Heart of the Dessert is a tasting room located in Alamogordo, New Mexico. They do grow their own grapes but the wine is manufactured by other wineries. When you first enter Heart of the Dessert you'll notice it's more of a gift shop selling knick-knacks, jewelry and pistachios than it is a tasting room but if you continue to the back you'll notice a very nicely appointed room reserved for tasting wine. On the day I visited Heart of the Dessert, the tasting room was closed but they directed us to a small counter in the front of the store for tasting.
Perhaps it was the chaotic location of the tasting counter being located directly by the cash register with line of patrons buying knick-knacks that made the wine hostess this day seem a little bothered and distracted. Or perhaps it was her comment that, "I've been a bar tender for years and "they" don't swirl or smell the wine as "they" taste it," correcting us as we did so, that has me believing this. I might have put a little credence to her comment if it hadn’t been for the way she lead into it by saying, "I don't drink wine but..."
First, we are the "they" of whom she speaks and second, correct me if I’m wrong here but in my experience, patrons that order drinks from a bar tender are not typically interested in the experiential nature of tasting their drinks like someone visiting a winery. When was the last time you saw someone swirl and sniff their martini and to carry the thought a step further, why would you care if they did? So I've come to the conclusion, after viewing a few references, that an ex-bar tender does not a good wine hostess make. Let's leave it at that.
If you go: I wouldn't.
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