Going to be in the Pojoaque area this summer. Any recommendations for wine friendly restaurants or where to buy some if we decide not to bring our own (flying in from the mid-west)?
BYOB is illegal in New Mexico so any drinking of wine you buy will not be in a restaurant. Decent wine shops are hard to come by in NM too. You might pm desertwine to see if he has any ideas. He lives in Lamy outside of Santa Fe.
Closest to you will be the Santa Fe stuff. A few decent wine restaurants (check Wine Spectator as a few have the awards). Most interesting place is La Casa Sena. For NM, an extensive list. They also have a retail shop which, in my experience, has been the best stocked in all NM (incl. Albuquerque and Taos). Prices are a bit high but no options even close to their selection (IMO).
Arroyo Vino will let you bring wine you buy in their store into their restaurant though the markup is high.
There must be a loophole that allows that to happen. I have never tried it but there aren’t many places where you could.
Actually, for years was a pretty decent wine store in Pojauque itself–don’t know if it closed; Tom Hill would, though. Foodwise, not much going on, though there used to be a place halfway between there and Taos, in a little town Embudo, called Embudo station; wasn’t bad, had good smoked trout. Arroyo Vino definitely a winner as well.
For wine shops: Kokoman in Pojoaque, ArroyoVino, Susan’s in SantaFe, CasaSena. Cid’s Wine Shop in Taos.
Restaurants: ArroyoVino in SantaFe the best. Can buy in their wine shop and have in the restaurant, no loophole needed. Casa Sena and TerraCotta also good. In Taos, CommonFire has a great wine list.
Parcht Wine Bar in Taos quite good.
And in LosAlamos/WhiteRock, Pig+Fig worth the drive; solid bistro food, great prices, pretty decent wine list.
In Albq, Form to Table about the best.
Wow! Awesome recommendations all. Checked them out and looks like there are some great options for dinner. Will have to figure out if it’s worth the hassle check bags with wine or go carry on. Cheers!
La Casa Sena is a great spot in Santa Fe. The wine shop and restaurant have the same list and both are very good. I find prices to be fair too…
Good recommendations by Tom. Kokoman in Pojoaque is a great shop, just don’t judge the wine selection by the outside appearance, go in and check out the selection. Also Cheese Monger in Santa Fe for meats and cheeses if eating at home. Trattoria A Mano has a great Italian wine list. I need to get to Arroyo Vino next time I am there.
Great recommendations. I am copying them for my next trip.
Arroy Vino is very good. Just be aware that it is a bit outside Santa Fe proper and the drive at night is quite dark.
La Casa Sena is also quite good and has an even better wine list. If you purchase an annual membership, you are offered retail pricing on their wines at the restuarant. Probably not worth it if you will only be dining one time in that period (unless you’re buying excessibe wine).
Doh…I could I possible forget Arioso restaurant in Hernandez.
A pretty idosyncratic restaurant. He has no beer & wine license, so allows you to bring your own wine.
The food is some of the best in Northern NM. French/Italian based.
Tom