Milagro 2007 Chardonnay Wines Gold Medal in San Francisco

March 6, 6:44 PMAlbuquerque Wine ExaminerJim Hammond

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Rich and Mitzi Hobson enjoy a quiet moment at the winery

Photo courtesy Rich and Mitzi Hobson

The largest American wines competition again this year was the San Francisco Chronicle event held in February each year. One of the gold medal winners was the Milagro 2007 Chardonnay crafted by Rick Hobson. Milagro Vineyards is located in Corrales; with vineyards they manage dotting the landscape of the village as well as onsite of the winery and tasting room on West Ella. All the fruit in this wine was from Corrales, NM.

Rick and Mitzi Hobson have been making award-winning wines for many years, but entering into a wine competition with 4912 other entries narrows the odds of striking gold. The best way to improve those odds is to begin with an intense focus on the fruit, nurture the vines with effective pruning and the right amount of water, and only pick the grapes when they’re at the correct Brix. For Rick that means selecting only those bunches that are ready and returning later for the slower maturing ones.

The handpicked grapes are whole cluster pressed; barrel fermented and aged sur-lie. Sur-lie is a French term meaning "on the lees." It refers to the aging of wine on the deposit of the spent yeast cells that form after primary fermentation. This technique imparts a toasty quality to the wine and enhances its complexity.

This Chardonnay was aged in French Oak for 9-10 months, and after bottling aged about a year. Rick believes in making his wines food friendly by keeping acidity up and the alcohol level moderate. Therefore the wine is made without malolactic fermentation, keeping its natural acidity and stirred biweekly to create added richness. The result is a textbook example on how to craft a French-styled Chardonnay at a fraction of the price-point of a Montrachet.

This is one of many excellent wines to come out of Milagro. Each wine receives the same intense approach, and the results place Milagro among the best New Mexico wineries, and as this gold medal proves, one of the best in the Southwest. At $20 per bottle, it’s also one of the best buys out there.