Vivac Winery

While the bar tender was friendly and the art cute, the wines was just… ok… particularly for having to pay for tiny tastings of it. No Thanks.
BUT if you like Port, THAT was very good. Just skip the whole pay to play and buy a bottle of that to enjoy to go.

My husband and I love visiting the tasting room in Dixon. It is such a beautiful setting to sit outside and enjoy their wine. We bought some cheeses and chocolates too which they also make, very scrumptious. The staff was very friendly and we met one of the owners as well. All were very charming. We are from California and are avid Napa/​Sonoma wine enthusiasts. We felt Vivac had impressive and sophisticated wines especially the Diavolo & Divino. Needless to say, we joined their wine club. We could not recommend more this wonderful vivacious winery in such a unique destination.

Disappointed. They charge for wine tasting and only wave the fee if you buy half a case… really? I don’t need to taste and buy your wine that much. You should be glad we stopped! Do you need the money that much? Then you only give two small tastings. Sad just sad. Thanks I’ll purchase wine else where.

I was in Santa Fe for a ladies birthday trip. We’d been up in Taos and were driving back into Santa Fe. We thought we do some wine tasting, and get a few bottles to bring back to our hotel. We’re older — we all had to use the restroom. I was the second one to go — when I came out the woman bartender said that if we are all going to use the toilet — then wait until everyone has gone to flush. I am not joking. There were some lovely chocolates. When I asked about them, she informed me that this is not a chocolate shop. It’s a wine shop and we should order wine. So, we all got a tasing, and two pieces of chocolate each. A tasting is two tablespoons. She was so unfriendly, and completely uninterested in talking about the wines. We guzzled our sip and got out of there. Sad because there were some cute gifts, and we really wanted to get some wine for the evening. But Miss Only-​One-​Flush really turned us away.

We visited Vivac this past Sunday for a little wine-​tasting. While Sarah was extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the wines (she bumped the rating up from 2 stars to 3). She answered all of our questions and had a great attitude! You guys keep her around!
As for the wines, unfortunately I wasn’t blown away. The wines weren’t memorable at all, as it seemed all the red wines had the same taste and acidity. There was a Riesling that was phenomenal, and the port-​style wine was delicious as well. Otherwise, all the others fell flat for me. Sorry guys :(
I also like the story and history behind the wines of the 2 brothers and their wives, but I have to be honest, the portraits they have up of themselves in the tasting room are a little pretentious (and somewhat douchey, if I can be frank). It made me like them just a little less.
We tried a few of the chocolates and weren’t extremely impressed, but the red apple chocolate was absolutely to die for!
It’s a good stop on a very scenic route if you’re wandering through New Mexico wine country, but save your money for bottles elsewhere. Sorry Vivac

Make sure you stop by this winery as you’re driving in from Taos. They have a great variety of wines, my favorite was the port.

We love Vivac. It’s our favorite New Mexican winery. The ladies serving us in the tasting room are always super friendly and the wine is always good. We took my parents by this last time we were nearby and they loved it (their first wine tasting!). The last few times we have stopped by we’ve purchased a case of wine and it’s always hard for us to narrow down what we want. We’ve bought bottles for gifts. We’ve bought bottles for ourselves. We’ve even given bottles to our Harley Davidson guy here in town as a thank you and he loved the wine. We’ve debated joining the wine club every visit and this last time we finally did. (You get special tasting notes in the package every month — very cool.) People are always impressed when we open one of their bottles (so of course we buy more!). The Divino and Diablo end up being my favorites every time — such tasty tasty blends.
If you are in Taos or Santa Fe it’s worth stopping by, especially if you like good red wines. You will be glad you did.

My husband and I stopped here on our way back to Santa Fe from Taos. We enjoy wine but are by no means wine snobs, but our server Jasmine was a doll. Aside from being really friendly, she was very knowledgeable about New Mexico wine and wine in general, and was just really cool to talk to. We stopped at a couple of other wineries along the Taos-​Santa Fe route and Vivac was our fave due to Jasmine’s friendliness and the great wine. We definitely bought some wine to take back to California.

Had an occasion to stop in the tasting room in 2007. Back then the brothers were only making reds. Was very impressed with the wines that I tasted; especially the nebbiolo. Since we were flying from NH and had limited room in the suitcase I picked up a single bottle of the 04. I put it down in the cellar and pulled it out today, bringing it down to a group tasting of high end italian wines at the best wine store in the state. The owner and a few very knowledgable friends sampled it after it had been open an hour. It was fantastic; elegant, smooth and balanced with a refined finish. This NM nebbiolo outshone all of its Italian cousins, a few three times the price, and impressed everyone.
Next time I visit the city different I’m planning to head north for a return visit!

When driving to Taos from Santa Fe, you must stop here if you are fan of dark chocolate (Venezuelan cacao’) and full bodied wines. We stopped by over the 4^th of July weekend and two other families stopped by so it was not very busy. One helpful lady tended efficiently to all of us.
Location on Route 68 from Espanola to Taos (Junction of 68 and 75).
Cost — $ 3 to taste 6 wines or $ 6 to taste 6 wines and 3? truffles. Tasting fee can be applied towards the purchase of a bottle. Bottles were in the 17−30ish range.

We were a little early for check in on our way to Taos and decided to stop and taste some local wines. The woman serving the wines was very friendly and answered all of our questions. $ 3 for 6 tastings is incredibly reasonable, and since we bought a bottle of their excellent syrah it ended up being free.
I prefer dry reds so I really enjoyed almost everything they offered, especially the Divino which had a hint of cinnamon and the tempranillo.
Definitely worth a try if you’re in the area!

I love this winery! Not only do I order wine from Vivac throughout the year (both for personal use and as gifts), I do not visit my family in Taos without stopping by either on the way to or from the airport. The wine is delicious, the servers know their stuff, and the owners are great people.
It’s worth it to stop in for the tasty chocolates and great jewelry and art too. Also, FYI: through the summer, there are awesome happy hours with music. Complete fun!
Ps. for Christmas, order Red Hot Mama or Buxom Blonde wine – its the delicious taste you expect from a Vivac wine with a really playful label and name. Great stocking stuffer!

Upping my stars because I received a very nice enote from Michele at the winery. It is that extra touch that makes a small family owned business that much better. And anyone who would own a winery and have kids named Denim & Maddox is cool in my book. :)

I went here visiting friends because they had never been to a winery that far north. They specialize in complex red wines so beware if you only like white. The tasting cost was only $ 3 for 6 wines which was a great deal. I love red wines and I enjoyed several but I did not go home with any from there. I wasn’t overly impressed with who helped us I think she decided we were not very wine saavy and she just didn’t seem interested. Being a huge wine drinker who has gone to different wineries it was just a disappointment. Check it out though if you want.