don quixote distillery & winery

Don Quixote's is a great place to visit even though it is a bit out there. They have excellent spirits and their wines are good. My favorite is the blue corn vodka. The proprietor is very knowledgable and welcoming. Be sure to purchase (only $2.00) one of their signature wine glasses as a souviner.

Not worth the extra mileage and time. Housed in a private residence. The Wines are just fair and only tried their blue corn vodka, just ok,

We visited the rural locale, not the store in town. Testing provided a wide selection of choices for $5. The hostess friendly, and we were able to secure our 'bottle' for taking back home. A successful pitstop.

Went to check out where to catch the shuttle for Bandelier and saw the signs. Decided to check it out. Had a very interesting visit and tasted several things. Went away with 2 bottles of wine.The rose petal wine is absolutely delicious and very different.The owner/distiller was very knowledgible and friendly.

I went to the distillery with my family and friends and tasted wonderful wines and spirits. I ordered a mixed case and when I opened a bottle of the Manhattan Project on Easter it was fizzy, carbonated and completely undrinkable. I had the wine for 3 months in the winter, so there was no excuse for the poor quality. The Merlot was also tangy, mildly carbonated and we ended up throwing it away. The wines I received were NOT at all the same quality as what I tasted and to make matters worse, when I contacted them they refused to acknowledge their poor products. I was told that "effervescence should dissipate after opening" and my knowledge of wine was questioned.Completely unacceptable and unprofessional. Beware what you have shipped from DQ.

We stopped at the Santa Fe location which doesn't appear to be listed on Trip Advisor. You enter around back and, as many have noted, it looks like it's closed even when its open. We enjoyed the tasting and bought gin, vodka and calvados. The bourbon was also very good.The distillery is owned by a couple and the wife was working when we were there. She knows a great deal about their products and we really enjoyed talking with her.

Ok - when you pull up to this place it looks abandoned. This is a classic don't judge a book by its cover moment. On the interior, it's a charming, warm place that even hosts events. The spirits are really top notch, but we didn't care for the wine. The staff is very friendly and willing to share their knowledge and the tasting is priced very reasonably. Drink one for me!

We visited the "Santa Fe" tasting room which is much closer to Chimayo than Santa Fe.Tastings were $5 for 5 tastings or $7 for 5 tastings and souvenir glass.Tastings include your choice of spirits, sangria, etc. You can do 5 tastings of spirits if you wish!

We walk into this beautiful old building- and are the only ones there for some serious 1-on-1 time with one of the staff members. Her knowledge of the spirits was outstanding and she taught us quite a bit about Don Quixote's products. The tasting was quite enjoyable- and we made sure to empty them of a bit of inventory as we left! Good stuff!

We tried at first to visit the one mentioned as the address here above which was closest to the Bandelier National Monument when we happened to see a sign for it on the way in and since we were in the area, to visit it on the way out. They weren't open for some reason and they didn't post a sign why. We could see that someone was inside watching TV though but they didn't come to the door. It's a weird location, like in someone's home. So we had to head to their other location north of Santa Fe along Highway 84.It was also weirdly located by a highway and not lit up. It looked closed it was so dark. As now the sun has gone down and there were no street lights along the highway, we drove right by it missing the pull-off for it the first time around. By the time we doubled back, it was 25 minutes to closing, 5:35pm. Needless to say, we felt rushed in our tasting.Still, we did a series of 5 tastings for $7. The 5 samples can be any wine on their menu and you got to keep the logo'd souvenir glass (or shot glass if you happened to sample a hard liquor).

Last Friday night we used a Groupon for a mixology class at Don Quixote. We have driven by there many times, saying that we should stop in but never did. I checked out their website to see that they had a mixology class every 3rd Friday of the month. The Groupon was 45 dollars for the two of us. This was a great deal.There was a lecture about the history of cocktails before we started to mix our own cocktails.We made 5 cocktails: classic martini, cosmopolitan, metropolitan, pisco sour and an old fashion.All the ingredients were arranged along with the recipe at tables. Ron, the co-owner would make helpful suggestions. Snacks and water were provided.I have never had a martini with both gin and vodka. We were instructed to shake the martini instead of stirring. By shaking the martini, more of the antioxidants are released. All I know was it was cold and delicious. This is high praise coming from a bourbon drinker. It was a total surprise to me that I liked it. What have I been missing all these years.I also thought that the metropolitan was tasty. I had never heard of this particular beverage.It contained brandy, sweet vermouth, simple syrup and bitters.I really enjoyed the pisco sour. It was so very different and delicious. This drink is originally from Peru. Since I am a bourbon sour drinker, I was intrigued. The Pisco Sour did not disappoint.It was a frothy drink that contained Don Quixote Pisqo, lime juice, simple syrup, pasteurized egg whites, and bitters. This is a Sunday brunch drink that packs a punch.I enjoyed the old fashion. I had never had an old fashion made with a sugar cube.This made a big difference in the taste of the drink.Don Quixote makes a blue corn vodka. It is one of the best vodkas I have ever tasted. I had to bring the blue corn vodka and pisqo home.

I was part of a group of four who attended Don Quixote's "Mixology 101" class at the Pojoaque/Santa Fe location last Friday evening. Ron, the owner and distiller, gave us a great lesson in the history of spirits in New Mexico and the US. He provided lots of interesting and entertaining trivia and instruction. But the best part was all the hands-on mixing using their vodka, gin, bourbon, and brandy. We mixed and sampled five cocktails during the evening. My martini was the best but the old fashioned I conjured at the end really hit the spot. We had lots of laughs and great interaction with the other guests. We all left happy and eager to sign-up for the next class. I could get a PhD in this! Great value and highly recommended.

Finding this jewel was a bit difficult but well worth the effort. The building really is right off the highway. We came from Santa Fe on Hwy 285. You need to exit at hwy 503 and cross back to the 285 (basically making a u-turn). DQ (Don Quixote) was on the right. We turned onto the gravel driveway, wondering if we were in the right place, and headed to the building. It looked as if it was deserted and closed...a little sketchy...however the gate was open and there was a sign that said open. We decided to go inside and we are so glad we did. What a wonderful surprise. Fireplace with seating around it, high ceilings, beautiful bar. We were met by a lovely local, Victoria, who shared information about the distillery and their spirits.They have a $5 for 5 tastings available for anything on their menu...which is quite a selection. We were interested in the "Blue Corn Vodka" and the "Blue Corn Bourbon". We had to decide on three others to taste. The gin, and two brandies.Wow!!! Were we blown away. They were all wonderful. We bought 3 of the 5 we tasted...the vodka, bourbon, and brandy. This is a delightful stop.

We have had good New Mexico wines, so when we saw the sign for Don Quixote Distillery and Winery, we were thrilled. We already had 12 great bottles from Arizona. Well, their Spirit de Santa Fe Gin is really bursting with good flavors. However, I sense that it was off season and that not many tourists had been by. We tasted all the wines, and I sensed that their system that keeps the oxygen out of the open bottles (perhaps by injecting nitrogen, I don't know) does not work well or even with it they need to throw out wines that have been open and warm for several days. They all tasted spoiled (difficult to say corked). The owner was not working the bar, so we did not complain to the server.

The wife and I always enjoy checking out local wineries and, as the Pojoaque location was just minutes from our hotel (the Homewood at Buffalo Thunder), this one was an easy call. Not sure if I took the correct route in however, as I had to u-turn to go south on 285 then took an "exit" that took me from 45 mph to zero in a *real* short space. That was a little dicey, but we made it.We walked in about 2:00pm as two couples were finishing their tasting and purchases. Had the 8-year old with us and made sure it was OK for him to be in there. Olha welcomed us warmly and, when we gave our kid a phone and had him sit down on the couch, Olha told us he was welcome at the bar with us, and kept him well-stocked with water and snack mix. The kid got to sniff everything we tasted and loved every minute of it. So the place gets high marks from the 8yo.Everything we tasted was delightful and Olha was more than happy to let us take our time on the tasting and answer any and every question we had. $5 a head got you five tastes of any of their wines or spirits, $7 and you go home with a logoed tasting glass.The wife stuck with the wines and I tried three reds and their two vodkas. Everything we tried was outstanding. We came home with a couple bottles for us and a couple bottles for Santa Fe gifts for friends and everyone back home has loved it.If you've got a couple hours to kill, the Don Quixote location in Pojoaque is about 15 minutes north of Santa Fe, right off 285, and it's well worth the visit (and I can't wait to go back!)