Balzano Vineyard & Winery

The Balzano story starts in 1912, when the family began farming and ranching in Maxwell, New Mexico. Tony and Jennie Balzano, Italian immigrants, bought a farm there, and Tony became known for his winemaking, crafting bottles for neighbors and friends until prohibition. He kept at it anyway, bootlegging wine into Colorado. In 2008, the family purchased the Seven Rivers property, 150 acres along the Pecos River near the Seven Rivers ghost town, once an old cattle feed lot, and began planting the vineyard. Four generations of Balzanos still work those rows, weeding and pruning the vines. Their Spirit of Seven Rivers wine is served at the family's sister property, the Trinity Hotel. Today the wine can be tasted in a new tasting room near the vineyard.