BajaNews
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Mexico's 'boutique wine' renaissance
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4555238.stm
By Matthew Wells
2 January 2006
The school band practises noisily outdoors in the sleepy town of Porvenir, where olive trees line the dusty roads.
Directly opposite, there is a school of a different kind, where locals are learning the true value of the grape vines that festoon the landscape in
the beautiful but rugged Valley of Guadalupe.
Wine arrived in Baja along with the Spanish colonial-era priests.
But the collapse of trade barriers since the late 1980s, opened up Mexico's small wine industry to foreign competition, and the market began to
wither.
Some wild enthusiasts are calling this place the "next Napa Valley" - a reference to the hugely profitable centre of the Californian wine business.
But though the climate is similar, locals are unconvinced it can ever attain that growth, or whether they even want it to.
"The wine industry is going through a renaissance in Mexico," says Don Miller, one of the few foreign wine-makers in the area, who has moved lock,
stock and barrel to Baja.
Boutique wineries
This former Californian banker runs an upmarket inn and equestrian centre, alongside his large winery.
But the more profound development is happening on a smaller-level: through the wine school.
There is a realisation that micro-managed, boutique wineries can make a profit and draw discerning tourists to the area.
"You can see 20 people making wine here on any particular day," says Phil Gregory, who has just started to enjoy the heady flavours of his first
mini-harvest, down at the school.
Local schoolteacher Juan Carlos Bravo was one of several small-scale producers who brought some of his latest crop along to a tasting at Phil's
newly-completed and locally crafted guest house.
Until he attended the wine school, Juan Carlos was going to tear-up his mature Carignan vines. Now he will produce around 7,000 bottles of wine this
year instead.
The best known organic producer in the valley is Dona Lupe, whose grapes nestle alongside the country's largest winery, LA Cetto - which even has its
own bullring for special festivals.
Water problem
"We have a great neighbour," says Daniel Yi Cordova of Dona Lupe, talking diplomatically about the US, and California.
"At the same time, they are very monopolistic. They only allow two bottles per person to cross the border... they should let people have the choice."
Protectionist measures are not the biggest problem faced by the growing wine industry in the valley.
The Mexican government levies taxes of 40% per bottle, making it hard to compete with the more traditional beverages of choice - beer and tequila.
Wine-lovers in Mexico City have only recently started choosing native wines over French or Chilean, but the reputation for reliable quality at home -
and abroad - is growing.
Unlike other countries, Mexico has not subsidised its wine industry, although a recent visit by President Vicente Fox gave everyone in the valley
cause for hope.
Perhaps the biggest factor that will limit development is water scarcity.
As the local port city of Ensenada grows, it is sucking water supply away from the grape vines, and other rural activities.
"If this region were to have no problems with water, without a doubt we would be growing 10 times faster," says Hans Josef Backhoff, 28, whose father
is one of the partners in the medium-sized Monte Xanic winery.
They have just opened a brand new wine storage area which will hold 4,000 barrels of red, white and rose.
With its mass of twisting pipes and roaring machinery, blasted out of a mountainside, it looks like a villain's lair from an old James Bond movie.
Following President Fox's visit, the heavens opened and it rained heavily, causing many vintners to joke about divine intervention by presidential
decree.
But the valley is fast approaching a critical point of development, where the resources will be unable to keep pace with demand.
"They say this is like the Napa of 50 years ago, but have you gone there recently? No thank you!" says one of the region's most established
wine-makers, Abelardo Rodriguez.
He shuns the current Napa Valley culture of high-priced tastings and rampant tourism.
"There are too many there. Here it is still calm and very beautiful."
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egrpoet
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Registered: 6-22-2005
Location: San Diego
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Baja article in the BBC this week
Looks like Baja's wine country making news
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4555238.stm
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BajaGeoff
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Registered: 1-11-2006
Location: San Diego and Campo Lopez
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Mood: Heading To Baja!!!
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My sister was down in the Valle de Guadalupe recently and found some good red by Monte Xanic....she highly recommends it!
The growth of the Baja wine industry is really exciting....but the problem, as the article above stated, is the limit of 2 bottles per person coming
back across to the U.S. That is really not going to help in regards of development.
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BajaNews
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Seeing Rojo
http://www.slweekly.com/editorial/2006/grpv_2006-01-19.cfm
by Ted Scheffler
January 19, 2006
While I was on vacation over the holidays?which I combined with doing some culinary and oenological research?I came across a very interesting wine bar
in the most unexpected of places: Cabo San Lucas in Baja California, Mexico.
I?ve written here and there about Mexican wines in the past, but frankly, there wasn?t much to write about. However, in recent years the wines of
Mexico?especially those produced in and around northern Baja California?s Guadalupe Valley?get more and more interesting. Some can now go toe to toe
with wines from Australia, Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, Europe and North America; increasingly, they win awards at wine competitions and garner
acclaim from wine experts.
Personally, I wish more Mexican wines were available in this country, since the best ones often represent very high quality with a very low price tag.
However, as I discovered down in Cabo, don?t assume that just because the wine was made in Mexico that it?ll be cheap.
In Cabo San Lucas, Ron and Janett Kleist (she?s from Mexico; he, from California) own and operate a wonderful wine ?bistro? called Sancho Panza.
Always one to sniff out the vino, I stumbled upon a wine tasting of blended Mexican red wines at Sancho Panza during my Mexico vacation. It was an
eye-opener, the reason being that while I?ve sung the praises of certain white wines from Mexico for some time, I haven?t been too enthralled with the
reds. Well, these Mexican reds ranged from very good to exquisite.
As mentioned, much of the best wine coming out of Mexico is produced in the region of northern Baja California, where six valleys surround the city of
Ensenada, the most important being the Guadalupe Valley. It?s fast becoming Mexico?s Napa Valley. The climate and soil in this part of northern Baja
is quite similar to Napa and Sonoma in California, and to the Rhone Valley in France. Sandy soil and a Mediterranean type of climate with hot summers
softened by cool sea breezes and frequent fog make the region optimal for growing wine grapes. Each of the valleys near Ensenada has a slightly
different microclimate, and the grape varietals that fare best are Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Cabernet Franc. But
increasingly grape growers in the region are branching out into Tempranillo, Grenache, Chardonnay, Zinfandel and other more difficult varietals.
Anyway, at the Kleist?s Boutique Mexican Red Meritage wine tasting, I was struck dumb by the depth, complexity and boldness of some of the wines.
Among my favorite discoveries at Sancho Panza was a blend of Grenache, Tempranillo and Misi?n grapes from the small, family-owned Vinisterra Winery
called Vi?a Domino Tinto (red) 2003. The grapes come from vineyards in the Guadalupe and San Vicente Valleys and combine to produce a lovely, soft,
cocoa-infused wine that was sensational with the Mediterranean-style tapas served at Sancho Panza.
Stepping up a notch in density and tannins was another interesting discovery: a Cabernet/Grenache blend from Vitivinicola Tres Valles called Jala
Tinto 2002. As Ron Kleist told me, the story of how he wound up owning a wine bar in Cabo San Lucas?an adventure that initially involved a stint
selling American wines in Mexico?it occurred to me that he ought to be exporting good Mexican wines to the United States, where knowledge and
appreciation of them is still thin.
If you can get your mitts on a bottle of Yumano Tinto Rustico 2003, by all means ,do so. It?s a luscious Italian-style blend of Nebbiolo and Barbera
grapes and among the best Mexican wines I?ve ever tasted. That might not seem like much of an honor, but keep your eye on these Mexican wines?they?re
coming on strong.
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