Sip Your Way Through New Mexico’s Best Wineries

New Mexico has a long history of making wine, though it’s not as well known as places like northern California, the Willamette Valley, the Columbia Valley, or British Columbia’s Okanagan.

In 1629, a Native American pueblo south of Albuquerque planted the first vineyard that we know of. By 1880, there were over 3,000 acres of vines in New Mexico.

Wine lovers can find great things to do all the way up in the northern parts of the state, near Farmington.

It all comes down to the weather and surroundings, just like in other parts of the world that are known for their wines. In this way, New Mexico is a great place to grow things. Our summers are warm with high temperatures during the day and cool nights, the soil drains well, there is low humidity and rainfall, the land is mountainous and winds help move the air around, and the high elevation helps the grapes by making the skin thicker, which gives the wine its aroma and complexity.

You might just want to relax and drink wine when you go to a winery, but other people might be more interested in learning more about how the wine is made. Then, think about whether they have vineyards, a production center, a tasting room, a store, and maybe even a wine lab or tours. Other wineries will stress environmentally friendly methods.

The best wineries will have more than just great wines. They will also have lovely vineyards with views, tasting rooms that are warm and inviting, and staff that are very knowledgeable about the tasting notes of different wines and how they will go with your own tastes.

Here are some of our favorite farms in New Mexico, without further ado:

San Juan Wines

Wines of the San Juan is in the San Juan River Valley, not far from Farmington. Aside from the many awards they’ve won, Wines of the San Juan also holds events all summer long with beautiful scenery.

David Arnold and Marcia Harris met at a roller rink more than 60 years ago and got married four years later. After years of farming and smoke jumping, they started making wine in 1999 when they bought the land that would become Wines of the San Juan, just east of Farmington.

Their merlot and cabernet sauvignon are now praised all over the world. There are many different kinds of wines there, and a couple of them are rosés. This includes their dry Refosco Rosé, which was made in collaboration with New Mexico State University to learn more about which types of grapes do best in the climate of New Mexico. The refosco apple is one of those, it turns out. The Farmington Agricultural Science Center at NMSU gets some of the money from the sales of this wine to help pay for more study into viticulture and the environment.

The Wines of the San Juan are not only helping people learn more about winemaking, farming, and the environment, but their laid-back winery also shows off their famous wines in the beautiful San Juan River Valley, where you can hear the calls of red-winged blackbirds and peacocks and see the beautiful sandstone cliffs of the river.

One unique thing about Wines of the San Juan is that you can camp there! There are five spots for RVs that cost only $35 and come with water and power hookups. You can also camp without hookups for $20. It sounds like a pretty great way to spend the weekend.

The winery and bistro D.H. Lescombes

This place used to be called St. Clair Winery & Bistro. Since 1984, D.H. Lescombes has been mixing New Mexico wines with food. You can find these guys in a few different places, based on what you need.

They have two winery-bistro locations in Albuquerque, one in Las Cruces, and one in Alamogordo. They also have a tasting room in Deming and a site in Santa Fe called Hervé Wine Bar.

The Lescombes family moved to the US from Burgundy in 1981 and started D.H. Lescombes. Their bistros serve delicious French country food with New Mexico wines—they’re one of only a few wineries in the US with a food-grade approval. Besides that, they make more than 40 wines under different names, such as St. Clair and Soleil Mimosa.

The Black Mesa Winery and Cidery

Black Mesa Winery is in Velarde, New Mexico, which is about halfway between Santa Fe and Taos. They make a variety of wines and ciders and let people watch and learn more about the brewing process.

When you go to Black Mesa, you can see how wine is made by sorting, aging, and hand-punching. After, you can relax with a glass of wine and enjoy the peaceful scenery. You can try both wine and cider at these events.

Black Mesa is a great place to visit if you’re driving through the area. There is a place for RVs to camp there, so you can taste wine and then make your way back to your RV for the night.

They also love animals and the outdoors. If you ask them, Sola the cat, which you can see roaming the tasting area and winery, is their real CEO, or at least the person who greets guests. 2% of their sales go to the Espanola Humane Society. As part of their commitment to being eco-friendly, they have installed new solar panels that have prevented over 55 tons of carbon emissions since 2023.

The Gruet Winery

If you like wine and you’re in Albuquerque, you’ll probably end up at Gruet Winery. This winery is on the north side of town and has a tasting room in the middle of Santa Fe. It was started by Gilbert Gruet, who grew grapevines on his father’s old land in France before moving to New Mexico to use his skills there.

A lot of people know Gruet for its sparkling wines, which are made in the traditional methode champenoise way. The official name for this recipe is “méthode champenoise,” which means it can only come from, you got it, the Champagne region of France. This method takes more work and time because it needs a second fermentation inside the bottle to make the carbon dioxide that makes those perfect little bubbles.

There are many kinds of sparkling wines to choose from at the Gruet tasting room. Even better, you can pair caviar with it. They have golden osetra, classic osetra, and smoked fish roe.

For people who are really interested in the méthode champenoise, you can also plan a tour of a farm to see how it is done.

The Vivac Winery

Dixon is in the northern part of the state, just a few miles up the road from Black Mesa. This is where Vivac Winery is.

Instead of Gruet’s sparkling wines, they focus on Bordeaux-style mixes here. They also serve homemade pasta and other tasty meals, as well as chocolates and snacks for a picnic, to go with your wine.

There are more than just delicious wines and food at this winery. There are also stunning views of the nearby area. This is one of the world’s highest farms, at 6,000 feet, and the view is like no other.

Vivac also puts on a lot of different events, such as singing nights, happy hours with live music, and parties where guests pick grapes that end with a full chef-prepared feast.

The winery La Chiripada

La Chiripada, whose name means “a stroke of luck” in Spanish, is only a five-minute drive from Vivac Winery. It is New Mexico’s oldest winery, having opened in 1977 and harvesting its first crop four years later.

They have many red, white, and even sweet wines to choose from. Their signature mixes, Rio Embudo Red and Winemakers’ Select White, are based on Millot and Vidal blanc, which are two of their best-known wines.

Chiripada has been making better wines for more than 45 years, and they also offer overnight rafting and wine drinking trips on the Chama River!

Winery on Noisy Water

Noisey Water Winery is in Ruidoso, which is in the south central part of New Mexico. It’s about three and a half hours south of Albuquerque.

Their wines are made from a range of grapes grown in New Mexico. They have a wide range of flavors, including reds, whites, rosés, dryer and sweeter wines, sparkling wines, and even wines that taste like port. But Noisy Water’s real New Mexico-inspired art is in their chile wines!

During the week, they also have events like a wine and book club, sip and paint, quizzes, a Sunday market, and events that happen during certain times of the year. You can also set up a private taste tour of Noisy Water’s factory in Alto, which is only 15 minutes away.

Vineyards in Tularosa

Toulosa Vineyards is the last winery on our list. It’s about 40 minutes southwest of Noisy Water Winery.

Tularosa uses grapes that are grown in the area, and they focus on making regional historical wines that have won awards around the world. There are also a number of fortified port types for people who like dessert wines.

At different times of the year, you might be able to find music festivals, the cherry festival, or different holiday parties. You can also book an RV spot to stay the night if you’re just passing through on a road trip.

New Mexico has many beautiful wineries. Some are close to us in Farmington, others are in the cities near Santa Fe and Albuquerque, still others are in the mountains near Taos or in the south.

Not only are there many great wineries, but each one has its own specialties, from dry whites to sweet ice wines to complex reds. Everywhere in New Mexico, you can find great wines surrounded by beautiful nature, which makes the experience even more unique.

Farmington is a great place to start your wine tour of New Mexico because it is home to Wines of the San Juans and there are many beautiful wineries within a day’s drive. Wines of the San Juans makes award-winning wines that you can start with. Then you can visit the many different wineries spread out across the state, from high-altitude farms near Taos to sparkling cellars in Albuquerque. There are many great places to stay and eat in Farmington, making it a great place to leave from.

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