I was very lucky to have been visited by my family coming from my home state. While I was very excited to see my Mom, Pops and Aunt, I have to admit that my delivery of the “Green Gold” ran a very close second. Yes, second only to my mother is Hatch Green Chile, and maybe Tina. If you don’t know about Hatch, it is a small town in southern New Mexico, and the place where I was born. Located in the Rio Grande river valley, the soil, sunlight and altitude (Terroir) make for the optimal growing conditions for the chiles. Widely considered the best region in the world to grow chiles, there is nothing like the taste of Hatch green chiles.

Max and the kitchen crew are coming up with amazing ideas for using the chiles. Right now we have pastured lamb, wrapped in a banana leaf with a relatively mild Hatch chile sauce. I am obviously a huge snob when it comes to chiles and can tell you that this dish is wonderful. I ate two at one sitting.

On the wine side of things, growing less than one hundred miles north of Hatch NM are Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah grapes of the world class winery of Gruet. This family owned winery comes from the house of Gruet et Fils In the Champagne region of France. Searching the US, they found the amazing volcanic and clay soil just outside of Truth or Consequences NM at 4600 ft, making the vineyards some of the highest in the world.

Specializing in Methode Champeniose sparkling wines, Gruet produces many different styles of both sparkling and still wines. We are very proud to carry both the Blanc de Noir “Methode Champeniose” sparkling and the Pinot Noir on the “by the glass” list and on the bottle list.

The Gruet Blanc de Noir (White from Black) is made from 75% Pinot Noir and 25% Chardonnay. It has a beautiful salmon color with a creamy strawberry and currant flavor. The well balanced fruit and acid makes this wine a perfect match with the Hatch chiles. Having been grown so close together (about 70 miles apart) also makes these two work together perfectly.

I have worked with and done business with the Gruet family for nineteen years now and am very proud to both drink and have their wines on our list.