Albuquerque Wine Festival

I've been to wine fest several times in the years just prior to Covid and I've always had a ton of fun. This year however I've decided I probably won't be returning. It was nice to get together with friends but for what you get it wasn't worth $30 a ticket. I showed up 20 mins after opening time and the line to get in was disorganized and very inefficient. It took 40 mins just to get inside. Once inside the lines to each vendor were super long and when you finally get up there you have to basically slam your samples and move on because there are so many people waiting behind you. You don't get to really savor or enjoy the wine you're sampling. There were a few shaded tents with a good amount of open seating which was nice but while you're standing in line to sample the wines you're just baking in the sun. We also couldn't find any vegan food options which was surprising. For some reason there was just way more people this year than I've ever seen before. I overheard someone say "This is more like the line fest not wine fest" and that pretty much sums it up.

The trick is to get here at opening time. Go to the very back to avoid the lines. Lots of covered seating and great bands.

I look forward to this event as it give me an opportunity to taste some wineries that I don't get to that often. We got there when it opened. The issue I had was that while there were people to quickly get people in they did not do a good job of directions about what needed to be done to get glasses and they failed to give us our $5 chip for a discount. Once inside if you wanted assistance or had question you had to go back to the front gate. It seemed to be very disorganized which was sad. There also seems to be less and less wineries.

I don't drink..... but had a great time stomping on the grapes.... and grabbing munchies and shower bombs from vendors! Fun photo booth

I would not recommend. Every year I go and am always disappointed. I can't stand the lines or the people who think they can hang out and chit chat while they can clearly see the people behind them waiting and waiting and waiting. You pay all this money to get in for meager samples and then they want a tip on top of it! According to the tickets the day I went on said to 6:00, but everyone stop serving at 5:30 and were only selling bottles. I am not going to spend $20 on a bottle they can't even serve me a sample of. So many of the servers were not very pleasant or helpful. Don't waste your money on this amateur event.

So so much fun! I've been to both the Summer and Fall events. Only downside to this is the field they have it on is always wet so definitely wear shoes you're ok with getting kinda muddy. Also, wear something cool so you don't get too hot! Always a fun time with friends going to the food trucks and experiencing different wineries

It is mentioned in other posts, but there is very little organization to this festival (Memorial Day weekend 2019) . Even going through the initial check-in process was disorganized. The actual tastings at the various wineries are not the same way as many other festivals (such as Grapefest in TX), people monopolize the front of the line for 5, 10, even 15 minutes. Therefore, it is possible to stand in line for 20 to 30 minutes before getting to the front and experiencing the excellent wines that New Mexico has to offer. Or, in some cases, not so excellent. Been there, done that. Not a + recommendation.

If I could give 0 stars, I would give 0 stars. This is our first time at the event and what a disappointment. I was overcharged by $10, even though the website clearly stated 2 for $40. I asked for a refund and the director, Chris Goblet, refused to honor what was clearly advertised on the ticketing app. There were two fights, one was really bad. Clearly no one was monitoring how drunk people were getting. There were so few wineries that the lines were so out of control you had to wait nearly 30 minutes in the searing hot sun to get a milliliter of a taste of wine and then stand in another line for another 30 minutes to get even less of a taste. The event appears to be too profit-hungry to spring for more shade structures and tents and the crowded spaces in the tents made it feel like everyone was piled into the only two shaded areas like sardines. This is a poorly managed, poorly run, poorly structured event that is not worth the money. Take the cash and go to a local liquor store and buy a bottle or two of really good wine. That would be a better investment of hard earned dollars.

A really poorly run festival.Check out The Taste of Washington wine festival for clues on how to run a wine festival.

I've been to several wine festivals and this is the poorest run event I have ever attended. It was $53 for 2 of us to get in. For that, you each get a wine glass and $10 of tokens to use for purchases. Any other wine festival I've gone to, there is a line to try small samples from each winery. You give them a coupon or have a card checked off to get your sample. The line moves quickly. If you want to purchase, you go to another line and that usually moves well. That way you get to try different wines. Not here. We stood in line for 10 minutes. It barely moved. People were purchasing glasses or bottles in all the lines. As far as I could tell, you couldn't get a sample which means there was no way to try multiple wineries without getting wasted. We left after 20 minutes after trying a second winery line without any progress.