Chile Wine Is Famous In New Mexico And It’s Perfect For Pepper Lovers

@hatchchilewines

Any lover of Southwestern cuisine can tell you about the legendary Hatch green chile, and if they live in New Mexico, they’ll defend this little pepper to the death. The region is so obsessed with it that it’s even produced wine with the pepper in two varieties: Hatch Green Chile Wine and Hatch Red Chile Wine.

Red and green Hatch chiles are fire-roasted and cold-soaked in white wine, which allows the wine and chile to infuse with one another. The green chile variety is semi-sweet, smooth and slightly spicy with an ABV of 12 percent. Pair it with a seafood dish like shrimp tacos or a bowl of mango salsa and chips.

Or if the red chile variety is more your style, with an aroma of pepper and smoke, pair it with chocolate.

Wine aside, this crunchy New Mexico chile is a variety of the Anaheim pepper. On the Scoville scale, a Hatch chile pepper rings in between 1,000 and 8,000 units. That’s about three times hotter than a jalapeño.

This unique chile is earthier than others in its family, and when you roast it, it takes on a smoky and buttery-like flavor that people can’t seem to get enough of.

So if you’re a pepper fan, chile fan, Southwestern food fan or any combination of the three, chile wine could become your new secret weapon in the kitchen.