BajaNomad

Wine From Baja California?

sargentodiaz - 10-20-2018 at 12:53 PM


Huh? Wine of the barren Sonora Desert of Baja? That makes no sense at all.
Except, being a student of Mexican history, I know the Jesuits and other Catholic missionaries brought grapes from Europe to use in their religious rites. It appears their small mission vineyards have grown somewhat.
Learn more about the Valle de Guadalupe @ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valle_de_Guadalupe
But, back to the story.
Winemakers in the Valle de Guadalupe region of Baja California are betting on an innovative solution to their water shortage problem.
An Israeli company, Odis Asversa, will build an aqueduct between Tijuana and the well-known wine region to carry recycled wastewater to the area’s vineyards.
Although the company won a state government tendering process to complete the project — the first of its kind in Mexico — the winemakers will foot the US $1.5-billion bill.
An Israeli company? In Mexico?
Why not? They practically survive on such stuff in Israel. They’re also leaders in turning sea water to fresh.
Anyhow, more of this story @ https://mexiconewsdaily.com/news/aqueduct-will-carry-recycle...

bajaguy - 10-20-2018 at 03:31 PM

An Israeli company built the Ensenada DeSal plant. Supposed to be up and running in April, still waiting........Can't get a straight answer as to what the problem is

bajabuddha - 10-20-2018 at 04:22 PM

Wasn't just the Spanish that brought the grapes; during the numerous revolutions so did the French advisors, as well as the German ones bringing their hops.

:coolup: Bless Mexico for good libations all around. :bounce:

David K - 10-21-2018 at 10:36 AM

Hi Dale.
I miss your posts on Historum.
Nice that you are still writing stories about the colonization of California.
I have sent messages to you on your Facebook page...

Rainer - 10-21-2018 at 11:42 AM

LOVE Valle de Guadalupe

Bruce R Leech - 10-22-2018 at 05:25 PM

Quote: Originally posted by bajaguy  
An Israeli company built the Ensenada DeSal plant. Supposed to be up and running in April, still waiting........Can't get a straight answer as to what the problem is
it is up and doing just fine I love the water, why are you posting this on a wine thread?

:bounce:
the water is 150 ppm tds pretty nice

[Edited on 10-23-2018 by Bruce R Leech]

Martyman - 10-22-2018 at 05:57 PM

Dry farming grapes(no watering) does work. Vines need to be established with irrigation (chitewater works) and then weaned off. Supposedly, this will lead to wines that will be richer in flavors.
I've got a nice Napa Cab going now at Don Gus's. Love wine!

vandy - 10-23-2018 at 08:00 AM

I was just down in Valle de Guadalupe doing my annual olive and olive oil run.
A long drive from Phoenix to find that the olive harvest failed in the area.

The grape vines were looking brown and unhealthy, and I was told that the grape harvest failed too.

Maybe more irrigation is a good idea...

Don Jorge - 10-23-2018 at 09:43 AM

Quote: Originally posted by vandy  
I was just down in Valle de Guadalupe doing my annual olive and olive oil run.
A long drive from Phoenix to find that the olive harvest failed in the area.

The grape vines were looking brown and unhealthy, and I was told that the grape harvest failed too.

Maybe more irrigation is a good idea...

I recently have been spending a lot of time in the Valley. I have a bit of history in that area going back 35 years. In the early to mid 1990's just about every well in the Valley that was not located in the main arroyo failed.

In the early 1990's the well water became too alkaline for most plants and by 1995 many of the wells away from the arroyo went dry. This was before the wine grape planting craze went into overdrive and before the federal government began registering and permitting wells and well developments.

By the time well regulations were in place in the early 2000's, hundreds of both hand dug and machine bored wells had been added to the aquifer. There were decent rains in the late 1990's and the aquifer recovered.

The photo posted earlier is looking west across the Valley over Cetto's fields.
Cetto has lots of water, as their production wells are on top of the main aquifer in the arroyo. The City of Ensenada has a battery of wells there also and pipes water from the Valley all the way to Ensenada.

Most of the vineyards in the Valley which are not located near the main
arroyo had terrible yields this year due to alkaline and failing water supplies. Many vineyards are supplementing their meager well water supplies with purchased water brought in with water trucks.

We have seen several new vineyards being developed now with trucked in water being their primary irrigation supply source. Crazy yes, but that is what bubbles are, crazy.

If it does not rain copiously this winter the Valley is on course for a serious problem. Let's hope it does rain. Hope is what all farmers have in common.

Enough water to properly care for a vineyard is not that common though in the Valle de Guadalupe. This is manifested by the pitiful look of the vineyards planted in the last ten years away from the arroyo. Hope it rains cats a dogs this winter. We need it.