David and Esperanza weren't always winemakers and viticulturalists. David (mi padre) retired as an atomic energy engineer with the Department of Energy in Los Alamos in 2002. Esperanza (mi madre) shifted careers from caretaker to care vinter. Their transition from raising children to growing wine grapes, making wine and working with a different kind of energy started in 1998 when they asked grandma Antonia's permission and blessing to use the land for a test plot to grow wine grapes. They started with ten varietals of grapevines, a total of 100 plants, to see what would grow best here in this beautiful majestic Mimbres Valley.Twenty seven years later, La Esperanza Vineyard and Winery has over 3,500 grapevines, with 6 different varieties of wine grapes, embracing about 4 acres. With the helpof friends and family they harvest about 14,000 pounds of grapes per year. They are producing about 1,000 gallonsof wine, around 400 cases per year. A combinationof Mimbres Valley soil, water and dedication frommy parents is surely evident.As describedby many customers, this little bitof Tuscany, is bigger than harvesting, winemaking and preserving 120 year old structures. It's about the magical connections that aremade along the way. I don't know exactly how it happens, but I am suremy great grandfather, Don Antonio De LaO, and grandmother, Antonia Orosco, have somethingto do with it.In 1906 Don AntonioDe La O developed the 640 acres of land into a home for his five children. The picture above is the original homestead built by Don Antonio 120 years ago. It began as cattle ranch,a farm and a fruit orchard. Don Antonio's youngest and only daughter, Antonia, inherited the 120 year old structures and surrounding 40 acres. With such enthusiasm I remember my grandmother sharing stories withmy brother Paul, sister Patricia and myself about her growing up at the ranch. When we visited the ranch, she showed us where the apricot trees were, the room where she was born and stories about her brothers. When my grandmother Antonia passed away, my parents inherited this serene oasis.La Esperanza Vineyard and Winery, named after my mother as requested bymy grandmother, carries on a legacy of love, labor, laughter and hope.Story By: Carrie Gurule’
La Esperanza Vineyard And Winery
Contacts: David: 505-259-9523Esperanza: 505-238-6252Address: 100 DeLaO Sherman, NM 88041 About 25 miles East from Silver City