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David K - 4-2-2008 at 07:23 PM

It's some really good stuff!

TJ Tour 018r.JPG - 34kB

David K - 4-2-2008 at 07:24 PM

Aged well...

TJ Tour 017r.JPG - 45kB

David K - 4-2-2008 at 07:25 PM

Bottled nicely...

TJ Tour 009r.JPG - 41kB

David K - 4-2-2008 at 07:26 PM

from well stored barrels...

TJ Tour 011r.JPG - 26kB

capt. mike - 4-3-2008 at 06:44 AM

what happened to the valle de guad tour some one here was working on?

i am drooling now..........my endorphins are ready to recept...........

David K - 4-3-2008 at 08:12 AM

Mike, all the L.A. Cetto photos above were taken in Tijuana... only the grapes come form Valle de Guadalupe and other Baja vineyard locations. We had a great tour of the bottling facility during Viva Baja Cactus event, 2006: http://vivabaja.com/vivabajacactus

Nebbiolo

thebajarunner - 4-3-2008 at 08:34 AM

Tuesday night we gave a small benefit dinner in our home for the Salvation Army.
The co-president of the world's largest winery was here and Baja Vida and I served him both the LACetto Nebbiolo and the Monte Xanic Cabernet.
He made very nice comments about both (but then he is a very gracious man)
I doubt that he would appreciate seeing his endorsement in print, however, thus no names included in this post.

thx ......but

capt. mike - 4-3-2008 at 10:12 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by David K
Mike, all the L.A. Cetto photos above were taken in Tijuana... only the grapes come form Valle de Guadalupe and other Baja vineyard locations. We had a great tour of the bottling facility during Viva Baja Cactus event, 2006: http://vivabaja.com/vivabajacactus

TJ is the LAST place i want to tour - for anything. :lol:

i have been thru LA Cetto's ops at the guad location many times - plenty to see there and no bus fumes to inhale. plus they gave us all we could taste - 15 types one sitting and didn't charge a cent. we could only buy 2 liters due to USA importation rules and apologized for that . told them we'd hit the Wine Bank in SD tho to stock and that made them happy.

i have secured permission to land on their RW via a contact made here and BBP so am good to just fly down once it warms a bit more there. i want to check out some of the other smaller batch plants.

sylens - 4-3-2008 at 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by capt. mike
what happened to the valle de guad tour some one here was working on?

i am drooling now..........my endorphins are ready to recept...........

i'm working on it. we are booked at vinisterra for 10 am june 14. (someone advised the 7th would rule them out.) let me know if 14th is NOT ok for you...(if you have "signed up.")

awaiting a call back on a vehicle for 20, as we have 16 people "signed up" as of now. i will keep you posted.

still tentatively planning on visiting:
vinisterra
tres mujeres
bibayoff
pijoan
monte xanic

this will be a LONG day, nomads. hope you are up for it :tumble:

DanO - 4-3-2008 at 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by capt. mike

Quote:

TJ is the LAST place i want to tour - for anything. :lol:

What's the Wine Bank in SD?

capt. mike - 4-3-2008 at 04:50 PM

it is (was?) a retail store in down town SD we used to shop at. i may have the name wrong. it was either bank or vault and i think the bldg might have been an old bank. 2 floors basement and main. lots of guad valle wines.
i am thinking El Gato Loco turned me on to it??
when i was working in bonita we'd go there 2001 - 2004.

i went to the new Bevmo in SDL today, $.05 five cent sale!! spent way too much.......i better start chugging.
bye now.

fdt - 4-3-2008 at 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by capt. mike

Quote:

TJ is the LAST place i want to tour - for anything. :lol:

I would avoid TJ also, I do highly recomend you visit Tijuana though, as that is were the Cetto Family lives and set up their business :saint:

jodiego - 4-14-2008 at 12:47 PM

Quote:

i went to the new Bevmo in SDL today, $.05 five cent sale!! spent way too much.......i better start chugging.
bye now.

Do they sell LA Cetto wines? Where are some places in San Diego that sell them?

tripledigitken - 4-14-2008 at 01:13 PM

I personally have not seen Cetto in Bevmore.

I will suggest 2 to call that might:

Vintage Wines on Miramar Rd.

Wine Bank on 5th Ave.

Or go to Romesco restaurant in Bonita and have a fabulous dinner and choose from the longest list of Baja wines I have seen in the US.

This is an extraordinary restaurant! Owned by the same people that own Savario's and other restaurants in Tijuana.

Ken

capt. mike - 4-14-2008 at 01:29 PM

great tip on the Bonita restaurant Ken, wish i was still around.
and yes, the Wine Bank SD has all the good Cetto vins.

tripledigitken - 4-14-2008 at 01:33 PM

Mike,

You need to try this place believe me. Next time you out here lets get together and have dinner there.

Ken

Roberto - 4-14-2008 at 01:44 PM

Vintage Wines does not.

tripledigitken - 4-14-2008 at 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Roberto
Vintage Wines does not.

Thanks for checking. Excellent wine store just the same, especially if you like Zinfandels.

Ken

capt. mike - 4-15-2008 at 05:16 AM

Ken, we'll do it!!

hey, i found a ZIN to kill for.
Klinker Brick old vine out of Lodi.
about $17 and drinks like a $50!!!
find it before its gone!!
yahoo!!!!!!

Roberto - 4-15-2008 at 10:51 AM

For the most part, I have found L.A. Cetto wines to be run-of-the-mill. Not an outstanding wine in the lot. They are well priced, though.

The REALLY good wines from Valle de Guadalupe (Monte Xanic Cabernet Sauvignon y Merlot is one of my favorites) are way overpriced for what they offer.

Roberto - 4-15-2008 at 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by tripledigitken
Thanks for checking. Excellent wine store just the same, especially if you like Zinfandels.
Ken

I agree - I've been going there for years. Before I first moved to San Diego, I used to work in one of the buildings in that strip mall and travelled to work there from one of the other offices (New York). One night I was looking for a decent place to buy wine, and walked into it (the old downstairs store). Been a customer since.

I find they excel in a couple of categories, one being VERY good (and VERY expensive) French Burgundy. I usually buy a couple of those bottles for the Christmas/New Year holidays.

Hook - 4-15-2008 at 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Roberto
For the most part, I have found L.A. Cetto wines to be run-of-the-mill. Not an outstanding wine in the lot. They are well priced, though.

The REALLY good wines from Valle de Guadalupe (Monte Xanic Cabernet Sauvignon y Merlot is one of my favorites) are way overpriced for what they offer.

This is all so true, Roberto.

Now, why is it that California is literally flooded with good, inexpensive wines from Chile and Argentina................and none of us can find any Mexican wines up here?

I think it speaks to the quality and pricing of the Mexican wines. If a retailer has to choose which he gives shelf space to; it will be the better wine for a better value cause that one will move. And it will create repeat business.

In all cases, it's wines from sudamerica.

Mango - 4-15-2008 at 06:46 PM

In general I like LA Cetto wines. I do find most of them to be run of the mill; but, I really enjoy their Nebbiolo.

I took a pit stop at the LA Cetto tasting room and found it to be a nice time. I have yet to get back and check out all the other wineries.

Anyone interested.. may want to check out this book:

"THE WINES OF BAJA CALIFORNIA
Touring and Tasting Mexico's Undiscovered Treasures"
By Ralph Amey

I have a copy and found it very informative regarding the various wine makers and history of wine in Baja.

Hook - 4-15-2008 at 08:32 PM

Just checked my wine cabinet. I still have a '97 LA Cetto Nebbiolo and a '99 LA Cetto Don Luis label Vino Tinto.

Roberto - 4-18-2008 at 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Mango
I took a pit stop at the LA Cetto tasting room and found it to be a nice time.

Yes, a nice place and facility, and most definitely a good time.

Interestingly enough, Nebbiolo is the grape that one of the world's best wines is made from - Barolo. Also interesting is the fact that the name of the grape, in Italian, derives from the word for fog - nebbia, which is the prevalent climate in the northern part of Italy, where Barolo is made.

The wine from L.A. Cetto is vinified in a completely different way, in obviously a totally different climate, and it is intended to be drunk young, while Barolo is a wine that must be aged -- much to tannic to drink before 5-8 years, it will turn your face into a prune. But, magnificent after that time. EXPENSIVE, however.

[Edited on 4-19-2008 by Roberto]

Iflyfish - 4-19-2008 at 11:40 AM

Captn Mike

I am a great fan of the Zinfandel. Litton Springs was my benchmark. I would highly recommend the Murphy-Goode Liars Dice Zinfandel, it is delicious and reasonably priced.

Iflyfish

capt. mike - 4-19-2008 at 03:23 PM

thx, sounds "goode" .....ha.

so where do i find this gem?
i just did a case to close out the 5 cent sale bevo has that ends manana.

many of the good ones were out of stock at SDL from when the 5 center started 2 weeks ago.
so i'll search for this one there in case, full price or not.

i am so wrapped up in Zins and sarahs and Shiraz these days i forget about all the great reds out there of diff types.

i found a 2005 Rosemount Estate Shiraz cab mix 14% ! that i pulled from the cellar last night............ my red heavan. wish i could find more but i don't know where i got the one, maybe Trader Joes??

Iflyfish - 4-19-2008 at 11:06 PM

Your and my tastes in wine parallel. Google to locate the wine. Another consistant and inexpensive Sirah comes from Columbia Crest, Washington State, consistantly good and seven buck range. The lower end is just as good as the top end. Very good van ordinaire

Iflyfish

capt. mike - 4-20-2008 at 07:39 AM

i know Columbia Crest well! tops in consistant value and quality.
we have landed at their private paved RW and took the tour with VIP treatment.
they really appreciated that i called 1st to confirm it was permissable to land at their private airport. we had a blast hopping and driving rental cars all around the washington state wine zones Camus to walla walla to yakima to boeing field and back.

Iflyfish - 4-20-2008 at 08:24 AM

I have cellared bottles of wine for years, going back to the 1970s and some of the old ones are amazing. Having said that, the wines now on the shelves and at reasonable prices are as good as anything I have cellared. I am getting to the point of drinking it NOW and not cellaring so much. Though it is nice to run into an old treasure, I have run into some that are now terrible and should have been drunk ten years ago. The Washington Wine Tour sounds wonderful. There is a good Nebbiolo made in the Columbia Gorge right by Maryhill Museum and the Maryhill label produces some fine Sirah. I have tried the Mexican wines and frankly have not been that impressed. I have not had the Nebbiolo. I usually bring my own. I like reading about the wines of Mexico and I would genuinely like to like them, but with all the great wines on the market now at such great prices on wonders why?

Iflyfish

FOUND!!!

capt. mike - 4-20-2008 at 09:11 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Iflyfish
Captn Mike

I am a great fan of the Zinfandel. Litton Springs was my benchmark. I would highly recommend the Murphy-Goode Liars Dice Zinfandel, it is delicious and reasonably priced.

Iflyfish

bevmo $20.

Iflyfish - 4-20-2008 at 06:41 PM

$18 - 20 typical....let us know how you like this unique Zin.

Iflyfish