At these Southwest wineries, distilleries, and breweries, fun is always on tap.
Wineries, distilleries, and breweries offer more than just a spot for a drink or group excursion; they are an entertainment destination all their own.
“Breweries, wineries, and distilleries provide an intimate, charming, and engaging atmosphere not typically found at traditional venues,” says Cody Johnson, director of communications for New Mexico Tourism. “Here in New Mexico, many of these locations are surrounded by stunning mountain vistas and gorgeous high desert vistas, allowing event planners to create a memorable backdrop for any occasion.”
Along with designated event spaces, many also provide planners with built-in activities and experiences, Johnson adds. “Guests can enjoy curated tastings or ‘flights,’ and some offer interactive programs, such as blending classes, food pairings, or educational sessions to introduce guests to the unique techniques used in beverage production.”
Whether an intimate tasting room or a large room overlooking acres of vineyards, these venues can be fun options for corporate events, company parties, product launches, and classes. They can also serve as offsite gatherings for larger conferences held at a nearby convention center or hotel ballroom.
“Who wouldn’t want to host an event at a brewery?” asks Carie Knose Wilson, communications manager for Colorado Brewers Guild. “There are unlimited options to host events in Colorado breweries, with breathtaking mountain views and beautiful biergartens, and, in many cases, a variety of alcoholic, non-alcoholic, and food options on site.”
Lee Wood, president of Colorado Distillers Guild, says these manufacturing spaces give planners opportunities. “The production process of distilled spirits is not widely understood, so there also is the educational component,” Wood says. “People love to meet the makers and have a cocktail in a cool venue where the spirits were produced.”
Most state tourism boards promote winery, distillery, or craft beer trails to help planners get started. California leads the way in wineries and has more distilleries and craft breweries than any other state, according to CaliforniaCraftBeer.com, the website for California Craft Brewers Association.
Don’t discount other Southwestern states with their own wineries, distilleries, and breweries— ranging from traditional, elegant, and luxurious to fun and funky.
In Utah, the availability of distilleries, wineries, and breweries for events can vary, says Ben Cook, director of marketing and communications for Utah Office of Tourism. “It varies by city, so planners who might be interested in using such a facility should check tourism sites for the city they are interested in for more information.”
State tourism offices and spirit experts offer their recommendations for wineries, distilleries, and breweries serving good stories, good libations, and event space for good times.
Breweries
The nationally recognized Bow and Arrowing Brewing in Albuquerque, N.M., is the first Native American women-owned brewery in the country and a semi-finalist in the “Outstanding Bar” category for the 2024 James Beard Foundation awards. On the brewing company’s website, co-founder Shyla Sheppard notes how memories of her grandmother tending her garden, making traditional foods, and sharing stories of their people ingrained in her an appreciation for the bounty of the land and its connection to a way of life. “In many ways, I see incorporating Indigenous ingredients and sharing our connections to them as a way of reclaiming our agricultural histories and foodways.” The Albuquerque brewery has multiple event spaces for 60 or more, plus the option for a full buyout; a second taproom in Farmington seats 30.
According to VisitUtah.com, “While Utahns don’t drink much, we do drink well: Utah-based breweries annually take home coveted medals from Great American Beer Festival and other high-profile national and international competitions.” According to VisitUtah.com, Salt Lake City area breweries with event space include Roosters Brewing Co., which offers a restaurant, taproom and multiple event rooms for small groups at two locations.
Chea Franz with Colorado Brewer’s Guild recommends Upslope Brewing, which has three locations in the Boulder area. Upslope offers a “very Colorado beer, created by three guys who enjoy living life outdoors and brewing the perfect beer to cap off an adventure.” Along with ales, lagers, and hand-crafted ciders, Upslope added a new non-alcoholic brew this past summer. Private events at the brewery, can be “as beer-brewery-looking or not-beer-brewery-looking” as the planner wants, according to UpslopeBrewing.com. The brewery’s Flatiron Park location includes indoor space for 40 people and an adjacent patio, offering wide-open views of the Rocky Mountains.
Ska Brewing in Durango, Colo., is a green-minded brewery, Franz says. “Ska cuts energy by 50 percent per barrel through thoughtful building design, solar lighting, and the recycling of process waste streams, like water and heat, and it is 100 percent wind-powered.” Ska is always looking for ways to improve its sustainability, according to SkaBrewing.com. “This includes using recycled jeans in the walls as insulation, reusing bowling alley wood as tables, installing solar panels on our rooftop, using paperboard can rings, and composting all our food waste.” Ska has a second-floor event space seating 50 people at high-top tables and a bar-styled mezzanine overlooking the tasting room.
Phantom Canyon Brewing Co., located in a historic building in downtown Colorado Springs, Colo., has eight distinct, elegant event spaces to host 250 guests, plus a full buyout option. The company’s Billiards Hall features a full-service bar, 10 tournament-style billiards tables, and a covered outdoor patio with fire pits. It can accommodate 250 for cocktail events.
For planners looking for unique event space, Visit Sacramento (Calif.) suggests Urban Roots Brewery and Smokehouse, a craft brewery welcoming patrons “whether you’ve traveled two blocks or two hundred miles,” according to its website, UrbanRoots.com. The brewery has a full menu, offers catering, and includes event space in the Barrel Room and patio to host 100 guests seated or 125 for a reception.
Greenwood Brewing, a woman-owned brewery in Phoenix, set out to help women feel more welcomed and represented in the industry, as owner/founder Megan Greenwood states on the brewery’s website. “And while our Greenwood Brewing handcrafted ales are for everyone to enjoy, our goal is to create approachable craft beer to allow women to feel welcome in this industry. We believe beer isn’t just tasty, but an avenue for powerful conversations and positive changes.” The brewery has two outdoor spaces for events, accommodating 45 in the courtyard, 75 in the beer garden,
or 150 people in both spaces and the indoor taproom.
Wineries
Following six generations of wine-making history in Burgundy, France, Lescombes Family Vineyards has been crafting fine New Mexico wines since emigrating to the region in 1981. D.H. Lescombes Winery & Bistro has locations in Alamogordo, Albuquerque, and Las Cruces, with a tasting room in Deming and the Hervé Wine Bar in Santa Fe. The family vineyards produce more than 40 wines across 200 acres of vineyards in New Mexico’s high desert. Their locations offer private tastings, onsite and offsite catering, and space for group meetings, events, and parties. The Alamogordo location can seat 65; the Albuquerque location has indoor space for 40 and outdoor patio space for 120 guests, including a new event space, added this fall; and the Las Cruces location features indoor space for 40 guests and outdoor patio and lawn space for 250. In Santa Fe, Hervé Wine Bar has flexible space for large and small groups in a New Orleans French Quarter-style venue.
According to Arizona Office of Tourism, planners looking for an educational experience might enjoy Southwest Wine Center at Yavapai College’s Verde Valley campus. The center provides hands-on experience in viticulture (the science of the vine) and enology (the science of winemaking), with students planting, maintaining, and harvesting grapes to produce their own wine. The school’s tasting room is available for small group events, where guests can learn about the program and sample student-crafted wines.
In the rolling grasslands of southern Arizona, Los Milacs Vineyards in Elgin offers dramatic views of the Mustang Mountains, including The Biscuit, an iconic rocky landmark, according to Arizona Office of Tourism. The tasting room has a distinct architecture, clad in weathered steel flanked by giant monoliths guiding visitors into the space. The vineyards can host events for 85 guests and 20 at a tasting room in Old Town Scottsdale, along with lodging in nine one-bedroom luxury stand-alone “small houses.”
The Utah wine industry is only about 10 years old, but the southern part of the state is home to several wineries within a short drive of one another. According to UtahWineTrail.com, warm days, cool nights, and rich volcanic soils make the area perfect for growing grapes.
“We have been doubling our production each year since we began selling our wine just three years ago,” says Shane Tooke, owner and winemaker at Water Canyon Winery in Hildale. He says the winery has a restaurant and space to seat 120 people in a covered 4,000-square-foot pavilion for events. “For retreats, we partner with local vacation rentals. Groups stay at one of the larger homes nearby and hold their classes or other events here.” Hildale is in the Golden Triangle between the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, and Bryce Canyon National Park.
Vegas Valley Winery, located in Henderson, Nev., just 30 minutes from Las Vegas, is the first winery in Las Vegas Valley. It offers tastings, tours, and classes in the adjacent wine school. The winery can accommodate small groups in various spaces and 250 guests utilizing the whole winery. The winery is in the Henderson Artisan Booze District, also home to several breweries and distilleries, according to TravelNevada.com.
Wineries abound in California, with more than 2,843 registered wineries and 4,600 winegrape growers in the state, according to WineInstitute.org, the website for California Wine Institute. Napa Valley leads the way, followed by Sonoma, with the Central Coast—from San Francisco to Santa Barbara—rapidly gaining.
In the Sonoma area, B.R. Cohn Winery offers a summer concert series, other scheduled entertainment, and event space, including an open-air barn, an olive grove, and a terraced lawn amphitheater overlooking the vineyards—all of which can accommodate 250 guests. Bachus Landing Cellars has a tasting room, an open-air piazza, and a full-service, 25,000-square-foot event center with a rooftop terrace, a classroom, and other venues. Medlock Ames Winery at Bell Mountain Ranch, founded in 1998 by two college friends wanting to focus on quality through mindful, organic farming, has several indoor and outdoor event spaces for 150 guests. Sugarloaf Wine Co., a custom-crush facility offering winemaking and hospitality services, has game areas, outdoor lawn event space to host 250 guests, and an indoor tasting room for 120.
In Napa Valley, Louis M. Martini Winery, founded in 1922 and one of the first to reopen after prohibition, offers flexible spaces for wine education, corporate entertaining, and social gatherings; it can accommodate 500 for receptions and 200 for dinners. Odette Estate is a LEED Gold-certified winery with various event spaces, including the Estate Lounge, which seats 100 for dinners, tastings, and educational programs. Sterling Vineyards, reopened in 2023 after wildfire damage, is 100 percent powered by sustainable energy, including the gondola, which leisurely transports visitors to the winemaking facilities at the top of the hill, with custom tours and tastings for groups of 15 or more. B Cellars has five indoor and outdoor event locations to host 100 guests, including private tasting rooms and the Grand Salon Wine Cave. Markham Vineyards, dating from 1874 as one of Napa Valley’s pioneer winemakers, offers spaces for private dinners and other gatherings, including the 1879 Historic Stone Cellar, seating 200 guests. The vineyard also has teambuilding activities.
Distilleries
Arizona’s Desert Diamond Distillery in Kingman produces spirits fermented, distilled, aged, and bottled on site, including its award-winning 11-year barrel reserve rum, which in 2023 received a near-perfect score at International Wine and Spirit Competition in London, according to DesertDiamondDistillery.com. The distillery offers private tastings, tours, event spaces, and a vintage railroad caboose with overnight lodging to accommodate four guests.
Griffo Distillery in Petaluma, Calif., founded by a husband-and-wife team, focuses on environmental stewardship in the making of its gins, vodkas, and whiskeys. It buys organic grains where available and sends spent grains to local farmers for cattle feed. According to GriffoDistillery.com, the distillery offers tours, tastings, and 6,000 square feet of event space for parties and corporate events.
Breckenridge Distillery, the “world’s highest distillery,” located at 9,600 feet elevation in the Colorado Rocky Mountain resort city of Breckenridge, produces one of the country’s most highly awarded craft bourbons. The distillery has won multiple “Icons of Whisky” and “Best American Blended” whiskey awards at the World Whiskies Awards by Whisky Magazine. The reason, says Jessie Unruh, director of marketing for Breckenridge Distillery, is the distillery’s embrace of place. “We are in one of the most beautiful towns in the United States, and we make our whiskey and other spirits with water fresh from the Rockies, right from our backyard. Can’t top that.”
Breckenridge Distillery offers tours, classes in whiskey blending, and indoor and outdoor event space, including the Founders Lab, which can host 30, and the exclusive Dark Arts Lounge, which is available in the off-season and seats 12. The outdoor pavilion and patio space can accommodate gatherings of 120 guests.
Representing Travel Nevada, Amy Demuth with RAD Strategies says Carson Valley, approximately one hour south of Reno, is home to the unique and beautiful Minden Mill Distillery. “The buildings housing the distilling equipment and tasting rooms are more than 100 years old, once serving as the town’s flour mill and creamery,” she says. “It has all been historically renovated to meet LEED standards, creating a beautiful and environmentally conscious facility.” According to Demuth, the distillery is “a wonderful place to hold a small meeting, with gorgeous architecture, beautiful touches, and deliciously fine spirits. Carson Valley is a perfect destination for groups wanting to feel like they have been transported back to the Old West, but not far from the conveniences of city life.”
According to DryPointDistillersNM.com, the small-batch craft distillery in Las Cruces, N.M., began after a father and son’s hobby quickly outgrew their farm’s milk pail experimental still. Today, Dry Point Distillers creates spirits capturing the spirit of the desert, using fresh red chilies, prickly pears, and other local fruits and produce. The distillery has event space for 20 people and partners with the arts council across the street for larger events.
At As Above So Below Distillery in Sante Fe, N.M., co-founder and master distiller Caley Shoemaker says she can often be found experimenting with botanicals she grows or forages, creating alchemy in new distillation styles. “I find it interesting how many of the botanicals used in gins are also useful medicinally and, in many cultures, have superstitious or folk magical uses,” she says. “We believe we are honoring these botanicals, embracing the unknown by tapping into the cultural power they hold, making them more than simple ingredients in spirits.” The distillery can host events of 135 people in the cocktail lounge or 200 by using additional distillery space.
