Pajarito Farms
Harvest
Harvest 2026: come pick with us
Our first real harvest runs four weekends starting August 15–16. Hand-picking, our very first crush, and a bottle of the first vintage reserved for every day you pick.
First harvest · Four weekends · Starts August 15
A working farm in Albuquerque's high desert.
3,500 vines, eight grape varieties, rows of lavender, and a winery taking shape. Our first-ever public harvest starts August 15–16 — pick a day with us, and a bottle of the first vintage is reserved in your name.
- acres planted
- 3.5
- vines in the ground
- ≈3,500
- varieties
- 8
- first crush
- 2026
Pajarito Farms
A farm built from the ground up, one season at a time.
Pajarito Farms is 3.5 acres of working ground in Albuquerque: about 3,500 vines planted over multiple seasons, rows of lavender, and a small estate winery taking shape around the fruit. Some of what we grow is proven in warm, dry climates; some is a deliberate experiment no one else is running here.
We're not trying to copy California. We're finding out — row by row, vintage by vintage — what actually works in this soil, at this elevation, in this weather.
And there's precedent: New Mexico is the oldest wine-growing region in the United States — missionaries planted the first vines along the Rio Grande by 1629, about 140 years before California's missions. We grow on that same river valley.
More about the project →
What we grow
Eight varieties. Zero assumptions.
Growing wine in Albuquerque
This climate doesn't forgive guesswork.
High-desert farming is a different sport: intense sun, dry air, real freeze risk in spring, and temperature swings that would surprise most coastal growers. It demands attention — and rewards it.
- High-desert sun
- Long, reliable sunshine ripens fruit dependably. The challenge isn't getting ripe — it's choosing exactly when to stop.
- Dry air
- Low humidity keeps disease pressure low most of the year — monsoon season is the exception we watch. Irrigation is a necessity, not a supplement.
- Freeze events
- Spring frost after bud break is the season's biggest risk. When the forecast drops, smudge pots go out between the rows.
- Big temperature swings
- Hot days and cool nights are a defining feature of this site — the swing that helps grapes keep acidity while they ripen.
From the vineyard
What's happening
History
The oldest wine region in America is right here
By 1629, Franciscan missionaries had smuggled grapevines out of Spain and planted them along the Rio Grande near Socorro — about 140 years before California's missions. We're not starting a tradition. We're picking one back up.
Vineyard
Where the vineyard stands: 3,500 vines
A quick status check on the property: roughly 3,500 vines across 3.5 acres, eight varieties, planted over multiple seasons — and room to grow.
Follow the vineyard.
Harvest updates, field notes, and first word when wine is released. That's it.