Athletics launches new collaborations

Even though fall 2020 sports were postponed, the Aggies’ Athletics Department has unveiled two new collaborations. Pistol Pete’s Crimson Legacy Cabernet Sauvignon from Lescombes Family Vineyards and Pistol Pete’s Six-Shooter Whiskey from Dry Point Distillers are now available.

“We are thrilled to collaborate with both Dry Point Distillery and Lescombes on these exciting new projects,” Athletics Director Mario Moccia says. “This puts NM State at the forefront of innovation in this category of licensed products and will be a revenue generator during a time when it is needed most. The cherry on top is we hope this will stimulate awareness and new sales/revenue when small businesses in New Mexico need it desperately.”

“My father and I started this business two years ago and would dream of a big NMSU spirit collaboration while we sipped drinks,” says Chris Schaefer ’08, Dry Point Distillers co-owner. This collaboration is a first between the university and a spirit maker.

Brandon Young ’97 ’05, CEO at Lescombes Family Vineyards, says they were excited to work with NMSU on the Crimson Legacy project. It’s not the first collaboration, as they’ve teamed up before with the Cooperative Extension Service and the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management. NMSU is among the first dozen universities in the nation to have a licensed wine.

“We are also proud to have a few Aggie alumni working here at Lescombes Family Vineyards, myself included,” Young says. “Another inspiration was seeing what the team at NMSU and Bosque Brewing did with their Pistol Pete’s 1888 Ale and felt it would be fitting to have an official wine.”

Pistol Pete’s Crimson Legacy is available at all Lescombes locations, on its website at nmsu.life/CrimsonLegacy and can be shipped to 40 states. Pistol Pete’s Six-Shooter Whiskey is available at Dry Point Distillers in Mesilla and local retailers such as Pic Quik stores, Toucan Market and Kelly Liquors. Both Schaefer and Young hope to expand distribution to additional retailers in the state.