Sunday, April 28, 2024
Fair, 64°Wind: 3.5 mph, N
Welcome to our new web site!
To give our readers a chance to experience all that our new website has to offer, we have made all content freely avaiable, through October 1, 2018.
During this time, print and digital subscribers will not need to log in to view our stories or e-editions.
La Viña Winery will host its annual Spring Wine Festival Saturday and Sunday, April 29-30. With an emphasis on local, the festival will not only feature wine, but local food vendors and musicians.
La Viña Winery, 4201 NM-28, Anthony, New Mexico, is the oldest winery in the state, founded in Chamberino, in 1977 by a professor at the University of Texas-El Paso. That fall, the first wine festival was held. Ken Stark, current owner and operator, purchased the winery from its second owner in 1993. The Spring of that year, Stark debuted the Spring Wine Festival.
“Everything is local, including the bands. It’s like going to a park where it’s legal to buy wine,” Stark said.
In approaching the entrance of the wine festival, patrons park on the nine acres of the winery’s pecan trees. Then the walkway leading to the entrance takes you past the vineyard of 25 varieties of grapes.
Both days of the festival will have live music. On Saturday, the performers are LongLife 16 (noon), Twisted Hams (2:15 p.m.) and Hypnosis (4:30 p.m.). On Sunday, Jim Murphy Trio (noon), Frank Zona & Urban Edge (2:15 p.m.) and Jessica Flores (4:30 p.m.) will delight the crowds. Also on hand are 70 arts, crafts and food vendors, two acres of trees and grass to lounge on and a play area for children that includes inflatables and rock climbing.
With two annual wine festivals, guests have a unique opportunity to try red and white wines that are exclusively from the winery on the 25-acre property.
Twenty-plus wines are available to sample and purchase by the glass or bottle. Stark said La Viña Winery is a small business and dependent on volunteers for their knowledge of and passion for the product. His volunteers return year after year and Stark believes the relationship with the volunteers provides an important experience for wine lovers.
Visitors to La Viña Winery have many photo opportunities around the grounds. Flowers will be in bloom on the arch that leads you into the patio. Once inside, art displays adorn the rock walls and a water fountain babbles for a relaxing and scenic setting.
Stark looks forward to presenting new wines each festival. He said in the spring, white wines such as La Pinta, a sparkling blend of White Zinfandel and Black Muscat, have been bottled and are ready to be discovered.
“The whole idea of a festival is to make it possible for people to try wine. If they like wine, you’ll find the quality of wine made here in New Mexico is equivalent to California,” Stark said.
For more information, visit www.laViñawinery.com.
