f you love great food, exceptional wine, and New Mexico’s signature chile, make your way to Santa Fe September 22–27, 2026, for the 35th Annual Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta. The week-long celebration brings together local chefs, wineries from New Mexico and beyond, cooking demonstrations, tastings, and special dining events that showcase the flavors and agricultural traditions that have shaped Santa Fe and New Mexico for generations.
The 35th Annual Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta brings six days of wine tastings, chef-led events, winery dinners, and chile-inspired cuisine to Santa Fe from September 22–27, 2026. Head to this week-long celebration of New Mexico’s favorite flavors, where you can experience the divine scent of smoky roasting chile while enjoying brilliant turquoise skies, high desert air, and cool fall temperatures that are perfect for sipping wine.
The sensory extravaganza and annual autumn harvest celebration highlights New Mexican, national, and international vintners and local chefs, thoughtfully pairing award-winning wines with signature chile and exquisite cuisine from Santa Fe’s finest restaurants.
Ricky Allen, a principal of Ricky Allen Tara Earley Real Estate Group, invites you to celebrate New Mexico’s quintessential flavors. Join him for an exploration of viticultural history in New Mexico and learn why this region’s wine and chile provisions make Santa Fe such a distinctive place.
What are the event details?
- Dates: September 22–27, 2026
- Location: Various locations throughout Santa Fe
- Tickets: Buy tickets for individual events
About the Wine and Chile Fiesta
In Santa Fe, the fusion of wine and chile epitomizes the region’s agricultural bounty. The pairing of fine wines and aromatic chiles showcases the state’s passion for spectacular flavors and succulent local produce.
Dozens of vineyards thrive in New Mexico’s high desert climate, and many will showcase their wines throughout the Wine and Chile Fiesta, along with national and international wineries such as DAOU Vineyards & Winery, Michael David Winery, and Frank Family Vineyards. Each selected wine beautifully complements the fiery flavors of New Mexico’s famed chiles.
Wine tastings, luncheons, cooking demonstrations, and culinary seminars will be held across the city during this week-long celebration. Don’t wait. Tickets for some events sell out fast, so get yours before they are gone. With so many vintners’ creations to sample, the Wine and Chile Fiesta gives you an exclusive opportunity to taste many in one city.
Award-Winning New Mexico Wineries to Discover
The Wine and Chile Fiesta offers visitors unprecedented access to New Mexico’s diverse wine portfolio in one spectacular week. Here are some of the most noteworthy local winemakers.
Casa Rondeña Winery
Casa Rondeña Winery, founded in 1995 by winemaker and flamenco guitarist John Calvin, is a boutique winery located in the historic North Valley of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque. Known for its award-winning wines, particularly the Meritage, Casa Rondeña produces small-batch vintages using estate-grown grapes that reflect the character of New Mexico’s high-desert terroir.
Embudo Valley Vineyards
Found just northeast of Santa Fe, Embudo Valley Vineyards produces a distinctive lineup of small-batch wines. These artisanal wines capture the high-desert character of Northern New Mexico’s volcanic-soil terroir. The winery is known for wines such as Staurolite White, Carpe Mañana rosé, County Line, Rickety Bridge, and Yes Dear. All these wines are hand-crafted from estate-grown grapes along the Rio Grande.
Jaramillo Vineyards
Located in Belen, Jaramillo Vineyards produces estate-grown wines in New Mexico’s Middle Rio Grande Valley. The family-owned winery grows and bottles several varietals on-site, including Tempranillo, Norton, Chambourcin, Cabernet Franc, and Arneis. Its small-production approach and focus on vineyard-grown fruit have helped make Jaramillo a favorite among New Mexico wine enthusiasts.
Lescombes Family Vineyards
Lescombes Family Vineyards crafts a diverse portfolio of New Mexico wines rooted in their six-generation winemaking legacy. At their 220-acre estate in the Mimbres Valley near Deming, they produce full-bodied, French oak‑aged reds, crisp aromatic whites, and exquisite sparkling wines. Lescombes operates five locations statewide, including the popular Hervé Wine Bar near Santa Fe’s historic plaza.
Chile Varieties: From Hatch to Chimayó
Hatch Chile: The Commercial Favorite
Southern New Mexico’s Hatch chile dominates national markets and is available frozen and canned in grocery stores across America. Beyond fresh green chile, Hatch produces stunning red chile ristras, decorative strings of dried peppers that grace New Mexican homes year-round, symbolizing hospitality and harvest abundance.
Chimayó Chile: The Rare Heirloom
Northern New Mexico’s Chimayó chile represents agricultural authenticity at its finest. Grown exclusively in the limited acreage surrounding the Santuario de Chimayó, this heirloom variety loses its distinctive characteristics when cultivated elsewhere, much like terroir-specific wine grapes.
Due to restricted growing areas and small-scale production, authentic Chimayó chile remains scarce even for locals, making it a coveted delicacy for serious chile devotees.
Socorro Chile: Where It All Began
Socorro’s fertile Rio Grande Valley, the site of America’s first grape plantings, continues producing exceptional chile varieties. This historic region represents the convergence of New Mexico’s two signature agricultural products: wine grapes and chile peppers. You’ll be able to try some of the many chiles, like the Joe E. Parker and Sandia, grown in Socorro during the fiesta.
Wine and Chile Pairing Traditions
The marriage of New Mexican wines with local chiles creates unique flavor profiles unavailable anywhere else. High-altitude growing conditions intensify both wine and chile characteristics, resulting in a distinguished and complex taste experience that reflects the state’s centuries-in-the-making multicultural experience.
During the Wine and Chile Fiesta, master chefs demonstrate traditional and innovative chile applications across diverse cuisines: from heritage New Mexican dishes to contemporary Asian fusion, showcasing the versatility of the state’s signature crop.
Participating Santa Fe Restaurants 2026 Chile and Wine Fiesta
Here’s a taste of some of Santa Fe’s local eateries participating in this year’s Chile and Wine Fiesta.
- Anasazi Restaurant Bar & Lounge
- Atrisco Cafe & Bar
- Boxcar
- Coyote Cafe
- Escondido
- Joseph’s Culinary Pub
- La Boca
- La Plazuela at La Fonda
- Luminaria
- Market Steer House
- The Mystic
- The Pantry
- Plaza Cafe
- Skyfire at Bishop’s Lodge
- Social Kitchen + Bar
- Tomasita’s
- Tortilla Flats
History of New Mexico’s Wine Country
New Mexico’s winemaking legacy predates Thomas Jefferson’s vineyards in Virginia by almost two centuries and California’s by nearly 150 years!
In 1629, Spanish friars Garcia de Zúñiga and Antonio de Arteaga planted the first Mission grapes at a Piro Pueblo near modern-day Socorro, establishing America’s oldest wine tradition. This remarkable 400-year tradition makes New Mexico the birthplace of American winemaking.
The high desert terroir, characterized by calcium-rich volcanic soils, extreme elevation changes, and dramatic temperature swings, creates ideal conditions for premium wine production.
European vintners like Hervé Lescombes from Algeria and Gilbert Gruet from France recognized this potential, relocating their operations to New Mexico and bringing Old World expertise to ancient American wine lands.
Planning Your 2026 Wine and Chile Experience
The 35th Annual Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta features numerous immersive events throughout Santa Fe from September 22–27, 2026. Highlights include:
- Wine seminars and guided tastings featuring New Mexico wineries alongside acclaimed producers from around the world
- Winery dinners hosted by Santa Fe restaurants with specially curated food and wine pairings
- Chile Friday, a celebration dedicated to New Mexico’s signature crop
- The Grand Tasting, where dozens of Santa Fe restaurants and wineries come together for one afternoon of food and wine sampling
- Culinary experiences and cooking demonstrations that showcase local ingredients and techniques
The full event schedule includes dozens of additional tastings, lunches, dinners, and special events across Santa Fe. Visit the official Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta schedule to view the latest lineup and purchase tickets before popular events sell out.
Experience Wine and Chile at New Mexico’s Biggest Culinary Event
Beyond tourism and gastronomy, Santa Fe’s wine and chile traditions represent cultural preservation in action. Local producers maintain heritage varietals, traditional farming methods, and time-honored processing techniques that connect modern consumers to four centuries of agricultural innovation.
Supporting these local producers helps preserve irreplaceable genetic diversity in both wine grapes and chile peppers while sustaining rural communities throughout New Mexico.
Ready to experience New Mexico’s remarkable heritage firsthand? The 35th Annual Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta takes place September 22–27, 2026, offering the perfect opportunity to taste four centuries of New Mexican tradition in one unforgettable week.
For detailed event schedules and ticket information, visit the official Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta website.
If this year’s fiesta beckons you to celebrate New Mexico’s wine and chile year-round, contact the Ricky Allen Tara Earley Real Estate Group to find your perfect Santa Fe home. Check out their incredible Santa Fe luxury homes now.
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta different from other food and wine festivals?
The Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta combines two flavors that are deeply connected to New Mexico: wine and chile. Held annually in Santa Fe, the event brings together local restaurants, New Mexico wineries, visiting vintners, and chefs for tastings, dinners, seminars, and cooking demonstrations. The aroma of roasting chile, the focus on regional ingredients, and the opportunity to meet the people behind many of New Mexico’s wines give the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta a character that is difficult to find elsewhere.
Is New Mexico really one of the oldest wine-producing regions in the United States?
Yes. New Mexico’s documented winemaking tradition dates to 1629, when Spanish missionaries planted Mission grapes near present-day Socorro, New Mexico. Those early vineyards were established long before California became known for wine production. Today, wineries across New Mexico continue that tradition, producing wines shaped by high elevations, sunny days, cool nights, and growing conditions that have attracted winemakers from around the world.
What kinds of chile can visitors experience during the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta?
The Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta celebrates several chile varieties grown throughout New Mexico. Hatch chile is the state’s most recognized variety and is famous for the smoky flavor that develops during roasting season each fall. Visitors may also encounter Chimayó chile, a sought-after heirloom variety grown in Northern New Mexico, along with other regional chiles featured in special dishes prepared by participating Santa Fe chefs and restaurants.
Do I need to be a wine expert to enjoy the Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta?
Not at all. The Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta welcomes everyone from longtime wine collectors to visitors who simply enjoy a good meal. Events throughout Santa Fe include guided tastings, educational seminars, winery dinners, and chef demonstrations that make wine approachable and enjoyable. Many guests come for the food, the chance to try something new, and the opportunity to spend a few days enjoying one of Santa Fe’s signature fall traditions.
Why are wine and chile such an important part of New Mexico culture?
Wine grapes and chile peppers have been part of daily life in New Mexico for generations. Families gather for chile roasting season each fall, local restaurants build menus around regional ingredients, and wineries continue a tradition that dates back nearly 400 years. The Santa Fe Wine & Chile Fiesta celebrates those connections by bringing together growers, winemakers, chefs, and visitors to share the flavors that help make New Mexico distinct.
SPONSORED BY RICKY ALLEN TARA EARLY REAL ESTATE GROUP
VISIT THE WEBSITE
CONTACT RICKY AND TARA
RICKY: 505-470-8233 | EMAIL RICKY
TARA: 505-660-1734 | EMAIL TARA
AND
