|
by Jill Gubesch
Rick and Deann Bayless, Carlos Alferez (our general manager-partner) and I headed south from San Diego during the first week of August for a remarkable adventure into Mexico’s wine country. That’s when they celebrate the Fiesta de la Vendimia (Wine Harvest Festival), complete with open-air concerts at the wineries (we saw Willie and Lobo at Chateau Camou), winery tours, street fairs and a grand finale paella cook-off with over a hundred entrees.
Baja California’s Valle de Guadalupe is Mexico’s main wine region. It’s a valley located about six miles north of Ensenada and about 15 minutes from the Pacific. The largely east-west orientation of the valley combined with the ocean influence provides cool evenings balancing the warm days for optimal grape growing conditions.
The southern portion of the Valle de Guadalupe is designated as the Valle de San Antonio de las Minas, which is closer to the Pacific with cooler growing conditions. The wine grape harvest is two to three weeks later there than in the northern part. The other two nearby grape-growing valleys include the Valle de Santo Tomás (30 miles south of Ensenada) and the Valle de San Vicente (23 miles further south from Santo Tomás).
Of the wineries we visited, the most impressive was Monte Xanic. The winemaker, Hans Backoff, founded the winery in 1988 and is at the forefront of producing topflight wines in Mexico. He is constantly striving for (and reaching) better wines with each vintage. And he’s a wonderful host, inviting us to have lunch with him (classic—if a little heavy—northern Mexican specialties) overlooking the vineyards. We didn’t even complain that the air temperature was over 100º, especially since he invited us for a dip in the winery’s swimming pool before we ventured on our way.
Among our other stops, we had a brief, but thoroughly impressive, visit to Adobe Guadalupe Vineyard, a relatively new, award-winning winery located a short distance from Monte Xanic. Tru and Don Miller own the beautiful property (they run it as a rather luxurious bed and breakfast), while Hugo d’Acosta is the winemaker. He also makes wine at his own property, Casa de la Piedra. Both labels are among the best of the area. We were able to sample most of the area’s wines as we tasted the paellas at the cook-off. Bodegas de Santo Tomás, Casa Pedro Domecq, Mogor-Badán, Chateau Camou and Liceaga added to those we’d already tasted.
We are working diligently towards bringing you the full array of Baja California’s amazing premium wines at Frontera/Topolobampo—hopefully within the next year. Keep your eyes on the wine list. ¡Salud!
For more information on the wines of Baja California, we recommend Touring and Tasting Mexico’s Undiscovered Treasures by Ralph Amey.
| 
