Baja Wine Region...
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20030202-9999_1m2gr...
By Sandra Dibble
February 2, 2003
TIJUANA ? California has the Napa Valley, and France its Bordeaux region. Now, Baja California wants to create a "Grape Corridor" to showcase its
growing wine industry.
The plan starts with road improvements, a blueprint guiding future growth and distinctive signs pointing the way to the wineries. The hope is that
private investors will build small hotels, spas and restaurants to lure more tourists to the region.
"We have the product and the flow of people, but it's been occurring without order and without broad promotion," said Alejandro Moreno Medina, Baja
California's tourism secretary.
The Guadalupe Valley, just east of Ensenada and home to most of Baja California's 13 vintners, lies at the heart of the proposed corridor. It will
extend north to two small grape-growing valleys known as Las Palmas and Trinidad. And it will lead south to Santo Tomas, home to Baja California's
oldest winery, and to another valley, San Vicente Ferrer.
The corridor is part of a larger effort by the state government to promote Baja California's wine industry, the roots of which reach back to the 18th
century Catholic missions.
Baja California produces nearly 1.8 million cases of wine a year, accounting for more than 90 percent of Mexico's wine production. The state wants to
double the output and open new markets in Europe, the United States and the Far East, said Roberto Reyes, Baja California's undersecretary for
economic development.
The state is planning a series of measures to strengthen the industry, from protecting local aquifers, to cataloging the grapes, to establishing a
council that would uphold the quality of the wines.
Today, the largest wineries are L.A. Cetto, producing 800,000 cases a year, and Vides de Guadalupe, 124,000 cases a year. Smaller wineries such as
Bibayoff, Mogor Badan and Casa de Piedra annually put out fewer than 2,000 cases each.
So far, there have been no commitments from new investors ? but the plan has generated interest, according to Baja California's Tourism Secretariat.
The Texas-based hotel chain, La Quinta, is considering opening an inn in the Guadalupe Valley, Baja California tourism officials said. And this week
the commercial attache at the Spanish Embassy in Mexico City is expected in Baja California to discuss the possibility of a tie between the state's
winemakers and those in Spain's Rioja wine-growing region.
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