Fall has arrived! October is a magical month in Santa Fe, temperatures have cooled, the leaves are starting to turn and the smell of roasting chile is wafting through the air. October also brings a plethora of fall events to Santa Fe. There’s a lot to do and see, we’ve put together a list of events of interest. Enjoy!

47th Annual Harvest Festival at El Rancho de las Golondrinas
October 5-6, 2019
Taste syrup, help make cider, or pick a pumpkin. Children can stomp grapes by foot, make corn husk crafts or roll their own delicious tortillas by hand. Check out this long-running, acclaimed event!

11th Santa Fe Independent Film Festival
October 16-20, 2019
This festival advances independent cinema. Enjoy a 5 day showcase of excellence in filmmaking.

3rd…

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Tomorrow will be the unveiling of the new Arbolitos at Las Estrellas community.  As a part of that and in conjunction with the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta, we are hosting a wine tasting with Casa Rondeña Winery.  I'd like to share a bit about the winery...  Casa Rondeña Winery was lovingly established in late 1995 as a family undertaking, with the first plantings in 1990 at the hands of vintner John Calvin.

The Tasting Room opened in August 1997 and a winery building, with a commemorative Tricentennial bell tower, was completed in the autumn of 2004.  In 2008, a new barrel aging and storage facility, including the Founder’s Rotunda, was built in order to expand production capability of the winery and hold special events for winery members and…

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Red, green or Christmas?  If you know what Christmas means in this context, chances are, you’re a chile fan like me.  Chile is member of genus Capsicum which is part of the nightshade family of flowering plants and is related to the tomato and the potato.  Most people think that green and red chiles are different types of peppers. They are in fact a fruit of the same plant; they are simply picked at different times. The red chile is the ripened version of the green chile. (Tea shares the same confusion: green, white, black, they are all from the same plant).

It all began with Christopher Columbus… while exploring the Caribbean islands he was introduced to the chile.  Columbus called them red peppers as their spicy punch was reminiscent of the black…

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In preparation for the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta next week, my post today is for my wine lovers as it is a long and detailed one.  Of course, I am deeply interested in all the details of grape varietals and growing, flavor pallets, etc. but today I am focusing on New Mexican wine growing.  If that isn’t your thing, you may want to skip this one.

Early American settlers found grapes growing wild along the East Coast and assumed that higher quality European varieties would also grow well where the wild grapes grew. But severe winters, disease, and insects caused the imported Vitis vinifera to fail.

 

Vinifera grapes require mild, dry climates like those in California, Arizona, southern New Mexico, and west Texas.  They may be injured by…

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New Mexico is the oldest wine country in America by roughly 200 years with a history of wine as rich as its colorful landscapes.  In 1598 Don Juan de Onate led Spanish colonists to the upper valleys of the Rio Grande with Franciscan monks following.  Wine was an important part of religious ceremonies but was difficult to attain in the region.  Initially, the monks were forced to use imported wine that contained 18% alcohol and 10% sugar and was transported in stoneware jugs which held approximately 2.6 to 3.6 gallons each and were sealed with a cork or wood plug.  The jugs were lined internally with a lead-based glaze – which could leak into the wine during prolonged exposure to heat or the acid in the wine.  The monks were desperate for a local…

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