“New Mexico is the natural home to our company Vara, a winery that celebrates the origin of the American wine experience because of the historical connection of New Mexico to Spain.  

In 1629, 140 years before the Missions of California were established and planted with vineyards, the first European wine grapes were planted in what is now the United States at a Mission located along the Camino Real in the Rio Grande Valley of the Province of New Mexico. This Spanish grape variety Listán Prieto, now know in the U.S. as the Mission variety, has been continuously cultivated, harvested and fermented annually in New Mexico for nearly 400 years.  We use 100% New Mexico grown heirloom Listán Prieto grapes in our acclaimed aperitif, Vina Cardinal.

At Vara, we take pride in honoring these Spanish origins through our award-winning products, which are a living a connection to the past with a focus on the future.”

— Doug Diefenthaler, Co-Founder, Vara Wines & Distillery

“There are many things that we New Mexicans love about our home. We love our landscapes and the diversity of our landscape.  We love our history.  We love the diversity and the authenticity of our people and the cultures that date back hundreds and hundreds of years.  We have the Rio Grande which runs North-South through the heart of our state along the historic Camino Real, and we have Route 66 which runs East-West and connects us with the East Coast and the West Coast. vWe also have something that money can’t buy: our weather.  360 days of sunshine.  You can ski in the morning and golf in the afternoon.  With the intellectual human capital that we have in New Mexico as a result of our National Labs, our Military Bases, our Universities, our investment in Spaceport America, all of these things have really driven an innovation and start-up culture and ecosystem.  Basically, we have what I call the “New Mexico Trifecta.”  It’s a value proposition that only New Mexico can offer: Nature, Culture and Technology.  Only in New Mexico can one find the strength of connection between this unique and wonderful place and where the world is headed via technology.”

— Dale Dekker, AIA, AICP
Principal, Dekker/Perich/Sabatini
Chair, New Mexico Bioscience Authority

“Robert Oppenheimer chose the location for his secret city well. Perched atop the spread fingers of several mesas in the mountains of northern New Mexico, Los Alamos is essentially an isolated university town on steroids. World-class minds focus not only on national defense but also on space exploration, medical breakthroughs, and environmental issues. Nature permeates the town, and plentiful hiking trails wind through aspen and ponderosa forests. Anasazi ruins sit atop sheer, flesh-colored canyon walls dotted with ancient hand and footholds dug into the tufa rock. Mountain lions, bears, and smaller animals populate the canyons, and crows abound.”

— From The Atomic Weight of Love by Elizabeth J. Church © 2017 by Elizabeth J. Church. Reprinted by Permission of Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. All rights reserved.

“To Carol, Ghost Ranch and the Piedra Lumbre were a familiar and soothing landscape of magnificent light and infinite space.  Where others had only seen an evil, haunted hideout, she recognized one of the great, good-spirited places where the human heart beats up against the soul of the earth.  And so in spite of the place having no modern conveniences, no rail connection, terrible roads, and virtually no infrastructure, Carol envisioned a home and guest ranch under the cliffs.”

— From Ladies of the Canyons by Lesley Poling-Kempes. © 2015 Lesley Poling-Kempes.  Reprinted by permission of the University of Arizona Press.