Will do! Staying in the Gaviotas community so a little bit of a drive.
I’ve been to Dona estela a couple of times and the food is amazing but those lines can be super long though. Definitely going to try to go early or late and take my friends.
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Apologies for the bump but genuinely curious. Was any of the wine here any good?
TBH - I am more of a beer and cocktail man so I cannot answer with any personal authority or serious care.
But my wife, who does love wine, thought some were too sweet, some were too tart, some were too rough and nothing “wowed” her. The food, the architecture, the people, the culture and scenery far outweighed the wine (for us). But I do know that the winemakers we met were very passionate about what they are doing and, to many folks, it is thought of as a place that is “developing” wines that will someday be great. I think - for people who really love to taste these young Frankensteins/experiments - it is very exciting.
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Excellent intel and just what I was looking for. Thank you.
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Some of the wine in the Valle is very good, some of it is just okay, and a fair share really isn’t very good.
My hands down favorite all-'round winery in the Valle is Emeve. They’ve been around a long time and have worked really hard at the craft. Their reds are very good. Knock your socks off good? Probably not yet, but they are consistent and produce lovely balanced wines.
Pagano from La Lomita used to be quite good as well, but they’ve got super popular and expanded and the last bottle I had wasn’t up to the usual standards. Pagano is a 100% grenach wine. Lomita is also producing a Gran Reserva greneche that can be quite good if you can get bottles with some age on them.
For every 10 wines you taste, only 1 or 2 will be memorable, 1 or 2 will be undrinkable and the rest nice, drinkable wines without a lot of character or distinction. I’ve watched the commercialization of the Valle over the last 10 years. Too many wineries, too little water, lots of new vines, a lot of passion and a very steep learning curve. To really understand what’s happening in the Valle, you need to go down on a regular basis and systematically work you way through the many wineries so you can get an idea of what is being produced, what grapes are producing well, what trends are developing and so on. I had a phase where I was going down every couple of months and trying different wines and then I didn’t go for a couple of years. When I went back I was amazed (dismayed?) by the development and growth.
Even tho’ I don’t love the wines from the Valle (I do like many of them however), I love going and spending time there. The food is outstanding but the ambiance and overall feel of the Valle is relaxing and, somehow (?) comforting. It’s a little bit like entering a bubble where all your worried and all the problems of the outside world are kept at bay and you don’t have to think about them. Energetically, it’s a very special place.
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When I visit Guadalajara I always buy a bunch of Guadalupe wines at Contra Vinos and try them. That’s pretty much my experience except I’d add that they’re generally overpriced compared with similar imported wines.
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I agree, many Valle wines are priced much higher than they should be.
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Strongly agree–food and atmosphere is great, wine is bad to fine.
Look for Bichi wines. Their grapes come from vineyards in Tecate and the Valle de Guadeloupe. Natural wines made with the aid of French winemakers, and owned by chef Jair Tellez and his brother.
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Bichi’s distributed in the US. I don’t think they get many grapes from Guadalupe.
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The Jose Pastor site says:
“Bichi farms 10 hectares of their own Tecate vineyards biodynamically and collaborates with a growing family of organic farmers working vineyard land in Tecate and around San Antonio de las Minas (Valle de Guadalupe).”
Regardless, if you’re in restaurants in the Valle and you see Bichi on the list, that’s a much better choice than most of the generic modern-style overpriced Valle wines.
Helen, do you have recommendations for Bichi? My experiences with them in both V de G and Mexico City is that they’ve been inconsistent. Some good, some barely drinkable.
I think that’s often the case with low intervention wines. Some bottles are great, and some are flawed because they’re not using chemicals to stabilize and control the process and thus gross things can happen on an individual barrel or bottle scale.
Have you tried the Pet Mex and the No Sapiens?
Not yet. I’m down to 1 bottle of V de G wine and I think that one is from Bruma. I have a friend who lives in Tecate and knows Jair and his brother. I’ll see if she can bring me up a bottle or two.
Thanks
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The Listan aka Mision that Domaine LA has in stock is solid. I bought a case of the Nebbiolo a while back but I guess they’re no longer making that.
I drink Bichi’s wines whenever they’re on the glass list at my regular wine bar and they’ve almost all been good.
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Robert have you ever had the opportunity to taste Nebbiolo from the Valle side-by-side with Italian Nebbiolo? I’ve had a couple of friends that have done it and they say the differences are striking. I’ve not had the chance, so I’m curious.
The flavors are indeed quite different. I wouldn’t have guessed they were made from the same grape.
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Some friends went to this place yesterday, first I’d heard of it.
I was surprised that they had my favorite Mexican wine, Mogor Chasselas, since it’s hard to find, but it turns out that they’re on the grounds of Cavas del Mogor. As is Deckman’s.
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My friends went to Villa Torél, another place I’d never heard of.
“Mackrel crudo with ginger/rhubarb kimchi and babaganoush”!
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Went down to the Valle between Christmas and New Years and we were luckily able to avoid the rain. Very few pictures because we were with chow pops so not time lol.
Dona estela was as good as ever and it’s pretty amazing considering the volume they are doing. We got the birria and borrego tatemada, hot cakes with corn, and nopales with eggs. Also equally delicious tortillas, beans, caffe ola, and fresh squeezed oj. Definitely deserving of the title of the best breakfast around.
I felt that finca altazona has gone a little downhill they were one of the first flagships but our meal there was just ok. Nothing terrible but nothing spectacular, best dish was probably the grilled quail.
Bruma wine garden was awesome. The plates aren’t reallly what you’d call cohesive but everything from the cheese plate, pizza, to the birria mac and cheese were awesome. Cocktails were also delicious and it’s a great space. They are run by the fauna group so quality is too be expected
Also went to latitud 32 the restaurant at el cielo the hotel we stayed at. Over all wasnt bad and the hospitality and ambiance were great. Generic Valle style food. They billed themselves as Valle x yucatan but didn’t seem like that except for a few menu items.
Made it to la guerrense and their tostadas were still outstanding and la guerrense herself was even there saying hello.
Had a delicious pollo entero from pollo retorno a roadside stand in the Valle. Tender fall apart well marinated rotisserie chicken. They use their local wood to heat and cook the chicken which adds a layer of smokiness.
Had fish tacos at Nuevo jaliciense which Esparza and others rave as the best but it was ok fish was doughy and not crispy. I’ve had really good tacos there in the past but this was mediocre which I had a chance to stop by tacos fenix.
Went to a couple ofwine spots. Really enjoyed vina cava their natural Sauvignon blanc was great.
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