To commemorate the opening of an all-Mexican wine bar in San Francisco this week, Chronicle wine reporter Jess Lander is taking over the newsletter to offer her tips on visiting Mexico’s wine country.
Cantina Los Mayas, which claims to be the first in the U.S. to serve exclusively Mexican wines, opens Thursday in the Inner Richmond. In Esther Mobley’s report on the opening, Cantina Los Mayas brand director Joe Bonadio called Mexico’s main wine region, the Valle de Guadalupe, one of the “hottest new appellations in the world.” For the past few years, I’ve heard this exact sentiment expressed in whispers throughout the California wine industry. It’s as if wine pros want “the Valle” — how the region is often referred to by those in the know — to remain a chill, well-kept secret unspoiled by tourism.
After my first visit this past April, I can see why. Unfortunately for them, Cantina Los Mayas hopes to finally let that secret out. And I’m here to help their cause.
Visiting Valle feels like Napa Valley in the 1980s or 90s, when tastings were cheap, reservations weren’t needed and wine didn’t cost upwards of $100 a bottle.
Mexican wines are not yet well distributed among U.S. wine shops and restaurants. With this new addition, Bay Area drinkers can finally get a proper introduction to this burgeoning wine region, where many of the wines have a distinct salty note due to high salinity levels in the soils. But after you check out Cantina Los Mayas, I encourage visiting the Valle in person.
Located 90 miles south of the border in northern Baja, the Valle is arguably the easiest and most affordable international wine region for U.S. citizens to visit. Fly down to San Diego and then rent a car that can be driven over the border. Google Maps will route you through the Tijuana port of entry, but I suggest going a little bit out of your way to Tecate’s instead, which tends to have significantly shorter wait times. Another option is to book a winery day tour from San Diego, which will handle the logistics for you.
Don’t expect a Cabo vibe — at least not for a few years. Valle is rustic, with dirt roads and construction everywhere as the region tries to keep up with a sudden influx of tourism. This demand was compounded by the pandemic, with U.S. travelers looking for closer international destinations. When booking accomodations, beware: Many new hotels or vacation rentals are lipstick listings made for Instagram, not comfort.
This is all part of the charm, though. Decades from now you’ll be able to say, “I remember the good old days.”
While grapes were first planted in the Valle back in the 1500s, its modern industry is a few decades young. It’s now in its golden age of experimentation, trying a little bit of everything in search of its true identity. (The downside is that wine quality varies.) There’s a good mix of classic producers, like Adobe Guadalupe, and a new generation of trendy brands focused on natural wines like Bichi. As a result of a dry and warm Mediterranean climate, combined with a cooling influence from the Pacific, winemakers are able to work with a wide range of grapes — this includes Bordeaux varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Sauvignon Blanc, plus Tempranillo from Spain and Italy’s Nebbiolo.
One of the most exciting aspects of Valle wines is that many winemakers are eager to disregard some of the Old World traditions, taking unorthodox approaches that would make most Napa winemakers cringe and French winemakers keel over. European wine blends, for example, traditionally consist of grapes from the same regions — like Bordeaux, Burgundy or Rhone — but Mexican winemakers are inventing their own combinations.
My favorite combo out of Mexico is Nebbiolo and Tempranillo, though a particularly funky natural wine blend I tried from Viñas del Tigre was made up of nine different grapes, including Tempranillo, Sauvignon Blanc and the nearly extinct variety Mission.
I also had an interesting first in the Valle: a white wine from Bruma made from red Carignan grapes. Red wines get their color from the grape skins, so this process is done by separating the fermenting grape juice from the skins before color is imparted onto the liquid. There are more than 100 wineries in the Valle, but Bruma is a must-visit not only for its wines, but for its unique winery design that takes sustainability to another level. Recycled telescope lenses, for example, bring in natural light and the cylinder-shaped building was designed around a tree. Visitors are greeted by its limbs, which protrude from a pond at the entrance, and its trunk is the center of the barrel room. Even in Napa, there’s nothing like it. The wines run the gamut and showcase the experimental phase of the region. Inquire about the VIP tasting room for a more intimate experience and reserve a table for lunch at the Bruma wine garden after.
For a completely different experience from Bruma, I recommend the stalwart Adobe Guadalupe, which sticks to traditional winemaking. Founded in the late 1990s, the winery is run by fierce, American co-founder, Tru Miller. The most impressive wines are a series of complex red blends inspired by some of the world’s most famous wine regions, like Bordeaux and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Most visitors opt for Adobe’s relaxing, no-frills tasting alongside a food truck, but the Cellar Experience allows you to visit Millers’ charming Mission-style home, which also operates as an inn. (You can also book an especially luxurious stay at Bruma, and many of the Valle wineries have hotels and restaurants in addition to wine tasting.)
Lastly, there’s the food. The Valle’s restaurant scene is shockingly upscale. The best meal I had there was the fine dining pop-up Animalón, but Baja Omakase’s 12-course tasting menu next to a vineyard was also something I’ll never forget.
