BajaNomad

Guadalupe Valle May 2016

Santiago - 6-6-2016 at 06:02 PM

Some reviews, impressions and general musings on our recent day/night spent in the Valle on Memorial weekend; SWMBO and I doing an 'anniversary' trip.
Our goal was to try a few wineries we had not been to, so many new ones and old ones we missed. Our ratings is something we have developed over the years and is different between SWMBO and myself, but the overall feel is about right.

Tres Vales
We first visited this winery on the western side of the valley 4 or 5 years ago and have never returned. It was our first stop and glad we went back. The grounds have been improved and added to considerably with a lot of whimsy scattered about; giant spiders and snakes from a local welder. This appeals to us as we do not like 'snooty' wineries.
Sangiovese: good
Jala: a blend of cab and granacha. Good enough that we bought a bottle.
Kuwal: 90% Tempranillo with cab and granacha rounding it out. Lots of oak, but still soft. Easy drinking. Very Good on SWMBO list, good on mine.
Matt: 90% granacha, 10% Petite sirah. Earthy, the PS punches up the color and makes an interesting blend of granacha; maybe the most planted grape in the valle? Good.
Shiraz: full syrah, 1 year on oak, five years in the bottle. slight off taste to me and lots of tobacco. Seems to be the new word descriptor in wineries nowadays.

Vinisterra
First time here, right next to Tres Valles. Partnership between a Mexican and a Swiss man,
very nice grounds and buildings.
Rosé: SWMBO loved it, me, not so much. We bought two bottles as I'm whipped if nothing else.
Pies de Tierra: blend of syrah and tempranillo: OK to Good
Syrah: In our humble opinion, this varietal is very hard to do; it alnost always misses and they do as well. It is what it is.
Casabek: 70% Temp. 30% granacha. Once again, a standard valle blend. Not bad, but nothing to write home about.

Alximia
First time here but will not be our last -- someone here knows what they are doing. The best of what we tasted was the Pira, 100% Barbera. 15 months on oak, very good. We are a fan of Barbera so maybe a little jaded but you need to go get a bottle. They are not giving it away at $550 pesos.

Nubes
We have been here many times as we love their Rosé. When we pulled into the winery there were two or three tour buses and the place was packed with tourists from Mexico City, maybe 150 folks. We have not seen that many tight skirts and super high heels in one place ever. The local servers said that more and more people from the mainland are coming over to see the valle - not just San Diego foodies. Hummm, change is afoot?

Sol y Barro
Might be our favorite place, I particularly like his Granacha with some Cabernet blended in. Each year its proportion changes a bit. He has released the 2013. But the winner by far is his Barbera with a little nebbiolo. Very Good. Go buy some of this, keep it a little on the cool side and serve with some pasta. 4 people will need two bottles, don't skimp. Classic Valle blend, done very well.

Dona Luna
Ok, Ok, wine is not very good but it was a few years and my son wanted one of her Tomato y Habanero sauces so we stopped in. Wow, the place is huge now. Three tour busses and people everywhere. Nutz. Bought the sauce and hit the road.

Finca Altozano
Our dinner was here and we stretched it out for 2-1/2 or 3 hours. Our white wine order from Alximia was out so they substituted a Chardonnay y Chenin Blanc blend called Afrodita from La Trinidad winery. OUTSTANDING for you white wine folks. We will look up this winery on our next trip. Dinner, of course, was very good as always is. Can't miss here. Whomever is making their bread has the touch.
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[Edited on 6-7-2016 by Santiago]

bajaguy - 6-6-2016 at 06:07 PM

Thanks for the review. Did you ever try Frannes??

elgatoloco - 6-6-2016 at 09:49 PM

Appreciate the review. Where did you stay?

Santiago - 6-7-2016 at 05:39 AM

BG: No, but we will next time.

We stayed at Quinta Estrella, a newish B&B in the west end of the valley; cost was in the $145dllr range with taxes. Breakfast was included but we could not stay as we had a long drive that day. Very small, maybe 4 or 5 rooms, were in a large new cabana, would be great for two couples as they had two new ones next to each other but separated by a breezeway. Found it thru Booking.com.

TMW - 6-7-2016 at 07:17 AM

Thanks for the report. I hope to do a trip down thru the area and try the different wineries and your report gave me some places to visit.

Genecag - 6-7-2016 at 07:55 AM

thank you for the excellent report.

the valley is really growing.

Try a glass of wine watching the sunset at Cuatro Cuartos in tigre, spectacular view!

Maron - 6-7-2016 at 08:36 AM

As always, a super informative review. thks

elgatoloco - 6-7-2016 at 09:04 AM

Quote: Originally posted by Santiago  
BG: No, but we will next time.

We stayed at Quinta Estrella, a newish B&B in the west end of the valley; cost was in the $145dllr range with taxes. Breakfast was included but we could not stay as we had a long drive that day. Very small, maybe 4 or 5 rooms, were in a large new cabana, would be great for two couples as they had two new ones next to each other but separated by a breezeway. Found it thru Booking.com.


Appreciate all the info! :coolup:

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 6-7-2016 at 11:44 AM

Hola,

great report and you really do know your wines.

just wondering, did you try any of the olive oils and olives they used to sell by the roadside ?

i would like to buy some on the way back from fishing in san quintin in a few days.

maybe i can talk my son into eating a late lunch there and also have them cook up some of the oysters we are buying at the oyster farm in san quintin. they are USDA inspected. they were fantastic in the past two times we got them.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT

Santiago - 6-7-2016 at 05:15 PM

Quote: Originally posted by BAJA.DESERT.RAT  
Hola,

great report and you really do know your wines.

just wondering, did you try any of the olive oils and olives they used to sell by the roadside ?

i would like to buy some on the way back from fishing in san quintin in a few days.

maybe i can talk my son into eating a late lunch there and also have them cook up some of the oysters we are buying at the oyster farm in san quintin. they are USDA inspected. they were fantastic in the past two times we got them.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT



We know very little, we jot our notes on the wines on our phones so we can remember - we both suffer from CRS big time.
The servers seem to enjoy this - I think they thought we were impressed with their presentation.

We did not buy olive oil - almost every winery has a small section of 'artisanal' foods and some oil is always present. We buy ours in huge bottles at Costco........pour them into small fancy bottles and pretend.

Good idea on the oysters, let us know how that turns out.

BAJA.DESERT.RAT - 6-7-2016 at 06:08 PM

Hola,

thank you for your reply. we did have them cooked a couple of times before at the jardines restaurant in san quintin and also had them on the half shell there too. GREAT !!!

we'll be bringing back about eight dozen of the small ones ( kumamoto ) and eight dozen of the medium sized ones for us and friends.

i hope that is enough.

in 2012 they were $ 2.50 a dozen ! a lot better than a dollar each at the local markets.

BIEN SALUD, DA RAT