I’m always a little surprised when customers come into the shop asking for “local wines.” Take a short drive down Interstate 10, and you’ll see that not much grows out in those sand dunes.
For a long time, my suggestion was a bottle of wine from Santa Barbara. A scenic 230-mile drive northwest will land you in the Sta. Rita Hills or Santa Maria, where you can taste beautiful chardonnay, pinot noir and syrah. Up until recently, my perception was that was as “local” as you were going to get. Some of you are thinking, “But wait! What about Temecula?!” My answer is this: As far as I know, Temecula wines are not sold outside of Temecula. And I have yet to taste anything from Temecula (aside from one winery called Vindemia) that is worth the drive.
So, Santa Barbara was my recommendation until I discovered the “other” 230-miles-away wine region. I’m talking about the Valle de Guadalupe in Baja, Mexico. Yes, Mexican wine.
I’m fresh off another trip to this amazing valley, where I spent three days with fellow sommeliers from around the country, along with winemakers and principals from not only the Valle, but from all over Mexico. It was called Mexican Wine Bootcamp, and I can’t think of a more appropriate name for the 12-hour-long days spent tasting hundreds of wines, touring beautiful properties, and eating some of the best food I’ve ever tasted.
I know, poor me.
On day one, our group met in San Diego and boarded a motor coach headed for the San Ysidro border crossing into Tijuana. In the past, when I’ve driven down myself, I’ve used the Tecate port of entry, which is much simpler if you’re headed there from the Coachella Valley. Either way, crossing into Mexico couldn’t be easier. Coming back over the border into the U.S. … well, that’s a whole different ballgame.
We arrived at Hilo Negro winery around 3 p.m. to a sparkling-wine reception in their beautiful and modern tasting room. We sampled dozens of delicious bubbles from the wineries of Symmetria, Bruma and Tresparauno in Baja, and Vinaltura, Casa Vegil and San Juanito from Queretaro.
Once our palate was warmed up, we headed up the hill to the restaurant at Hilo Negro for dinner and a tasting session with one of Baja’s most iconic winemakers, Daniel Lonnberg. Originally from Santiago, Chile, where he was the winemaker for Concha y Toro, Daniel relocated to Baja after working a few harvests. He now is the wine consultant for more than a half-dozen wineries in Baja, as well as his own label called Vinsur.
It was after 11 p.m. when we got back to the hotel to crash—before starting all over again at 9 a.m. Drinking for a living is tough work.
Day two was focused on the international influence on winemaking in Mexico and the avant garde natural style of wines being made across the country.
We began our day at Adobe Guadalupe, one of the early pioneers of wines in Baja, with a stunning 60-acre estate. The winery, tasting room, villas and gardens feel like you’re in a Spanish colonial fairy tale from the 16th century. This was a more intimate tasting, highlighting the winemakers that have come from all over the world to make wine in Mexico, like Camillo Magoni from Italy, Agostina Astegiano from Argentina, Taylor Grant from California, Christoph Gärtner from Switzerland, and the Lurton family, owners of Grand Cru Classe, Chateau Brane-Cantenac, from Margaux in Bordeaux, France. These are just a few of the winemakers who have left their wine homeland to explore and cultivate the burgeoning Mexican wine culture.
From there, it was off to the new Mercado at Bruma Winery to taste the natural, or as it’s sometimes called, “minimal intervention” wines. These are wines that are typically lower in alcohol, wild-yeast fermented, and organically or biodynamically farmed, with fun and off-beat labels. Best described as wine where nothing is added and nothing is taken away, these wines are not exactly traditional in their flavor profile—but they are crisp and vibrant, and paired beautifully with the fresh, al pastor tacos we were served.
Lulu Martinez is the winemaker for Bruma (along with a host of several other wines like Palafox and Casa Jipi) and is widely considered the most important female winemaker in Mexico. She cut her teeth working as part of the winemaking team at none other than Chateau Brane-Cantenac in Bordeaux, where she met Henri Lurton. He expressed a desire to make wine in Mexico and knew Lulu was the perfect fit to become his winemaker in the Valle de Guadalupe.
We toured the winery and grounds at Bruma (an absolute must-visit!), and then it was off to enjoy dinner al fresco in their wine garden, tucked away in the vineyards.
Hear me when I tell you: The food and the gracious hospitality in Mexico is unparalleled. Unequivocally, the best meals of my life have been in the Valle. The culture is warm, and the people are beyond welcoming and kind. The dinner at Bruma, under the soft glow of string lights in the oak trees, was unforgettable. Fresh, handmade pasta, wood-fired pizza and recently picked garden vegetables were just a glimpse of what the night had in store.
Once again, it was close to midnight when my head hit the pillow—only to get up a few hours later and do it all again!
The third and final day of “bootcamp” started with a seminar at the Museum of the Vine and Wine, where we discussed the future of wine production in Mexico, and how to best present these gorgeous offerings to American wine lovers. I tasted wines from all over central and northern Mexico; I was completely blown away by the cabernet sauvignon and syrah of Guanajuato. I fell in love with the red blends from Queretaro and Aguascalientes, and the stunning, high-elevation (7,000 feet!) malbec from Coahuila.
The remainder of the day was spent at the remote winery of Solar Fortun, which featured tiny boutique producers that make less than 3,000 cases per year, followed by an evening at Casa Magoni winery, which showcased the larger operations that are more well-known. Dinner was a traditional whole hog asado with all the fixings. If you’ve never seen this South American style of cooking—where the animal is flayed open, hung on an iron cross, and slow-roasted over an open fire—it’s shocking and amazing all at the same time.
This awesome group of wine aficionados spent our last night together sitting around fire pits, eating like royalty, and polishing off the last of the wines.
The Valle de Guadalupe is a magical place for lovers of wine, food and hospitality. Don’t underestimate the wines of Mexico. Just like Napa’s wines 40 years ago, they just keep getting better and better!
