While Mexico's wine industry has boomed recently, winemaking there dates all the way back to the Spanish conquest, with the Spaniards surprised to find how well the vines they brought from the homeland adapted to the New World climate. In 1597, the Spaniard Don Lorenzo Garcia made the town of Santa Maria de las Parras in the northern Mexican state of Coahuila home to his Casa Madero, the oldest winery of the Americas. The Saint Thomas Mission (Mision de Santo Tomas), founded in the northern area of Baja California Norte State by Jesuit priests in 1791, reactivated the production of wine in Mexico. The mission grape brought over and planted by the Jesuits found its perfect home in an area that compares in climate to California's Napa Valley and France's Rhone Valley. In 1834, Dominican priests began growing grapes at the nearby Northern Mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mision de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe Del Norte), now known by the abbreviated name of the Guadalupe Valley (Valle de Guadalupe). The Guadalupe Valley is one of the few places in the world where premium wine grapes can be grown.
In the past few years, the Mexico’s leading wineries have collected an impressive array of accolades, gaining a following among wine lovers excited by the prospect of finding excellent vintages in unexpected places. Discover the varieties of wine from Mexico and learn about the 2003 award-winning vintages, as well as the myriad of local festivals celebrating the wine-making tradition.
The Route of Wine offers an ample range of attractions that go from the smallest family wineries to producers on a grand scale. There are artisan sites to visit, farms, cultural centers, and museums. There are hotels from small familiar Bed & Breakfast with rustic restaurants to the finest tables. In addition, there are boutique wineries, and art galleries. Currently there are 27 wineries of all sizes throughout the valley. The varieties of red wine produced in the Baja California region are Cabernet Sauvignon, Ruby Cabernet, Zinfandel Grenache and Mission. The white wines are Chenin Blanc, Palomino, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Saint Emilion and Malaga.
It's time to head to Baja's wine country to sample some of the regions best wines. August is a busy time in the valley because the grapes are ready for harvest. The harvest, or vendimia in Spanish, is a time to celebrate the success of the crop. The wineries have special events which may include concerts, art, dance, and wine pairing. This festival is celebrated in Valle de Guadalupe on the first week of August and is a celebration of the abundance of grapes and wine in the Valley of Guadalupe (a one-hour drive south of the border), where persevering efforts in local vineyards have spread greenery across vast tracts of once unattended land.
The festivities begin on August 2nd and run through August 19th. Activities range from educational seminars on vineyard management and the production of quality wines, to concerts given by both Classical and Jazz musicians. Auctions of the wine and tasting’s are held on several days during the festival. Many of the local restaurants will be holding pairings as part of the activities. Festival’s, dancing, music food and wine are all part of this years Vendimia. Come and enjoy the Valley and it’s people. For a listing of the wineries and events in the Guadalupe Valley, visit www.fiestasdelavendimia.com.
Located in the Northern part of the State of Baja California, the “Ruta Del Vino”, Route of Wine, enjoys the ideal Mediterranean climate for the culture the grapes. There are few microclimates in Mexico that combine the unique characteristics of altitude, earth, seasons, time and temperature while not forgetting the love of making wine that is necessary to really make a wine wonderful. Today, Mexico's largest wineries can be found in three regions conveniently located near the town of Ensenada, 70 miles south of the U.S. border: San Antonio de las Minas, the San Vicente Valley and the Santo Tomas Valley. San Antonio de las Minas is located in Valle de Guadalupe.
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