Wines of Mexico's Burgeoning Baja Region
The Valle de
Guadalupe is located northeast of the Mexican port city of Ensenada
(famous for surfing and fishing), and just two hours from San Diego by car.
There are currently about 50 wineries in the region, ranging from slick
commercial operations to makeshift structures more like garages. The wine route
is marked by contrasts, too—the main ruta del vino,
Highway 3, is paved, but many wineries are located far down deeply rutted dirt
roads.
Although Mexico's bottlings are rarely seen
in the U.S.—the country's fine-wine industry is quite young—its winemaking
dates back to the arrival of the conquistadors, in the 16th century. At one
point, production was banned except for liturgical purposes. The modern era of
winemaking in the Valle de Guadalupe started some 20 years ago, with the
arrival of Hugo D'Acosta, a Bordeaux-educated native of Mexico City who founded
his flagship winery, Casa de Piedra, in 1997.
Kristin Shute, whose parents, Ray and
Patty Magnussen, founded Lechuza Winery in the Valle de Guadalupe in 2005, said
Mr. D'Acosta was an inspiration to them. While living in California, the couple
vacationed in Mexico's Baja
region for many years before deciding to build a winery. Like most producers in
this part of the country, the Magnussens focus chiefly on red wines: Cabernet,
Tempranillo, Merlot and Nebbiolo, although they make a little Chardonnay as
well, in both oaked and unoaked versions.
The unoaked Lechuza Chardonnay was
attractive and well-balanced, while the oaked version was dominated by the
oak—but I preferred both to the Nebbiolo, which was quite tannic and a bit
salty. The saltiness of the wines of the region has been much discussed and is even for many
locals a source of pride.
The Nebbiolo grape of the Piedmont
region of Italy, whose climate is temperate, is planted throughout the valley,
though it seems an unlikely choice in a wine region where the temperature can
easily exceed 110 degrees. Tempranillo, the dominant red grape of Spain, is
also widely planted and seems a more plausible grape, given the arid conditions
here, which more closely resemble the climate of the grape-growing parts of Spain
than that of Northern Italy.