Gypsy Jan
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Rancho Cortés: The Best Olive Oil In the World--And Damn-Great Cheese to Boot
From the OC Weekly, for pics and the original article go to: http://blogs.ocweekly.com/stickaforkinit/2012/05/misiones_de...
By Dave Lieberman Thu., May 31 2012 at 2:00 PM
"Coastal mountains of Baja, which provide such amazing scenery for the last few kilometers of the drive, and suddenly the landscape opens up into a
wide valley, planted with trees and grapes and dotted with dairy cows. This is the Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico's wine country, and ground zero for just
about every non-seafood product that makes Baja's cuisine the astonishing marvel it is.
Red dirt roads in varying states of repair crisscross the valley, with the occasional paved road leading to or from the northern rim of the valley at
El Porvenir, and at the end of one such road lies Rancho Cortés, where they produce the best olive oil in the world.
That's a bold statement in a world that has been dominated by Mediterranean oils and then goosed by the grass bombs produced in Alta California, but
it's true. Rancho Cortés is a dairy farm and cheese producer, but it's also the hub of a small group of olive farmers that stretches all the way to
Tecate, who bring their olives to be pressed.
The cooperative's brand is called Misiones de Baja California, and the oil is brilliantly green, floral, slightly grassy, and only barely acidic.
Where French olive oil can be cloying, California oil is almost always far too throat-puckeringly tannic, and Spanish oil very hot and assertive,
Misiones de Baja California oil--and Baja olive oil in general--is very carefully neutral, which means it goes with absolutely everything.
The best part, though, is the price. California oils all go for $20 to $30 a litre, with some outliers reaching $40 a liter; if you buy it at the
ranch, Misiones de Baja California goes for 125 pesos a liter--which, at current exchange rates, is about $8.80. Even if this were just
run-of-the-mill oil, it'd be an outstanding value. As it is, I try to buy them out of current stock every time I go.
Rancho Cortés' cheese is top-notch as well; the cows are all fed most of the year on pasture, but during the season, huge piles of
calabaza--pumpkin--supplement the cows' diet. A degustación of 8 cheeses plus oil and a sample of wine costs 35 pesos, or about $2.50.
There are various quesos frescos that grill well on a flat comal to be used in sandwiches with avocados and pickled jalapeño chiles; the best of these
has basil ("albahaca") kneaded into the curds. The queso oreado, made from a mix of goat's and cow's milk, has a floral, funky, almost barnyard taste;
the cheese practically screams to be cubed and used in a mix for chiles rellenos.
Real del Castillo, a cheese developed in Ojos Negros, just a few kilometers southeast in the next valley, tastes like Greek manouri's elder brother,
but the winner of them all is the queso añejo, aged for just 5 months in a small refrigerated cave in a small building. Cheese that strongly flavored
is often gooey; not so Rancho Cortés queso añejo.
Pair the queso fresco with a light rosé, as they do at the tasting room; pair Real del Castillo with the Grenache that is popular in the valley; pair
the stronger-tasting cheeses with something more assertive, like a Cabernet blend.
To get to Rancho Cortés, exit the 1-D toll road for La Misión and La Fonda, then turn left off the exit. Follow Federal Highway 1 (the free road)
inland through La Misión, then turn left at the sign for Valle de Guadalupe. At the intersection for El Porvenir and Ensenada, turn left into Rancho
Cortes and follow the "QUESOS" signs. You can also take Federal Highway 3 from Ensenada; at the U-turn ("RETORNO") past San Antonio de las Minas, turn
right onto the first paved road; that will take you straight to the gate.
You can buy Misiones de Baja California olive oil for a small markup at Cremería Los Globos, located at the traffic light on Federal Highway 3 in San
Antonio de las Minas--the only traffic light in the valley.
You can take as much olive oil as you like back across the border, and one liter of wine duty-free; cheese is limited to 5 kg (11 lbs.), and don't
forget to declare it!"
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow mindedness.”
—Mark Twain
\"La vida es dura, el corazon es puro, y cantamos hasta la madrugada.” (Life is hard, the heart is pure and we sing until dawn.)
—Kirsty MacColl, Mambo de la Luna
\"Alea iacta est.\"
—Julius Caesar
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Hook
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All right, who's going to Rancho Cortes, continuing down Baja, and then crossing the Sea of Cortez on the ferry to the mainland at Guaymas and can
bring be some of the queso anejo AND 3-4 liters of the olive oil???? 
Seriously!!! For probably the last three times I went to the Guadalupe Valley in the early 2000s, I'd taste the wine and buy only the olive oil. By
the gallon.
Sounds great. Thanks for the article, Jan.
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DavidE
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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My bottle of Argél is probably the best olive oil I have tasted outside of Tuscany, the bordeaux region in Italy of olive oils. Like super premium
wine of Guadalupe, the regional oil is destined for superstardom and zooming price tags.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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Hook
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It begs the question..........what is it that they are doing that makes their o.o. supposedly "world class". It's certainly not a unique climate,
really.
BTW, I love the rather grassy o.o. from Alta California, especially the ones from Pasolivo. What's the latest on the questionable sale of that
property to satisfy the investors who were defrauded?
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DavidE
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Mood: 'At home we demand facts and get them. In Mexico one subsists on rumor and never demands anything.' Charles Flandrau,
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Hook, from everything like salmon eggs for trout bait, to wine, truffles, coffee, fruit, meat, homes, and everything else, the "very best" seldom
resides on shelves in USA hardware stores or supermarkets.
In Italy and Spain, the premium oils are exported or sold to hoity-toity restaurants. Fifty dollars for a bottle of decent California olive oil.
I.....don't.....think.....so. But then the chef, maid or chauffeur could go fetch it.
Mexico's infrastructure isn't well enough developed to isolate all of its superb grade products. There are coffees from Chiapas and Veracruz that can
give Jamaican Blue Mountain a run for its money. But little by little this is eroding. Really good chihuahua cheese is now pricey, and even café
regional right in chiapas and veracruz is eight dollars a pound. I buy eggs down here that can only be graded super extra large (mixed in with mere
large eggs), and on the mainland, produce and fruit so inexpensive that it would make a snotty nob hill grocer weep in agonizing greed.
I'll never forget shopping in a true upscale market in Sausalito. Everything was marked up at least double or even treble that of Safeway or Lucky.
"Yes; well, it keeps the little people out" snooted an elegantly dressed gran dam in front of me.
That newspaper article is not got to affect olive oil in Guadalupe, that is, until they find a way to ship it out. Campesinos are reduced to drinking
third rate mescal, while Japanese and Chinese pay absurd prices for añejo Tequila. It's the same old story. Millions suffer while a handful cannot
decide between solid gold or platinum faucets in the mountain retreat.
A Lot To See And A Lot To Do
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55steve
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My friend has a rancho in Guadalupe Valley, complete with newly planted grape vines and plenty of mature olive trees. I get totally exquisite olive
oil from him at $6/750ml. This makes me very happy!
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bajaking76
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My wife and I visited Rancho Cortes in July of this year, for 55 pesos we tasted all their cheeses and their olive oil. The cheese they make is
exceptional, especially the cheese named after the valley, we did not care much for their olive oil. We bought some olive oil from Corazon de Tierra
instead, infused with garlic, basil, pepper corns, rosemary and a dried chili pepper most likely chile de arbol.
\"That\'s my thing, that\'s what I do\"
\"Gene Police: You!! Out Of The Pool!\"
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