A Look at Sheehan Winery Tasting Room in Old Town

Nestled in the heart of Albuquerque, the Sheehan Winery Tasting Room in Old Town offers an inviting escape for wine enthusiasts and casual sippers alike. What began as winemaker Sean Sheehan’s modest garage operation in 2015 has flourished into two popular New Mexico tasting rooms, showcasing the state’s finest locally-grown grapes. Visitors can expect a diverse array of grape varieties, ensuring something special for every palate.

Committed to local cultivation, all of Sheehan Winery’s offerings are crafted exclusively from grapes grown in New Mexico, and guests can explore these unique flavors through various wine flight options or by enjoying wines by the glass. 

Whether visiting for a post-work glass of wine or a weekend tasting adventure, Sheehan Winery promises an enjoyable and relaxed experience, making it a must-visit destination in Albuquerque’s Old Town.

The Location & Atmosphere: What to Expect  

Sheehan Winery’s tasting room is located in Albuquerque’s Vecinos del Bosque neighborhood, which is about two miles from the area’s historic Old Town district. For context, the tasting room is less than 10 minutes from the Los Poblanos Historic Inn, where we stayed during our Albuquerque wine tour.

The vibe here is similar to the tasting rooms we visited in Sedona and Jerome. It’s welcoming and casual, without unnecessary frills. There’s plenty of seating indoors, and everything has a relaxed rustic feel to it. Even if you’re new to wine, you will feel right at home.

In addition to the abundant inside seating, you can also sit outdoors on the shaded patio.

Sheehan Winery Wines  

One of the coolest things about Sheehan Winery is that all of their wines are made with grapes grown in New Mexico. In up and coming wine regions you often see winemakers using grapes from more established regions in California, Oregon or Washington to make wines. This can come down to a marketing decision (they believe a customer will rate a wine with “Napa grapes” more highly than the local region’s grapes), or there simply isn’t enough quality fruit to go around.

We were pleased to find that winemaker Sean Sheehan, who started making wine in his garage in 2015, and the rest is history, only uses New Mexico-grown grapes, which hail from vineyards in Corrales, Bosque Farms, and the South Valley of Albuquerque.

Another feature of this winery that stood out to us was that Nitrogen is used in the bottle to get oxygen out, which helps preserve the wine while using minimal sulfites. Nice to see these limited intervention practices used.

The Wines  

As we made our way through Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas wine country, the one thing these newer wine regions have in common is that they experiment, a lot! Unlike some regions that specialize in one thing (Pinot from Oregon, Cabernet from Napa), you will find so many grape varieties at wineries like Sheehan.

The current portfolio includes: 

• Malvasia Bianco

• Vidal Blanc

• Baco Noir (a totally new-to-us grape variety that’s a hybrid Folle Blanche and a yet to be determined variety)

• Dolcetto

• Moscato

• Aglianico

More common grapes like Pinot Noir, Merlot, Zinfandel, Sangiovese, and Chardonnay are also used.

Wine Flight Options  

Sheehan Winery’s Old Town Tasting Room offers three unique wine flights priced between $15 to $20 per person.

Select from:

• Choose your own flight (includes any six wines on the list)

• Taste of Mexico (Sauvignon Blanc, Nadurtha, Ollpheist Reserve, Aglianico, Aingeal)

• Vinos Unidos (Chardonnay, Rose, Somos Unidos (red blend), Malbec, Bianoc)

If you’re not in the mood to try a wine flight, you can also order wines by the glass. The by-the-glass list is pretty robust, with choices from dry whites, to semi-sweet white wines, rose wines, “smooth” reds, and robust reds.

Tips  

• Walk-ins are welcome at this Albuquerque wine tasting room! Sheehan Winery wants you to have access to their wines whenever you’re in the mood to sip.

• Sheehan Winery is a dog-friendly winery, so bring your pup!

• This New Mexico winery also has a tasting room location in Red River, New Mexico, which looks just as quaint as the Old Town location.

• If you want to enjoy a bite while you sip, feel free to bring takeout from one of the local neighborhood restaurants. Sheehan allows outside food and encourages its patrons to support other local businesses.

• The Sheehan Winery Wine Club is free to join, and the new tasting room in Old Town features a VIP Lounge that exclusively serves members.

Closing Thoughts  

We enjoyed the relaxed, casual atmosphere of Sheehan Winery’s tasting room in Old Town. There was no shortage of interesting wines to try, and our server, Cat, was great. Stop in for a glass of vino if you’re in Albuquerque.