On a Mission: Winery expanding tasting room into a larger venue in Nob Hill
Feb. 9—Mission Winery's intimate tasting room in Nob Hill is only the precursor of bigger things to come.
The winery, owned by native Albuquerqeans Seth and Jessica Beecher, has a variety of wine offerings to suit palates that prefer wines on the dryer side.
"We have six different varietals and eight different wines available," said Jessica Beecher. "We're bottling in April, so come April we will be releasing a few more. Right now we have a sparkling rosé and that is mostly tempranillo, and then we have a still rosé, which is the same, mostly tempranillo. And then we have a pinot gris, sauvignon blanc, grenache, zinfandel and a cabernet sauvignon. We have pretty much something for everyone."
Its wines can be found at its tasting room, located at 3421 Central Ave. NE in Nob Hill. The current space seats about 12 people, but an expansion into the rest of the building is expected sometime in May.
Its current tasting room currently sits in a space that was once a dog grooming business. The Beechers also own the larger adjacent building that once housed Zacatecas.
"The big section of that building that we'll be opening up is going to hold more like 80 people in the upstairs area, and then we'll also have a downstairs more private intimate kind of bar area," Jessica Beecher explained. "That will hold another 35 to 40 people. So quite a big space."
The Beechers are currently refinishing floors and painting in hopes of opening the larger space before summer hits.
The tasting room also offers canned beers from local breweries including Quarter Celtic Brewpub, Marble Brewery and Steel Bender Brewyard. Cocktails selections made with local spirits are also available. A good selection of beers on tap will be available when the business extends into the larger building area.
"We have some wonderful bartenders and staff that are coming on with us," Jessica Beecher said. "We'll probably have about 10 to 12 local beers on draft and then we'll have full cocktails as well. We can only do New Mexico spirits but there's so many wonderful and great New Mexico spirits out there that we really are going to be able to make some great custom cocktails that we'll have on the menu as well."
Grapes for Mission wines are sourced from the Beechers vineyards in Corrales and Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Fruit sourced in California also contributes to their wine production.
"We have three vineyards in Los Ranchos and then we have two in Corrales," Jessica Beecher said. "So we have five here in the state and then we also farm and pull fruit from California. We control four different vineyards out in California because we do sustainable farming. It's very important for us that we're getting fruit from vineyards that we have control over, so we know what's being done to the plant and to the fruit."
The Beechers road to opening a winery began in 2001.
"My husband owned a wine bar in 2001," Jessica Beecher said. "It was probably the first wine bar that had opened in Albuquerque at that point in 2001. He had a vast wine list and I was working there in college and that's kind of where my love for wine started and I think it continued for both of us over the years."
The Beechers decided that one day when they retired that they would open their own winery. But that realization changed in 2018.
"We realized, why are we going to wait until we're retired?" Jessica Beecher said. "Does that make sense?"
In addition to some winery internships, Jessica Beecher also attended UC Davis in California to study enology. In 2018, the couple decided to make their own wine and created a zinfandel and a grenache. The Beechers did not end up releasing their wine until October 2023 when they opened up their tasting room in Nob Hill.
"I did some internships in Napa in 2018 and 2019," she said. "And then in 2020, when COVID hit, we were like there's no time like now, let's get started."
