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Casa de Piedra’s delicious Vino de Piedra
Mexico has got tequila-making down pat, and it does pretty well with beer-brewing too. Why not add winemaking to the list?
Recently, I spent an afternoon with an old friend whom most people would describe as a wine snob. I think of him more as having very specific tastes, but let’s just say those tastes run to the high end. I gave him a red wine blind. The day was cold, so the deep, dark richness of the wine was appropriate. He sniffed it and then took a sip and finally said, “Not my kind of wine, but it’s delicious. Is it Spanish?”
“Not even close,” I said. “But you got the language right at least.”
“Argentina?”
“Nope. Mexico.”
Needless to say he was astonished. The wine tasted like nothing he’d had before: It was rich, yet so dry.
It came from Valle de Guadalupe, about 30 minutes over a low mountain pass from the city of Ensenada, which itself is only an hour and a half south of the U.S. border. To get there, you drive down a coastal highway as stunning as California’s Highway 1.
The mountains that separate Ensenada from Valle de Guadalupe help corral the ocean-borne cool winds and protect this idyllic place from the ravages of desert heat, aridity, and low latitude. Wine has been produced here since the 16th century, while the other historical crop is olives. If it sounds less like Mexico and more like Italy or Spain, you’re on the right track.
Wine production all but died here in the 19th century but was curiously revived at the beginning of the 20th by the Molokans, a community of religious pacifists fleeing persecution in czarist Russia. Today’s populace in the Valle is an unusual mixture of European immigrants (lots of Swiss, for some reason) and Mexicans.
What’s exciting about this wine region is that it’s producing wines of real character. It has terroir, as they say. Why? It’s hard to say. Certainly, conditions that force vines to struggle and therefore produce lower yields with more intense flavors help. But there’s also limestone, a boon for red grapes in warm climates, as it keeps the acidity in balance.
There is a salinity problem with much of the local water, so any vineyard using a lot of it to increase yields will tend to produce salty wines, which you do find at the more commercial wineries. But the best wines are not salty at all. They are delicious. The reds, made from Bordeaux varieties, are big, as you would expect, but their size and richness are offset by a very real earthiness and a depth that you don’t find as often in the highly watered vineyards of California. The whites are a mixed bag, with everything from Sauvignon Blanc and Chenin Blanc to Chardonnay. They are rarely as impressive as the reds, but I have tasted an incredibly interesting version of the Swiss grape Chasselas from a winery called Mogor-Badan (which also makes the best Cabernet blend).
The wine I gave my snob friend was from a winery called Casa de Piedra, which is small but in some ways the most significant one in the region. It was founded by Hugo d’Acosta, a Mexican winemaker trained in Bordeaux, by whose will the region has had its resurgence. A quiet, serious man, d’Acosta is by all accounts a great winemaker, as my wine snob friend, surprisingly, pointed out. The wine was Casa de Piedra’s Vino de Piedra, a blend of Tempranillo and Cabernet grown on granite-limestone soils that winemakers north of the border would kill to have.
“It was rich and fulfilling yet mineral and bracingly spare with dryness,” my friend said.
“A lot like Mexico itself,” I answered.
The best way to buy these wines in the United States right now is to contact the wineries directly, which is easy to do via this website.
Judgment of Italy?
How did a Nebbiolo from Mexico win the only Grand Gold awarded to any global Nebbiolo at the 2011 VinItaly wine competition, including Italy? I spent eight years living, researching, writing and filming in Mexico’s premier wine country near Ensenada Baja in California. By default, I became the first international wine writer to reside in Guadalupe Valley. The amazing wine...+READ
Judgment of Italy?
How did a Nebbiolo from Mexico win the only Grand Gold awarded to any global Nebbiolo at the 2011 VinItaly wine competition, including Italy? I spent eight years living, researching, writing and filming in Mexico’s premier wine country near Ensenada Baja in California. By default, I became the first international wine writer to reside in Guadalupe Valley. The amazing wine and culinary adventure that followed led me to discover Mexico’s “silent revolution” in creating wines of world-class quality. As a lover of Italian Barolo wines, it didn’t take me long to realize the phenomenal possibilities for growing and crafting superior Nebbiolo grapes and wine.
The key to growing some of the best Nebbiolo in the world within the Baja California wine region; is the stable weather. Guadalupe Valley lies about seven miles from the Pacific Ocean, hot summer days allow for the development of ripe, mature fruit. Cool nighttime oceanic breezes provide perfect conditions for enhancing the biochemical processes of flavor, aroma, and color in the fruit. Our diurnal temperature changes are not extreme, due to the warmer ocean waters of Ensenada, in comparison to other wine growing regions in N. America and Europe. Thanks to our location on the southernmost tip of the western wine region of North America, our hot summer days provide growers and winemakers with ripe fruit about ten days to four weeks ahead of other global wine regions. The extra heat and hang time blesses us with smaller clusters of concentrated and intense flavors, resulting in high-quality fruit. What the Baja California wines region has is relatively consistent, intermediate temperatures throughout the growing season, specifically during the final days prior to harvest.
One of the most important elements driving Mexico’s emerging wine region are the winemakers themselves. One perfect example is Dr. Camillo Magoni who was awarded the 2011 Grand Gold for his 2006 Nebbiolo in the category: Still Wines with Denomination of origin and geographical indication Geroup6 Red Wines Five-Six Years from Vintage (2006-2005) . His Grand Gold Medal was officially awarded to; Nebbiolo Valle de Guadalupe “Reserve Privada 2006 Vinicola L.A. Cetto, S.A. de C.V. ` Tijuana, Mexico. It is remarkable to note that this was the only Nebbiolo wine to win a Grand Gold Medal in this prestigious global wine competition.
Critics of Mexican wine might consider that this wine judging included wine from 30 countries, produced by more than 1,000 wine making companies, and no more than 64 medals are awarded in 16 categories, equal to just 2% of wines entered for the event.
In addition to making a world-class Nebbiolo priced at $15usd, Dr. Magoni was awarded a formal distinction by an independent foreign wine publication of high regard. Vinbladet Magazine selected L.A. Cetto winemaker Camillo Magoni as the “top winemaker in the world” for 2004. Vinbladet (Danish for "The Wine Magazine") is an independent publication owned by Peter Winding and Elsebeth Lohfert. They have published this magazine since 1992, transforming a former newsletter into an internationally oriented publication with news and information from the wine world. So it is an honor that a winemaker from Mexico has actually been selected as one of the greats in the craft of making “world class” wine.
Camillo Magoni has a Ph.D. in Enology, bringing many years of experience gained in Italy and other wine regions of Europe to Mexico. He’s slowly researched Mexico’s potential to grow classic varietals from different global wine growing regions. His vineyards are strategically located in selected micro-climates in Valle de Guadalupe, Valle de San Vicente, Valle de Santo Tomas, San Antonio de las Minas, Tecate, and other northern Baja California areas. Camillo has brought in cuttings, clones and vines from all parts of the world to seek out the best options for creating high quality wine in this region. With that knowledge and experience, he’s ready to present some amazing artisan and boutique wines in limited quantity for serious wine enthusiasts and connoisseurs.-COLLAPSE
The L.A. Cetto reds are incredibly good if you can get your hands on them. Try the Petit Syrah or Nebbiolo if you get the chance. The whites are pretty nuce as well - especially the Chenin Blanc and Sauvignon Blanc. Most run $11 in retail stores...
I agree: Adobe Guadalupe wines rule!
But don't forget the ones from Santo Tomas.
We love to visit the "Valle" and have made some incredible discoveries each time we have gone. For me, the best wines are made at Adobe Guadalupe, a small B&B on the south side of the valley. The owners have a great story and were one of the first to advocate for the development of the area in a sustainable fashion. Their wines are all named after angels, and I must say, they are...+READ
We love to visit the "Valle" and have made some incredible discoveries each time we have gone. For me, the best wines are made at Adobe Guadalupe, a small B&B on the south side of the valley. The owners have a great story and were one of the first to advocate for the development of the area in a sustainable fashion. Their wines are all named after angels, and I must say, they are divine...hehe...pardon the pun. Really, though, if you go visit and do not have children, stay at Adobe, reserve a spot for dinner in their private dining room (for authentic Mexican cuisine), tour the vineyard, and buy as much of the wine as you can drink before you have to go back across the border. It's an experience you'll remember for a long time to come.-COLLAPSE
I hunted innumerable quail from the hills that are now the source of these wines. There was one other vinter...name began with an "X" Xanic, I think that had some good wines from this relatively small area. Baja can be full of surprises.
Jordan - kudos to you for calling attention to Mexican wine way ahead of the curve. You are right, they have unique terroir. But I am dubious about the impact these regions will have on the wine world anytime soon -- due to water and governmental issues.