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community squished amongst cookie-cutter developments and the floodplains of the Rio Grande bosque. Call in advance for a visit to Milagro Vineyards, family owned and one of the smallest wineries in New Mexico, with a tasty hand-crafted blend of Zinfandel, Merlot and Cabernet called Corrales Red and an odd T-shirt featuring a bow-tied pig enjoying a glass of wine. Don’t miss Corrales Winery, a lovely spot with a kiva-style tasting room with a semicircle of windows that offers spectacular views of the vineyards and the distant Sandia Mountains. Owned by a retired Sandia lab engineer, this winery makes some of the best wine in New Mexico, but it isn’t sold in stores so stock up.

Two final wineries in and around Albuquerque couldn’t be more different. The vineyards of the Gruet Winery are located hours away in the state’s agricultural south, but the winemaking facilities and tasting room is located along I-25 in Albuquerque; the winery’s excellent offerings more than compensate for this unpleasant location. Indeed, Gruet is the largest and most nationally recognized of New Mexico wines, and its sparkling whites earn rave reviews. Continue north on I-25 and about 6 miles east to Placitas, sheltered in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains and boasting a 19th-century mission church and excellent hiking, where you’ll find the charmingly low-key Anasazi Fields Winery. Vintner Jim Fish focuses on wines handcrafted from his own plums, apricots, peaches and blackberries. Distinct and unique, they’re not sweet, as many fruit wines are. It’s an acquired taste, but what better place to begin an exploration into a different kind of wine than sitting in this oasis, listening to the desert wind or sitting by the kiva fireplace. Their whimsical cranberry wine, surprisingly tasty, is popular during the Thanksgiving holidays.

After a siesta back at Los Poblanos, head down Rio Grande Blvd to Central Ave for dinner at Artichoke Café, a local favorite with a fantastic wine list. Sit at the wine bar or head straight to the decidedly urban dining room or tiny courtyard for organic and locally grown fare cooked with creative flair and a New Mexican twist. For something more casual, Zinc Wine Bar & Bistro, a couple miles east on Central Ave, has sandwiches and California-inspired bar food.

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SOUTHERN WINE TRAIL

The hot days and cool nights of southern New Mexico are perfect for wine growing, and many central and northern wineries source their grapes from vineyards here. While the handful of wineries alone are not worth the drive, stop by if you’re in the area visiting White Sands National Monument or Carlsbad Caverns. Wine shops in and around Albuquerque and Santa Fe carry wines from throughout the state.

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The next day, from Albuquerque drive west on Hwy 550 (I-25 exit 242) and north on Hwy 4 about an hour to Ponderosa Winery, hidden in the piñon and juniper Ponderosa Valley of the Jemez Mountains. It’s worth coming here just to sit in a rocker on the wraparound porch, lazily watching the grapes grow and not doing much of anything. Continue through the mountains, climbing several thousand feet to Los Alamos, and wind down to the Rio Grande Valley on Hwy 502 and south a half-mile on Hwy 285 for a stop at Kokkoman, an excellent wine shop with wines from around the state and the world. From here, head north on Hwy 285 and east towards Taos on Hwy 68 to Black Mesa Winery, best known for its Coyote Red and Antelope Red, in Velarde.

After a green-chile burrito at Embudo Station, idyllically situated on the quiet banks of the Rio Grande, continue up the river to Vivac Winery for a dessert of handmade chocolate (try the red-chile pyramid) and a tasting flight of complex reds. A few miles down Hwy 76, in the farming town of Dixon, is La Chiripada Winery. Housed in a white adobe surrounded by arbors and cottonwoods, this is one of the most pleasant stops on the trip through New Mexico wine country. Take a glass of Rio Embudo and relax on the steps before returning to Hwy 68 toward Taos, about 25 miles north.

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