(Aug. 14, 2023; SANTA FE, N.M.)—VARA Vinoteca, located just steps away from the historic Santa Fe Plaza, has reopened following closure for repairs and is offering guests a new menu of California and Spanish-style tapas and cocktails in the warm and inviting space.
“We are very excited to welcome back the community to enjoy our delicious new menus in our beautiful space,” says VARA’s CEO and General Manager, JP Clement. “We missed having the opportunity to host local friends and visitors to Santa Fe at the Vinoteca and are thrilled to once again share wine, cocktails, and tapas with our guests.”
Founded in 2016, VARA Winery & Distillery pays homage to the history of winegrowing in the United States, and the new menus are an extension of this ethos. The first Vitis vinifera grapes in what is now the U.S. were brought to New Mexico by Spanish missionaries in 1649 before making their way to California about 140 years later. VARA continues to bridge the shared viticultural history of New Mexico, California, and Spain with its new tapas-style menu that draws inspiration from all three locales. Highlights include a grilled romaine elote salad ($11), pan con tomate ($10), and piloncillo bread pudding ($10), among many other delicious options.
To view the full menu, click here.
In addition to a wide portfolio of wine, VARA crafts a selection of spirits at its New Mexico winery and distillery, including the award-winning High Desert Gin, crafted with botanicals that reflect the smell of the desert just after rainfall. VARA also offers a selection of brandies, Spanish-style vermuts, and rums, and will soon release a New Mexico-inspired vodka distilled from grape spirit.
These spirits are incorporated into the new cocktail menu, which features drinks such as the Sweet and Seco ($14) with VARA’s vermuts and the Sandia Stratus ($15) that showcases the High Desert Gin with raspberry, lemon, egg white, and raspberry dust. The Lavender to the Moon cocktail ($16) highlights VARA’s Paso Uno immature brandy, distilled from New Mexican grapes, alongside lavender, lemon, honey, and VARA’s Silverhead Brut Rosado wine.
VARA Vinoteca in Santa Fe is open Tuesday through Saturday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m. The VARA tasting room in Albuquerque, which also offers the new menus, is open Wednesday through Friday, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
About VARA Winery & Distillery
Founded in 2016, Albuquerque-based VARA Winery & Distillery at once embraces and defies tradition, making it one of the most disruptive and exciting producers in the United States today. As a circle of professionals who are masters of their respective crafts and have witnessed and shaped the American beverage landscape, the VARA team is united and impassioned by the prospect of breaking boundaries and creating something entirely new. VARA is inspired by the wine history in New Mexico, which started in 1629 and is as rich, diverse, and storied as the region’s colorful landscapes. The road to American wine began with Spanish missionaries who came through New Mexico to California. VARA sources varietals from all three places and intentionally blends them to create beyond the standard cuvées using innovative techniques. At VARA, a melding of varieties and sources focuses not on what wine should be but on what wine can become. The goal at VARA is to embrace diversity and make delicious wines and spirits that are greater than the sum of their parts. VARA Winery & Distillery produces still, sparkling, and fortified wines, along with brandy, gin, rum, and vodka. VARA’s Albuquerque and Santa Fe tasting rooms also offer wine and cocktail classes and curated tapas.
For more information about VARA Winery & Distillery, please visit www.VARAwines.com and www.VARAspirits.com.
