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As I drive along the multiple borders of Texas, Mexico and New Mexico, on this Saturday afternoon in late February, I am an adventurer. I am a tourist. I am within 30 miles of my home. I am in search of wine, the drink of gods, as I've heard.

Resting on the border, halfway between El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces New Mexico, is a quaint, if almost nonexistent town, La Union, where I find La Vina Winery, New Mexico's oldest operating winery, my destination, my salvation for wine-tasting.

I roll up to the two-story brown winery, lying among pecan trees and cottonwoods with a clear view of the spectacular Franklin Mountains. The gravel crackles under my tires as I slide to a stop. I walk in the large iron gates, which are open and inviting, I gaze around the courtyard, the chill in the wind makes me cross my arms for warmth. A sign hanging on the courtyard wall proclaims the proprietors, Ken and Denise Stark, as the number one "wine-o's." I enter the wine tasting room from the outer chill with a welcoming smile and warm greeting from resident wine connoisseur, Wendy Simeur.

"Hi there, are you ready to sample our wonderful wines," Wendy asks cheerfully.

She read my mind, as wine has been on it for hours. I briefly look around the adobe interior, noting the various wine accessories for sale: corks, wine goblets and glasses, even shirts and souvenirs. While I browse,Wendy assists a family, the husband sampling wines, the wife observing but sitting out since she is pregnant. The husband seems pleased with his wine and I look forward eagerly to my own tasting.

"It smells and tastes wonderful," an appreciative wine-taster exclaims across the room.

The dimly lit room adds ambiance and compliments an atmosphere conducive to wine tasting, a feel of romanticism. Such atmospheres and wine-culture are reserved for Italy, or Napa Valley in California aren't they?

Although wine and wine making are not as commonly associated with the South West as the valley's of the west coast, it has been part of New Mexico's heritage for over 400 years, according to the New Mexico Wine Growers Association. When conquistadors, specifically Don Juan de Onate, made their way north from what is now Mexico, they found the fertile valleys of the Rio Grande and the vast amounts of sunshine so closely associated with the area, both vital to grapevines. It was the Franciscan monks who required wine for daily mass who actually necessitated wine making along the trail, eventually called "El Camino Real." Wine coming from Spain would take months in those days to reach the monks, and although only the smallest sip was needed for mass, it was an important part of Catholicism.

It was time for my first taste, hopefully not the smallest sip. Wendy Simeur introduces me to La Vina's wine list and explains to start with dry and work my way down to the sweeter wines. I choose "Desert Flower Chardonnay" for my first taste. It is described as a "mild semi-dry chardonnay." My pallet is not finely attuned to wine, I apparently do not enjoy the dryer wines as much, thankfully this is my first of six tastes allotted, I am bound to find a taste that tantalizes my taste buds.

While Simeur pours my second choice, "Dolcetto" a "lighter bodied red wine," that more closely attunes to my tastes with a background flavor of cherry, as she explains La Vina's history.

"La Vina is New Mexico's oldest operating winery and was started by Kiki Cooper in Chamberino, New Mexico, just up the road, in 1977," Simeur explains.

Cooper began with a small vineyard just outside his home and basically worked from his front yard and his then only 200sq ft. adobe tasting room. Cooper owned and operated La Vina, as a modest success until 1992 when the current owners, the Starks purchased the winery and took over operations.

The original intent of the Starks was to move La Vina to California or Albuquerque, but found the success of keeping the winery in the same area as intoxicating as a glass of "White Zinfandel," my next choice.

The La Vina zinfandel boasts "hints of strawberry and raspberry" and the flavor is impeccable. Wendy offers me a slice of a Monterrey cheese from California that perfectly complements the wine. The contrast of sharp cheese and slightly fruity, lighter wine mixes elegantly.

The Starks bought La Vina's current home at La Union in 1997. It is a difficult and ongoing process to plant vineyards, as a whole vine must be planted. La Vina's existence was within the Stark's home for years, working out of their garage. It was not unheard of to have a customer knock on the Stark's door asking for a tasting or to purchase a bottle only to find Denise Stark fresh from the shower, though the customer was turned away.

The new vineyard of 25 acres was planted over three years. The new, and existing, tasting room opened July 4th, 2002 with the first harvest from the new vineyard in August and September of 2002. La Vina is proud to make all wine on their premises.

"The South West is the oldest wine producing region of the United States," Simeur points out. So it should be no surprise that as good wine is aged wine, the oldest and most experienced area in wine making could be considered the best.

I choose "White Riesling" and "La Dolce Vina" as my next two wines. "White Riesling" is said to have "a delicate floral aroma," and does not disappoint. "La Dolce Vina" is my favorite so far, with it's sparkling sweet flavor that is so smooth the alcohol is almost unrecognizable. The winery's brownish, greyish long haired cat, cleverly named "Winery Cat" lies just over the counter purring away, almost relaxed by the wine aromas in the air.

La Vina quickly approaches it's 20th anniversary in 2007, but still maintains the vineyard seal, created by Kiki Cooper, a man toiling over a barrel, with the name Cooper beneath. The vineyards are perfectly lined columns of vines which tangle as an individual maze on each vine within the orderly columns. The green grounds next to the patio rival any park and welcome picnics, while offer the grounds for weddings, quinceneras, sweet 16 party's and even donor or business functions.

"La Vina also hosts their own events including the Harvest Festival and Grape Stomp, in October, when they invite wine lovers to stomp the grapes that will be transformed into a delicate wine. On April 30th and May 1st, La Vina will host it's annual Blues and Jazz Fest, " Wendy Simeur points out.

I choose the most exciting wine on the list "La Pinata" said to be a "Party in a Bottle" as my last tasting. Wendy cracks open "La Pinata" and pours the light, pink translucent wine into my glass. I smell the rich aroma and dive in. The taste is amazing and rightly noted as a party wine, I would serve it at any party as it probably yields joy from any wine drinker.

I had not been a wine drinker other than a taste here or there before I came to La Vina. I cannot boast to be able to taste the intricate details of each bottle, and my palatte is hardly as adept as most wine lovers, but La Vina has created a wine lover eager to taste and experience more wine within me. I thank Wendy for her expertise as she wraps my souvenir glass in a brown paper bag. I bring with me the beautiful tastes of six south western wines and a bottle of "White Zinfandel" for a special occasion.

Like wine, the older and more experienced I get with wine tasting the better I will be. I shall cherish my first tastes and appreciations of wine and remember that La Vina and wines of the South West, right in my backyard are my looking glass into the complex swirl of tastes in the wine world.