VARA Winery & Distillery

I'm in love with VARA's tasting room. The wines are, according to my dinner partner, amazing. I can personally speak to the noche negra rum, which was fantabulous. VARA has a small menu of creative dishes that looked amazing. I'm a total prima donna with my carnivore diet, but the chef whipped out some off-menu meat-only options - chorizo links... Scrumptious enough I ordered another plate. Everything on the table looked amazing from the papas to the salad.

Bottom line, awesome staff, great vibe, and fun food. I also had an opportunity to hang out with New Mexico United FC, who VARA sponsors. (Cool points with my sons)

Tapas are back!!!

Great first experience at a winery. Great tasting flights for a good price. They are upgrading and starting to serve food as well.
Bring a sweater definitely chilly inside the only thing we didn't enjoy so moved outside. But winter is coming soon

Taylor doesn’t know how to read an out of state ID and denied service! Wish we got to try the wine!

I asked for one of their cocktails to to be made wo alcohol and our server accommodated my request. I had the Mistress and it was very good. It wasn't one the normally make NA. My son and were biking from the Balloon Fiesta and we got three flats exhausting our spare tubes. Our server was so hospitable bringing us extra water. The outdoor area was a wonderful respite.

Words can not describe how awesome Vara Winery is! The wine is delicious! Service from Norma and Alexis is top-notch. Join the wine club! Such great perks!

If you’re a foreigner or just visiting the U.S., avoid this place at all costs. My group and I went in to enjoy a wine tasting, only to be met with outright discrimination. The server demanded ID, which is fair, but when we presented a valid foreign passport, she rudely informed us that only U.S. passports or driver’s licenses are accepted.

A passport—an internationally recognized and official form of ID—was not enough for them. This policy is not only ridiculous but also an obvious attempt to exclude non-Americans from enjoying their establishment. It’s appalling in a country that prides itself on welcoming people from around the world.

The server handling the situation was unprofessional, dismissive, and showed no willingness to understand or accommodate. Instead of providing a sensible resolution or even showing basic courtesy, we were treated like second-class citizens.

This place clearly doesn’t care about customer service, inclusivity, or even common sense. If you look young and don’t have a U.S. passport or driver’s license, don’t bother coming here—they’ll treat you like you don’t belong.

Save your money and go somewhere that respects ALL customers. Would give zero stars if I could.

This place used to have a large tasting room area with tables and food. Now they have an EXTREMELY tiny space with room for less than 20. Apparently they needed more room to store their wine. We went on Saturday afternoon at 4:45 and it was so packed. There was only one person working and we waited over 30 minutes and never got a drop of wine. We were planning to taste and pick a few bottles to take to an upcoming event. We ended up leaving. I don’t expect them to continue to need the large space to “store” wine when you aren’t able to even taste and buy their wine.

Lovely experience- we were told the food truck shut down in march 2024, but it is still a fabulous experience. Strong selection, kind staff- clean space. Highly recommend.

Friendly staff, tasty wines and cocktails. Tables inside and some nice little table under the tree outside. No food other than chocolate and popcorn, but if you just want to stop in for a drink like we did, it was perfect.

The server was pleasant and nice, atmosphere was fine. They explained that this was just the tasting room. Cocktails don’t exist - it’s a “build your own” section of the menu which basically meant that we had to order them neat or make up whatever we could think of on the spot. Our server didn’t know what varietals were in at least one of our wines. No food was offered except for packages chocolate or popcorn. Disappointed.

Be aware: there is no food at this location! I came hungry and left starving.

This place was just ok. I wasn’t a fan of any of their wines personally. The indoor space looked like it is still being finished. They do offer liquor which could be great for couples who don’t both love wine. There was good seating and our hostess was lovely.

Great service, with nice portions of food for tapas! My husband and I split three tapas and felt like it was an excellent dinner. He very much enjoyed the whiskey flight, as well.

First night, y'all took over Public House, and we felt like we had to leave. I understand the celebration, but 5 - 6 kids making the place loud and crying is not welcoming to a couple on a date night trying to reconnect and get away from their own kids for a grown up chat and some drinks. Then the guy from the distillery walked up to the bar with a baby in his arms to order a drink, and my husband made a light-hearted joke about carding the baby, to which he responded that he owned the place. The vibe isn't the same. It's only day 1! While we enjoyed being regulars, I'm not wanting to go back. Love Chip, but no, thank you.