wine. spirits. food. art.

life’s pleasurable essentials

OUR WINES OUR FOOD

Our tasting room is open 11am to 9pm Monday through Saturday and 11am-4pm on Sunday. Make your reservation for tastings or wine presentations during the day, or join us for dinner from our tapas menu in the evenings and for Sunday brunch.

Of course, if you prefer to enjoy Vara at home, our wine, spirits and food are available for take out during our normal service hours. Please call ahead for food orders to go or stop by our retail room to pick up your favorite bottle!”

At Vara, we give you the tools to find your happy place. Our setting is an eclectic mix of winery, distillery, Taberna, retail shop and event venue. The atmosphere is truly unique and diverse with an industrial chic feeling inside and a spacious patio outside. Our tasting room provides wine, beer, and spirits tastings, hot and cold tapas service, live music, and an occasional breakout of Flamenco dancing.

Vara lets you choose your own experience with a full complement of possibilities. Come visit us. We’re certain you’ll be back for more.

Celebrate or relax anytime with our special weekly events. Don’t miss our “$2 Off All Drinks Happy Hour” every Wednesday and Thursday evening from 5 – 8pm and remember the first Wednesday of every month is “Wine Up Wednesday” featuring live music from 7-9pm.

By popular demand now EVERY night is Paella Night- a fan favorite now made to order for you! Please check out our new menu! 

Join us on the first Saturday of every month for “Saturday Cena” when Chef Javi prepares a very special and limited seating supper for the culinary crowd. Check the schedule and reserve early.

Bring your family and friends (or just yourself) to our Sunday Brunch, 11am–4pm. Pair our award-winning wines with our equally delicious brunch menu.

Our weekly events are very popular, so we recommend that you make reservations, and remember that under current social distancing rules we cannot accommodate groups larger than 6 at a table..

We’re also available by appointment for wine tastings and special events. Call 505.898.6280 or email us at info@varawines.com

Our Wines

We produce wines from Spanish grape varietals grown in Spain and various American vineyards including right here in New Mexico. 

Under the direction of our winemaking team, Bob and Louisa Lindquist, we acquire fruit from the highest quality growers of Spanish grape varieties in the U.S. The harvested fruit is brought to our New Mexico facility where the wines are made and aged in individual lots until Bob and Louisa assemble the final cuvees.

Vara co-founders Doug Diefenthaler and Xavier Zamarripa regularly travel to Spain and are committed to growing or locating the best fruit for our Spanish wines and cava. We are very fortunate to have agreements for grape production and wine making with the best grape growers and producers in Spain. 

With a salute to their Spanish heritage, Vara’s wines are simply put — remarkable.  

Our Food

Our Chef Javier Montaño whips up some of the best hot and cold tapas in the Southwest. From refreshing Gazpacho to fan favorite Papas Bravas and our Ceviche Mixto to Chicken Pintxos, we know you’ll want to try every dish and return for more! And don’t even get us started about Vara Brunch!. We can taste the house-cured salmon, steak and eggs and Spanish French Toast now!