Vintner, wine enthusiast, and NMSU ACES instructor Dale Ellis will explain "The Art and Science of Winemaking" Thursday night at 7 as the final presentation of the 2025-2026 season of the Friends of the Farm and Ranch Museum’s Culture Series. Scott Brocato talked with Dale Ellis about what to expect from the presentation, as well as the challenges of winemaking in New Mexico.
Scott Brocato:
So your presentation Thursday night at the Farmer Ranch Museum is entitled “The Art and Science of Winemaking.” So can you give us a preview of what that presentation will be about?
Dale Ellis:
Sure. One, it's not going to be very technical. I'm not quite sure of the audience yet, but we're going to kind of keep it simple. When I talk about winemaking, it's a real-life cycle of activities. starting from the vineyard and the grapes that are planted and how they're cared for in the vineyard, all the way through the picking of the grapes, stomping of the grapes, if you will, crushing of the grapes, through all the chemical analysis and activities that go on in order to make good wine, into the bottling; and because it is a business, the marketing of it. So the design and presentation of labels and other activities to packaging for wine are all part of the art of wine in my mind.
Scott Brocato:
And what other parts are the “art” and what other parts are the “science”?
Dale Ellis:
Well, they're kind of a blend. You know, there's science behind every activity. And I kind of relate it to a great chef, where you have a culinary art. Well, this is the art of winemaking. It's very similar. So every activity, the decisions that are made are the art of the winemaking.
The science behind it, of course, there's numbers and there's test measurements and things that we strive for to make good wine. But it's the winemaker's decisions and activities that allow you to make good and unique wines.
Scott Brocato:
Well, let's back up a little bit and talk about how you got started. This was after retirement, right, when you got into winemaking itself?
Dale Ellis:
Yeah, I was an engineer. I was a contractor, but an engineer out at White Sands. And I decided to, when I retired, I wanted to plant just a few grapevines. And my wife was very much into wine. She was on the board of one of the wine clubs in town. And I wanted to try to make some wine. But my wife and my brother-in-law kind of threw down the gauntlet. They said, “Nobody can make good homemade wine. It's just not possible.” I said, “Yeah, well, I think I can do better than that.” So I did it.
I actually took the class that I'm teaching now. It was led by a Dr. Bill Gorman. He was one of the pioneers of the wine industry here in New Mexico; and Bernd Maier, who owns Amaro Winery. So I took the class and I guess I did well. And so they recruited me to take over the class. And it kind of started it. And I went from twelve vines to a small vineyard to basically doing commercial-grade winemaking.
Scott Brocato:
What are some of the biggest challenges of winemaking in New Mexico?
Dale Ellis:
The climate, for one. Lack of water is another. There's a tendency for the grapes in New Mexico, because of the heat, to basically ripen very early and to lose all their acids. So we have a real problem in keeping the required acidity into the wines to make good wine stuff.
Scott Brocato:
Are there varietals that are more New Mexico-friendly to make as far as the quality--red versus white, dry versus sweet or semi-dry?
Dale Ellis:
You know, that's kind of a loaded question. because New Mexico can grow pretty much any wine. We're about at the same latitude as Napa in California. So a lot of the temperatures and things are very similar.
One of the best wines that we grow in New Mexico are sparkling wines, which are made by Champagne. You've heard of Gruet up in Albuquerque. But they're made primarily out of a Chardonnay grape in northern New Mexico. Here in southern New Mexico, a lot of the red wines are better. We do a lot of Malbec and Cabernet. A lot of the Italian varietals are also very prevalent.
Scott Brocato:
Is the north a little bit better because it can be cooler or does that make much of a difference, versus the south?
Dale Ellis:
Yeah, there's a big diversity between north and south New Mexico and temperature and elevation and availability of water and climates does make a big difference.
Scott Brocato:
You mentioned your class, your winemaking classes you teach for the NMSU College of Agricultural Consumer and Environmental Sciences. What are the various things you teach in that class? What can people learn?
Dale Ellis:
I think it's a really good survey course. It is a credit hour class. It's a three-hour class for the university. So I have students, and they obviously have to be 21, so I do typically seniors and graduate students. But it's also opened up as a workshop to the community. So I have a really interesting class of normally about half students and half people from the community.
The class I teach...first of all, sensory analysis. We do all of the processes involved with winemaking. We start out by picking grapes, so you actually get your hands dirty. We crush them, we press them, we do all the processing of the wines, all the chemical analysis associated with it to the end where we bottle it. And then I also teach, it has a marketing and business aspect to it. So we teach a little bit of marketing. And I have a project where the students are asked to design a boutique winery, a 1500-case winery.
So again, it's a graduate level class, but I make it pretty easy. We have a lot of fun with it. I asked the students, which is kind of unique, to actually develop an aroma kit. It was kind of one of the fine little projects I added to the class a few years ago.
Scott Brocato:
Wines from your class have won several awards. Talk about that.
Dale Ellis:
Since about 2014, we submit wines to the New Mexico State Wine Competition. And the wines have won awards every year since 2014. That's kind of when I started it. Typically, we get either bronze or silver medals. We have won a couple of gold medals. But you have to remember that I'm making wine on a class schedule, not on a wine schedule. Remember the old quote from Gallo that “we drink no wine until it's time.” And so our time is whatever the class schedule is, so we have to do it.
Scott Brocato:
And are those wines going up against commercial wines?
Dale Ellis:
Yeah, they just mix into the competition with whatever vintners send them in. And normally most of the wineries within, not all, but most of the wineries within New Mexico participate in that competition. And there's normally, last time I've looked, maybe 200-300 wines that are submitted and judged.
Scott Brocato:
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
Dale Ellis:
Can I talk about the Vine and Wine Society for just a second? The New Mexico Vine and Wine Society is an organization started, like, in 1972, primarily to support New Mexico wines. And as you're probably aware, New Mexico wines compete against California and the rest of the world, and they're not as well known. And 20 years ago, New Mexico wines really weren't too good. So we, the Vine and Wine Society, one of our objectives is to promote New Mexico wine and demonstrate that they are on a par with the rest of the world. So we consider ourselves the booster club for New Mexico wines. And here in Las Cruces, we do a wine tasting once a month. comparing wines from the world with New Mexico wines.
Scott Brocato:
Well, your presentation is Thursday night at the Farm and Ranch Museum, "The Art and Science of Winemaking.” Dale Ellis, thanks for joining us today on KRWG Public Media.
Dale Ellis:
You're welcome. Thank you.
