All Our Wine! Share Forward

Jul 29, 2019 at 11:00 PM Permalink

Our New Mural at Noisy Water Winery

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Giant Mural at Noisy Water Winery painted by Austin, TX based artist Lucas Aoki In May, the Village of Ruidoso spearheaded a beautification project by commissioning artists from around the country to paint murals throughout Midtown Ruidoso -  and we happily donated our wall! ↓ Artist Bio "I grew up near the mountains of Cordoba, Argentina where I developed a great love for the outdoors. You can see this reflected in my artwork. Making art, traveling, cooking, swimming and biking are just some of the things I enjoy doing. I lived in New York for a while and later moved to Austin where I decided to get back to drawing while teaching myself to paint. Since moving to Austin, I have learned a lot about myself and the magical world of art. I have found that the experience of painting murals and collaborating with other artists have added new elements to my life. There are always new challenges and things to learn. Making art can be intimidating at times, but so fun and rewarding." - Lucas Aoki See More from Lucas on his social media pages and website ↓ Check out our wines with labels commissioned by other artists   2017 Blackbird Merlot 2017 Riesling Big Legs Red 2017 Demigod

Jun 25, 2019 at 4:12 PM Permalink

Getting to the Bottom of the Bottle

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From vine to wine, a lot more goes into bottling than you may think! Below is a breakdown of everything that happens throughout the process from tank to case - with plenty of pictures!   ▼▼ ▼ First things first, we clean everything! Hoses, pumps, the filter, we even disassemble filler heads and clean individual parts again.    "Ensuring clean product and preserving the quality of the wine is our number one priority when moving wine across containers."   - Fabian Olvera (Assistant Winemaker) Once all components have been cleaned, a steamer is attached to the bottling line and sterilizes everything that comes in contact with the wine. Next, hoses are attached to holding tanks and the wine is pumped from the tank → through the filter to ensure there is no yeast or bacteria in the bottle →  and into the filling tank on the bottling line. The bottling line is then turned on, and our wine making crew (affectionately dubbed the Cellar Rats) take their positions as the glass is dumped onto the conveyor belt. The glass enters the filler-station and is sparged with nitrogen. The nitrogen sparges and displaces the oxygen (enemy #1) in the bottle. sparge: /spärj/ verb  gas flushing; process of using gas to absorb and carry a contaminant with it as it rises to the surface and is vented away from both the process stream and vessel. The sparged bottles then move onto pedestals that rotate and the bottle is filled. These pedestals raise the empty bottle upward into the filler heads, opening them and filling the bottle with wine from the filler tank. The next step is corking the bottle, simple enough, right? The newly filled bottle is conveyed to the corker but we are still fighting with enemy #1 - oxygen! So as the bottle is being corked, the corker creates a vacuum in the head space while simultaneously pushing/pulling the cork into the bottle, to top it all off - literally! For quality control, Jr. uses a vacuum pressure gauge every so often to test whether the bottles are being properly sealed to ensure there is sufficient negative pressure in head space in each bottle. The bottle now moves to the capsule machine where it passes through a laser that triggers the capsule to be blown onto the bottle neck. The capsule is secured and made snug by rollers to prevent creases. This ensures that is remains in place until you're ready to get into your wine! It then passes through the labeler, and your Jo Mamma's Mango Tango, with her fresh new look, is cased and ready for you to order that "sweet" wine!

Jun 17, 2019 at 9:55 AM Permalink

Santa Fe Reporter

Grapes Expectations

"there's a unity now, within the industry, to get New Mexico wines on the map versus fighting over whose wine is better, especially over the past three to four years. There are a lot of bridges being built"

- Jasper Riddle

...read the full article!

May 21, 2019 at 1:08 PM Permalink

Malbec Barrels

There are a lot of subtleties that go into creating the right flavor profiles in our wine, watch Fabian and JR add some Ambrosia ZigZags from @TNCoopers to a barrel of 2017 Malbec.

May 6, 2019 at 11:59 AM Permalink