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Wineries poised to uncork grape festivities
http://www.sandiegored.com/noticias/15830/Wineries-poised-to...
By Omar Millán
24 Julio 2011
VALLE DE GUADALUPE, Ensenada – One hour south of San Diego, particularly in August, there is a magical place that for more than 120 years has captured
the soul of the earth.
It’s called “The Wine Route,” a highway northeast of Ensenada that connects the valleys of Guadalupe, San Antonio de las Minas and Calafia, the
agricultural area where nearly 250 growers nurture grapes for wine.
Those valleys and in San Vicente and the Santo Tomás Valley -- south of Ensenada – produce 126 million liters of wine annually, 90 percent of the
table wines produced in Mexico, according to the regional winegrowers association.
The bucolic landscape is beautiful year round, however, growers begin harvesting the grapes in August, an occasion for a month’s worth of celebration,
called “la vendimia.”
It becomes a continuous party centered on wine. There are wine competitions, dances, great banquets, concerts, bullfights and guided tours through
cellars and vineyards.
The vineyards of Santo Tomás, founded in 1888, and LA Cetto, founded in 1930, are the oldest in the region. Their wines are even sold in countries
with a rich history in winemaking, such as France and Italy.
However, the region also has other producers that have reached international stature, more modest houses and even boutique and family-owned wineries.
Some offer a sampling of their wines accompanied by exceptional food.
“What characterizes these wines is the marine breeze. We don’t have much water here, but we can boast about the climates that we do have: the great
marine breeze that envelopes the valleys. This fortifies our grapes. And there’s the personal touch that each grower gives his grapes,” explained José
Abraham Gómez Gutiérrez, director of the School of Winemaking and Gastronomy at Baja California Autonomous University, Ensenada campus.
You don’t have to be a specialist in wines nor have a fortune to taste these wines. There are wines for all pocketbooks and tastes. August is perhaps
the best month to visit this place: The weather is warm, occasionally cooled by sea breezes, and the landscape of yellowing, dry hills contrasts with
green fields and olive trees.
The aroma recalls an idealized and perfect past.
Secure, comfortable trip
More than one day is needed to explore “la ruta del vino,” which begins about 70 miles south of San Diego. Experts recommend at least one week.
The road is very secure. The best option for a traveler who is coming from Tijuana is to take the toll road to Ensenada, also called the scenic road.
The cost is around $2.20. This road is patrolled by federal police and by military at each toll both.
The wine route is free, easy to drive and modern; the main road has four lanes, and the area has a police station, a medical clinic and a permanent
Red Cross station.
There’s a variety of restaurants along the route that recommend the best combinations of food and wine, and a series of small bed and breakfast
hotels.
Visitors can travel alone, as couples or in families along the route. Reservations are recommended for guided visits and tours.
Valleys and their wines
The wine route offers a variety of opportunities to taste unique flavors. More than 30 vineyards and winemakers make their home in the Guadalupe and
Calafia valleys.
Each of these houses offers at least five types of wines to taste before moving to the next one.
As you travel along, don’t be surprised if you begin to talk a little more than usual and smile a bit more frequently – it’s part of the magic of
wine.
Just five miles east of Sauzal, in an area known as San Antonio de las Minas, is the first winery:
Viña Liceaga, a family business that offers its cellar and terrace for wine tasting.
In the same community are Vinisterra, a small family winery; Vinícola Tres Valles;
the vineyards of Casa de Piedra, a unique winery made out of stone that houses a small and celebrated producer; and Viñedos Zapién.
Continuing on the wine route, around at mile 6.9, are the vineyards and gardens of the Mogor Badán family.
All the vineyards and wineries offer tours and wine tastings. Some, however, require a reservation.
There is a variety of restaurants in the area, serving Mexican food, meats and seafood. And there’s excellent boutique hotels perched in the
hillsides.
The route continues until reaching the community of Francisco Zarco, where the traveler can go one of two ways.
One direction is toward the east where the traditional wineries of LA Cetto and Casa Pedro Domecq can be found, with their impressive vineyards and
subterranean cellars. Both also offer picnic areas, wine tasting rooms and guided tours.
Also in that direction, at mile 2.1 after passing the town of Francisco Zarco, is La Casa de Doña Lupe, a family winery that produces artisan wine
also known as organic wine.
The winery also offers fresh products from the region, including aromatic herbs, cheeses, incense, grapes, raisins, honey, jellies, olives, olive oil,
salsas and cakes.
The other direction is toward the west where the winery Tinto del Norte 32 is located after about a mile. Two miles later there’s Monte Xanic, one of
the first wineries in the valley, and whose name means “the first flower bathed by the morning dew.”
A couple of miles north, along the road to a tiny cemetery of the old Russian colony here, can be found Chateau Camou, a winery constructed in the
mission style of the 18th century, with large gardens and a panoramic view of the valley.
There are also Vinos Shimul; Barón Balche, a winery made out of paving stone with an underground cellar; and Adobe Guadalupe, a vineyard and winery
that includes a bed and breakfast hotel.
Three miles from Francisco Zarco, in an area known as El Porvenir, are the cellars of Bibayoff, a traditional Russian winery that offers wine tasting,
camping areas and a tiny family museum.
A mile farther are the Pijoan vineyards, another family winery that produces artisan wine.
A trip along “La ruta del vino,” tasting its bounties along the way, tends to change the traveler, as the best journeys do.
And it often leaves the traveler with a desire to return to this place of matchless flavors in a land far from crime, the recession and maddening
traffic.
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A sampling of vineyards and wineries
(All phone numbers are as dialed from U.S.)
* LA Cetto: 011.52.646.155.2179; http://www.cettowines.com
* Casa Pedro Domecq: 011.52. 646.155.2249
* Viña de Liceaga: 011.52.646.155.3281; http://www.vinosliceaga.com
* Adobe Guadalupe: 011.52.646.155.2094; http://www.adobeguadalupe.com
* Casa de Piedra: 011.52. 646.155.3097; http://www.vinoscasadepiedra.com
* Chateau Camou: 011.52.646.177-2221; http://www.chateau-camou.com.mx
* Monte Xanic: 011.52.646.1747055; http://www.montexanic.com.mx
* Bodegas Santo Tomás: 011.52.646.174-0936; http://www.santo-tomas.com
* Bibayoff: 011.52.646.177-2722; http://www.bibayoff.net
Sampling of hotels
* Rancho El Parral: 011.52.646. 947.5804
* La villa del Valle: 011.52.646.155.2094
* Rancho María Teresa: 011.52. 646.155.2450
* Hotel Mesón del Vino: 011.52.646.151.2137
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zoesterone
Nomad
Posts: 127
Registered: 5-8-2011
Location: Mazatlan, soon to be Baja
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This is one of the reasons we look forward to our move to Baja in two months, among others. Have enjoyed Monte Xanic and L.A. Cetto for a while now,
so a real time visit will be an adventure.
Dogs are not our whole life, but make our lives whole.
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