Wine Ride

New Mexico Highway 28 is the premier cycling route in our region, famed for its pecan orchards and other agricultural charms. One of those growing charms has been its wineries. For years there has been just one, La Viña Winery, famed not only for its award-winning wines but also for its semi-annual wine and jazz fests. Zin Valle Vineyards opened a few years ago south of La Viña, and in early 2009 Rio Grande Winery opened near Mesilla.
If you want to sample the vintages at all three wine tasting rooms, and don’t want to rely on a spouse or friend to transport your bike part of the way, the grand tour of Hwy 28 wineries involves about 50 miles of riding. A more attractive option for casual cyclists might be to get a ride to the first stop near Mesilla, then ride the 25 miles south to La Union. Either way, having someone in a car accompanying you is a must if you want to buy wine along the way (or overindulge with the tasting!).
For the first-ever El Paso Bicycle Club Wine Ride July 17, we started our ride at La Union Station, which is not a winery but on that particular day was offering live music beginning in the afternoon. We rode 22 miles north to Rio Grande Winery (which is about 4 miles south of the Mesilla Plaza).
Rio Grande Winery owner Gordon Steel is a stickler for serious wine tasting, so be prepared for a highly structured introduction to his wines. The tasting charge is $5, which includes a free glass or can be refunded with purchase of a bottle of wine.
From there we rode four miles back south and stopped at Stahmann Farms Country Store for an ice cream break (plus great pecan treats).
The next wine stop was 16 miles further down the road at La Viña, which officially has a $5 tasting charge (you can keep the souvenir glass). But we opted just to buy some bottles and share them (and the winery let us sample for free before our purchase).
The intended next stop was Zin Valle Vineyards, which is another four miles south. They have a very hospitable tasting room (and free tasting!), but the summer afternoon heat (and maybe the wine) was getting to us so we cut the ride short and returned to our starting point at La Union for food, music and beer.
For future rides, we probably start at Zin Valle to make sure we included all three wine stops, since it would be easy enough to ride back up to La Union Station afterward if we wanted dinner afterward.
Unfortunately, the only summer option was an afternoon ride because all three wineries are only open from noon to either 5 or 5:30 p.m. We wanted to check it out now, however, so we would know what to expect before offering it again in the fall.
Here’s the itinerary that goes with the map (the stops are marked with the blue W):

1. Start and end at
La Union Station
3117 Hwy 28, La Union
(at Mercantil, across from NM 186)
Ph: (575) 874-2828

2. Ride 22 miles north to
Rio Grande Winery
5321 Hwy 28, Mesilla
(4 miles south of Plaza)
(575) 524-3985
$5 wine tasting fee, refundable with purchase

3. Ride 6 miles south to Stahmann Farms Country Store
22505 Hwy 28, San Miguel
(ice cream, pecan treats)

4. Ride 16 miles south to La Vina Winery
4201 Hwy 28, La Union
(575) 882-7632
$5 Wine Tasting Fee

5. Ride 4 miles south to Zin Valle Winery
7315 Hwy 28, La Union
(915) 877-4544
Free Wine Tasting

6. Ride 3 miles north to La Union Station