New Mexico's best-kept wine country secret
Old Town · Albuquerque · French- and American-influenced bistro with wine bar focus · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · June 13, 2026
RagingWine reviewed D.H. Lescombes Winery & Bistro – Albuquerque Old Town’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
Walking into D.H. Lescombes in Old Town, the wine list is unapologetically New Mexico — no Napa name-dropping, no tokenized French imports, just a focused commitment to what the Lescombes family has been doing in this state for decades. It's a refreshing move in a tourist-heavy neighborhood where plenty of restaurants coast on margaritas and mediocrity. The room feels warm and intentional, and the list matches that energy.
This is a single-producer list, and it works because Lescombes earns it. The 6•3•1 Signature Series anchors the approachable end, while the Heritage Series steps up for guests who want something with more structure and story. Wine flights are on the menu, which is genuinely useful for people who've never explored New Mexico wine — and most people haven't. The gap here is obvious: if you want anything outside the Lescombes family portfolio, you're out of luck, but that's the point, not a flaw.
The by-the-glass program is where this place really moves — happy hour runs Monday through Friday, 3–5pm, dropping prices to $5 for the 6•3•1 Signature pours and $8 for Heritage Series glasses, which is genuinely hard to argue with. The flight option at $12 for four pours is essentially a curated education for the price of a cocktail. Rotation details aren't confirmed, but the program is clearly structured and intentional rather than an afterthought.
Custom Wine Flight (4 x 1 oz pours, mixed Lescombes wines) — $12
Four pours covering the Lescombes range for twelve bucks during happy hour — the math works out to less than retail and you get to taste before you commit to a bottle. Best introduction to New Mexico wine available in Albuquerque at this price.
St. Clair Winery Legacy Bottles
The St. Clair legacy connection runs deep in the Lescombes family history, and any bottles from that lineage on the list carry more provenance than their price suggests. Most guests walk past them for the more familiar Lescombes labels — that's a mistake worth correcting.
Lescombes Heritage Series (by the glass, outside happy hour)
At $10 a glass outside the 3–5pm window, the Heritage Series hits a 178% markup that feels like a stretch for a wine you can find at New Mexico retail for $18 a bottle. Come during happy hour or just order the flight instead.
Lescombes Heritage Series + Coq au vin
The Heritage Series has enough body and structure to stand up to the braised depth of the coq au vin without steamrolling the dish — and keeping both in the same regional and bistro-minded conversation makes the whole table feel coherent.
Monday–Friday — Happy hour runs 3–5pm daily. $5 for 6•3•1 Signature Series pours, $8 for Heritage Series glasses, $8 wine cocktails, and $2 off any glass of wine. No confirmed dedicated half-price wine night beyond these hours.
The Bottom Line
If you think New Mexico wine is a punchline, D.H. Lescombes is the correction. The focused list, aggressive happy hour pricing, and flight program make this one of the most honest wine experiences in Old Town — just get there before 5pm.
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