Valle de Guadalupe is a wine producing area in Baja California. There
are 150 wineries there. Forbes magazine calls it the Napa
valley of Mexico.
It was an easy drive from Tijuana
on scenic roads by the ocean. We stopped in Ensenada. It has dramatically changed since
the last time I (Al) was there 55 years ago. We had a great seafood meal (ceviche,
grilled yellowtail, and clams) on the malecon at a small restaurant called
Muelle 3. There are many hotels to stay at in the wine region so we picked one
before we left. The Boutique hotel was very nice, even if it’s a bit rough
around the edges and still a work in progress. It has a good location and its
restaurant Fuego is pretty good, too. The pictures show the swimming pool,
stables and restaurant. It was a very cold night so they had fire pits and
heaters going full blast. We struck a conversation with 3 young people at the
next table. They were from Paradise and their
homes were destroyed by fire so they were driving down to Cabo to stay in a
friend’s house. The next morning we decided to walk around – first we wandered
into a small wine-producing ranch called Finca de Monasterio – very charming,
but empty because all the wineries here open after 11 am. Then we came across a
bunch of brand new cabins in the hills, and the owner of this new hotel
Valentino showed us around the property. She is originally from Guadalajara, but now lives in San Diego. Like many wealthy Mexicans, she
decided to invest in this region. We were a bit surprised to find out that many
vineyard owner live in Tijuana.
We hired a driver with a van for a wine tour, which we
started at noon. He took us to 7 wineries (la Reina, Magona, Sol y Barro, Vina de Frannes, Adobe
Guadalupe (which we left without tasting because they were rude), Nubles and
Cielo). Several were luxurious complexes of wine tasting, restaurant, and wine
producing. There are vineyards
everywhere. We sampled a lot of wine, bought several bottles and ended the day
at a first class restaurant. Overall, it’s a charming and interesting area. It
only has 2 main paved road, and the rest is a network of small dirt roads with
wineries sprinkled all over the area. The wineries vary from small and
intimate, like Sol y Barro or Monasterio to big, fabulously designed complexes
that can host hundreds if not thousands (like La Reina). There is obviously
lots and lots of money invested here. We were really surprised by the stunning
modern architecture, landscape design, sophisticated restaurants and food and general
attention to detail on one hand, and the resolve to keep this area pretty
rural, informal and low key. Granted that this is low season, but in most
wineries we were the only customers. They told us their high season is in
August, especially during the wine festival, and during the food festival in October.
