Page 213 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL MAGAZINE FALL 2023 DISCOVERING TURKEY

from grapes grown in New Mexico. Market, which calls itself New Mexico’s first
Winemaking? In New Mexico? Puh-leeze, is food hall. The neighborhood known as the
that even possible? Does Trish Silva, who Sawmill District dates to 1903, and the Paxton
works at the Noisy Water tasting room, en- Lumber Co. opened a showroom and ware-
counter that sort of chardonnay chauvinism? house there in 1958. That building was reno-
vated in 2019 to become
Only every day.
the food hall. Trying all
“I think people are re-
30 places selling food
ally surprised because
and drink would be diffi-
they imagine that it’s just
cult, but Johnny can rec-
a desert out here,” she
ommend Flora’s offering
said, reminding those
of three street tacos of
who listen that Spaniards
your choice for $15, at-
brought grape vines to
tractively presented with
the area 400 years ago.
requisite red and green
“We get snow, we get
chilis. Christmas in Au-
rain, we get all the
gust.
weather. But nobody
thinks about New Mexico Just an hour’s easy
drive north of ABQ (as
and wine together. Then
when they get here the cognoscenti say, al-
they’re like, oh. There are though they also say
Duke City) lies Santa Fe,
50 wineries here or
a place that has been a
more.”
city longer than any other
Noisy Water Winery is
American state capital,
based in Ruidoso and
perhaps to the dismay of
takes its name from an
Boston and Annapolis.
anglicizing of the Rio
And should you set about
Ruidoso. Its vineyards
to compare Santa Fe and
are in that area and also
Albuquerque, you will
near Deming and Truth
find a tale of two plazas.
or Consequences. The lo-
Albuquerque’s seems to
cation south of Albu-
say come in, while Santa
querque and abundant
sun produce a more fruit-forward taste, Trish Fe’s says come in but don’t break anything. Art
stuff vs. objets d’art. Albuquerque’s plaza
said.
seems to be filled with tourists and work-a-day
On a day in late August, a Noisy Water spe-
locals. In the Santa Fe square, you probably
cialty wine was part of a tasting along with a
couldn’t toss a green chili without hitting a
chardonnay, chenin blanc and cabernet sauvi-
multimillionaire. But as in Albuquerque, it
gnon. The 2020 Besito Caliente Green Chili
helps to walk a block or so off the square to
Wine tasted a little sparky, but Johnny’s wine
add to your understanding of the place.
discernment tops out at telling red from white.
In Santa Fe, that means the Georgia O’Ke-
This failing will bewilder readers of this smart
effe Museum.
and stylish Wine Dine & Travel Magazine from
Ron and Mary James, but Johnny couldn’t find You can stroll unhurried through comfort-
a publication named Drink Eat & Drive. able galleries because the museum limits entry
and reservations are strongly recommended.
Johnny is better versed in food, having eaten
it his entire life. A half-mile walk north of the The artist’s astonishing versatility is on dis-
plaza to Bellamah Avenue reveals the Sawmill play in pastels, watercolors, oils, a sculpture
WINEDINEANDTRAVEL.COM 213