Mission Winery grand opening Saturday

Jessica and Seth Beecher are partners in life and wine.

On Tuesday, Seth was laying down floorboards and Jessica was scheduling employees for Mission Winery’s grand opening celebration on Saturday.

The husband and wife were busy making the final touches on the old Zacatecas building in Nob Hill, which the winery will occupy. The building has undergone a full renovation, giving it “a big city upscale vibe,” Jessica said.

It will have three different spaces depending on what atmosphere a customer is looking for. Walking into the winery, the first room is bright with natural light and decorated green and gold. The downstairs is a more intimate atmosphere with low ceilings, and the other room is an event space with an accent wall of staves from old used wine barrels.

Since the early 2000s, Jessica and Seth have been thinking of opening their own winery. Their first restaurant venture was Central Bodega which opened in August 2022. They had planned for it to be a winery but couldn’t manage to get a liquor license, Jessica said.

“We’re big wine people,” she said.

Her love of wine prompted her to go back to school to learn the craft. The couple produces its wine at a local co-op.

“That was the only way for me to afford it,” Jessica said.

Jessica and Seth, who have been together for 21 years, are opening their first winery. Mission Winery’s grand opening is Saturday at 4 p.m. The winery had a soft opening last month.

Jessica makes all the wine, and Seth manages the vineyards.

What Jessica brings to wine is her education and dedication to the classical style of wine making.

“I ferment all my wines to dry,” Jessica said.

However, that doesn’t mean all her wines are earthy and dark. Dry just means no residual sugar.

“We do have wines that to the consumer could be driven as possibly having a little bit of sweetness to it,” Beecher said.

If a customer prefers a sweeter style of wine, she recommends their white wines, such as a fruity pinot gris or sauvignon blanc.

Don’t let the wine names intimidate you. Part of the Beecher’s mission is making wine fun. They have unique food and wine pairings like a chile relleno corn dog to complement a pinot gris

Jessica released her wines to the public last year, which are available at her at Mission Winery, 3423 Central NE, and thirty other stores in northern New Mexico.

This year, Mission Winery is on track to produce 2,000 cases of wine. New Mexico, the oldest wine-making state in the U.S., produces about 1 million cases of wine between all its wineries.

The Beechers are adding six new wines to their wine list, and two of those will be 100% made with New Mexico-grown grapes.

The Beechers have full control over all their vineyards, five in the Albuquerque area and four in California.

They aim to raise their grapes sustainably with no herbicides or pesticides, and the couple is mindful of watering, Jessica said.

“You can’t make great wine from mediocre fruit,” she said.