Valle de Guadalupe is the wine star of Baja
Along the Northern Baja peninsula lies Mexico’s coolest wine country, Valle de Guadalupe. It’s home to a mecca of organic-minded farmers and chefs that have captured a true entrepreneur spirit paired with a deep respect for the land. Just two hours south of Tijuana, off a dirt path find La Ruta del Vino, a string of wineries along a necklace of coastline hugging the Pacific Ocean.
Many have tried to understand, but the thing to be clear is that Mexican wine has yet to stamp themselves into one single variety or style. Pair this winemaking freedom to a long history of traveling people and cultures spanning from Russia, Italy, Spain, France to name a few. Baja is the intersection between culture, unique microclimates, and a passion for making wines that express the land they were cultivated on.
The spirit of wines from Baja are just that, they are free from the chains of branding that so many international wine regions must adhere to. Mexican producers are not bridled by policies of monocrops or profit-based grape growing.
Unique Terroir and a Thirst for Expressive Wines
The valley is an ideal growing environment as it breathes in the cool, ocean breeze that wanders inland. The pockets of Mediterranean climate are made complete for hot, dry days and a diurnal shift that allows grapes to feel cool and fresh during morning and afternoon hours.
However, it is difficult to speak of the Valle as one unit when it is a complex viticultural area that is comprised of eight valleys that are mostly isolated from the direct effect of the neighboring ocean. Therefore, most pockets have widely differing microclimates and variations in soils, elevations, and aspects.
Patrick Neri of Beso Imports says “the best wineries have the intention to craft a wine that expresses their unique parcel of land and hold an open mindset. They are not willing to create something without personality for the sake of selling cases.”
Take Mina Penélope for example, winemaker Veronica Santiago and viticulturist husband Nathan Malagón make a thousand cases per year. The Mina Penélope 2022 Montepulciano Rosé is tangy with texture and flavors of salty peaches and wild strawberries. It has dense, pink color that proves some time on skins that makes it a food pairing wonder. Veronica says that her favorite wine to make is the sparkling, pink and white wines because “the aromas make me crazy in love.”
Farmers First, Winemakers Second
Baja still dominates most of Mexico’s wine production, totaling to about 60% of total production. Most plantings were brought to Mexico by immigrants and now is home to over 47 grape varieties.
Off a dirt road to Lomita, Fernando Perez-Castro and his family own the stunning and state-of-the-art Finca la Carrodilla Winery. It was built to be a free-flow operation, which means that zero machines exist here. Wine is made with modernized technology that utilizes gravity as a tool for extraction and winemaking.
Since the monocrop culture doesn’t exist here, Mexico’s coolest wine region has grown accustomed to a sustainable mindset, cultivating a growing respect for the backcountry hillsides and open grassland.
Mexican Wine is the Comeback Kid
Perhaps it’s the lively culture and long winemaking history that makes Mexico stand out. L.A. Cetto is the icon of the valley and started in the hands of Italian newcomer in 1924. Luis Angelo Cetto came to land that procured a long vine growing history, starting with the Kumiai Indians and continued with the Padres who brought missions and deep meaning to use of the vines as sacraments.
L.A. Cetto is Mexico’s largest brand and with almost 4,000 acres under vines and 1.4 million cases produced, still leads with the family pride as a 3rd generation wine perseverance story. The Cetto family gets better with each new generation, but they all share a dream to make it big while continuing to evolve and get better.
Will the world ever understand Mexican wine? It’s almost impossible to quantify the wines of Baja as one specific thing. When the consumers and wine writers go looking for Valle de Guadalupe, what’s there demands to be tasted, seen, understood, and felt.