You might be forgiven if you thought Joseph Martinez named his winery in Alcalde, New Mexico, after the San Antonio (Texas) fortress where Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie perished after holding out bravely against overwhelming odds. After all, Alcalde is hardly the most hospitable climate for wine grapes. But Martinez named his operation instead for the gigantic cottonwood tree that towers over the acequia madre where it runs through his property. In Spanish, ‶El Alamo″ means ‶the cottonwood.″ The same irrigation ditch that coaxed that cottonwood into one of the largest in New Mexico also slakes the thirst of El Alamo's modest vineyard of Riesling and Baco Noir grapes. New Mexico's principal wine-growing regions lie at high altitudes in the southern part of the state...Read More