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By Kirstin Fawcett (AGI27)

New Mexico played a key role in the history of North American wine long before it officially joined the U.S. as a state. Spanish priests planted the territory’s first grapevines in 1629—a topical piece of trivia dispensed by Milagro Vineyards & Winery’s Max Wagner (SF10) this past July as he poured vintages from the Corrales-based farm at Summer Classics in Santa Fe. 

Wagner, an assistant winemaker at Milagro, belongs to an extensive network of St. John’s alumni with careers in the field of winemaking. He might, however, be among the first of the continually expanding cohort to pursue production in New Mexico. This fact, combined with Milagro’s geographical proximity to St. John’s—Corrales is situated roughly 60 miles southwest of Santa Fe—put him on the radar of Karen Kohut, St. John’s Executive Director of Advancement. While planning 2025’s fourth annual “Johnnie Winemaker-in-Residence” program at Summer Classics, she arranged for Wagner to participate as a featured guest.

“Johnnie Winemaker-in-Residence” is a multi-day program-within-a-program at the college’s annual Summer Classics lifelong learning program in Santa Fe. It highlights St. John's College alumni winemakers and their respective wineries, who, in turn, provide Summer Classics attendees with educational seminars and tastings. Guests can also pick resident winemakers’ brains while listening to their unique stories of how they wound up going from the seminar table to the tasting table.

Wagner entered winemaking laterally through the world of restaurants. “Santa Fe has such a wonderful food and wine scene,” he says. “I found myself working in a few different fine dining establishments there, and that’s where I really caught the bug.” Wagner transitioned into roles as a sommelier, wine buyer, and restaurant manager, the last position which allowed him to meet and eventually work for Milagro founders Rick and Mitzi Dawe Hobson. “I came to share their conviction,” he says, “that great wines could be made in New Mexico.”

New Mexico may have beaten the majority of North America to the punch in winemaking, but the Land of Enchantment isn’t exactly famous for producing wine today. That distinction is held by California, thanks in large part to Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars founder, 1976 Judgment of Paris winner, and Johnnie winemaker Warren Winiarski (Class of 1952), whose cabernet sauvignon thrust Napa Valley into the international spotlight—and whose devoted mentorship paved the way for dozens of Johnnies after him.

This isn’t due to a lack of enthusiasm or effort on New Mexico’s behalf, according to Wagner, who explains that the territory once ranked as a top-five regional wine-grape grower in North America during the late nineteenth century, in terms of planted acreage. This agricultural boom experienced a bust due to Prohibition, right before a series of floods in the early and mid-20th century ravaged the Rio Grande’s vineyards.

The land eventually recovered, and by the time Rick and Mitzi Dawe Hobson came to Corrales in the 1980s to try their hand at winemaking, they encountered a revitalized scene thanks to the recent arrival of grape-growing French, Italian, and German immigrants in the Rio Grande region. “It’s only now in the 21st century that we have finally gotten back up to those production levels that we were at in the 1800s,” Wagner says—just in time for New Mexico’s upcoming 400th winemaking anniversary in 2029, which state trade organizations are already planning to mark with landmark celebrations, promotions, and, likely, copious wine-imbibing.

Oenophiles in the U.S. today don’t need to venture far to sample their favorite drink locally: Wineries now operate in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, according to Wagner. Still, Milagro manages to stand out among its in-state and national peers. “We’re known as an estate winery, which means that we grow all our own grapes,” Wagner explains. “That’s a big cornerstone of our philosophy; it’s really important for us to have control over the agricultural side of our business because we think that’s where the quality comes from.”

Milagro Vineyards & Winery is on the smaller side, supplying purchasers with around 1,500 to 2,000 cases per year. Its size is what has allowed Wagner to take a hands-on role in all aspects of wine production, from stem to bottle to store. When his hands aren’t full in a field or warehouse, he functions as Milagro’s de facto sales representative, customer service agent, shipping contact, and volunteer coordinator. “If I were at a larger winery, I would maybe be processing samples in a lab all day,” he says. “Or cleaning tanks.”

Wagner recommends that Johnnies who are curious about winemaking reach out to one of the college’s many alumni contacts and see if they can volunteer during harvest season. As for why so many of his fellow alumni flock to the field, his answer is simple: it’s interdisciplinary, just like the education they experienced at St. John’s. Between its many overlapping facets—history, agriculture, chemistry, biology, and more—a curious mind will never grow bored with wine.