Wine Tasting Day Trip by AlbuqRay
This tip started as forum response for southryngirl, which got me thinking about what would be a good day trip out of Albuquerque that included wine tasting. One could start in Albuquerque with the Gruet Winery, then St. Clair, Anderson Valley, Casa Rondena, and the two Corrales wineries before heading to Placitas and the Anasazi Fields Winery. From there go to Bernalillo and the Range Cafe for lunch. From Bernalillo head to the Jemez Pueblo, Ponderosa Winery, Guadalupe Gorge, Jemez Springs, Soda Dam, Battleship Rock, and the Baca Ranch Caldera. All are on Hwy-4, which is also the back way to Los Alamos. The Balagna Winery in White Rock (near Los Alamos) had the most spectacular tasting room deck overlooking the Rio Grande Rim that you would have ever experienced; however, John has now retired and closed his winery. Between Los Alamos and Santa Fe, make a short stop at Bandelier Monument, then maybe pop up to Santa Fe Vineyards south of Espanola. For sure have dinner at Gabriel's on the way back to Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Wow, this is even better than I thought before I started writing. It would probably take most of a day though and you would need a designated driver. You may check out the the Wine Country Inc. web page for details about these wineries and others. Another excellent web page on New Mexico Viticulture comes from Bernd Maier, the Viticulture Extension Specialist at New Mexico State University.
It's my play on words but a song from Trinidad Carnival 2007 called One More Time would make a good theme song for this tour. Of course, if you visited Albuquerque in late August and early September, you could just do the Bernalillo Wine Festival on Labor Day weekend and taste almost all New Mexico wines. Be aware that there is not enough time on this day trip to visit my favorite winery, La Chiripada in Dixon.
