Terrific Mexican Wines
By Dick Avery May 16, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

A 400-year comeback

As a fairly recent transplant from north of the border, I was seriously concerned as to how to satisfy my wine habit here in my new home.

After all, who’d ever heard of a “good Mexican wine”? An oxymoron, to be sure!

However, a chance meeting in the lovely courtyard of an old house-turned-restaurant soon proved those fears to be unfounded. Oh, don’t get me wrong, there is plenty of Mexican plonk out there. It’s just that there is also world-class (not a typo) vino being made here if you know where to look.

A little background is in order. Just about everyone knows how grape rootstock was brought to the Americas by the Spanish missionaries, planted here, and that’s pretty much how things got started. But did you know Mexico is actually the oldest (450 years) wine producing country in the Americas? 

Legend has it that Hernán Cortés and his men exhausted their wine supply when celebrating the conquest of the Aztecs in the early sixteenth century. (All that conquesting makes for a heavy thirst!) The first governor of these new lands ordered the colonists to plant 1,000 grapevines for every 100 natives in their service. What a guy! That couldn’t have been a hard sell. Because wine had been an indispensable part of the daily life of the colonists in Spain, that wasn’t about to change when they arrived in “New Spain” (certainly understandable!). 

The grapes did so well that in 1531, Charles I decreed that all ships sailing to New Spain carry grapevines and olive trees to be planted here. The wine produced from these vines eventually became too good for its own good, however. The quality improved so much that wine exports from Spain to their new colony dropped dramatically. So much so that, in 1595, Phillip II decreed that all wine production in New Spain be terminated. It seems that Spanish wine producers and distributors were being squeezed just a little too much. (Not the first time a government sticks its nose into the free market.) The Crown’s local representatives, the Viceroys, strove to implement the 1595 decree eliminating wine production, but sometimes you just can’t keep a good idea down. Despite howls of protest from Spanish wine interests, vine cultivation, while limited, was here to stay, thanks mainly to the missionaries who insisted wine was necessary to perform religious ceremonies. When there is a will there is a way!

Spanish authorities continued to bear down on the fledgling industry. It became one of several sore spots in the relationship between the Crown and colony. In the early nineteenth century, Spanish soldiers were sent to our neighbor to the north, Dolores (later Dolores Hidalgo), with orders to destroy all vineyards. Miguel Hidalgo, the local parish priest who later became a hero of La Independencia, had still another grievance against Spanish oppression and the battle for independence was on!

Fast forward to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Porfirio Díaz, President of Mexico, in a campaign of modernization and industrialization, reinvigorated viticulture in the country, even inviting successful California winemakers to stimulate the wine industry. At about the same time, the area now known as Baja California received an influx of Russian pacifists opposed to the Czarist wars. Known as the Molokans (literally, milk-eaters), they immediately began planting grapevines. (Maybe they should have been named grape-eaters.) However, the revolution came along in 1910, and again the industry was devastated. 

You can’t keep a good industry down, though. After a long period of somnolence, things begin to happen. In the late forties and early fifties, the then secretary of agriculture started his own wine business in Saltillo, Coahuila, and by the early fifties controlled 25 percent of all grape production in the country. In 1948, the Mexican government prohibited the importation of all luxury items, including all alcoholic beverages. Here we go again with the government interfering with the marketplace! But, ironically, it served to stimulate competition among the Mexican producers and actually revitalized the industry. The National Viticultural Association was formed to promote “the growth, processing and commercialization of grapes and grape-based products.”

The modern Mexican wine industry hit its stride in the eighties. A handful of adventurous, dedicated Mexican winemakers who knew they had the soils and the climate (mostly in the northern part of the country) to make good vino were determined to produce high-quality wines that could compete with world’s finest. And did they ever, employing the latest technology and techniques, and winning awards worldwide, including Chardonnay du Monde in France, Expovina in Switzerland and the Brussels Concours Mondan. 

A discussion of quality Mexican vino must begin with the Valle de Guadalupe, the “Napa Valley” of the Mexican wine industry. Located in northern Baja, near Ensenada, it is home to about 50 wineries and produces 90 percent of all Mexican wines, with L.A. Cetto leading the production pack with a 50-percent market share. Its climate is Mediterranean with proximity to the Pacific Ocean breezes, making for cool mornings and evenings, only 18–23 centimeters of rain per year and warm to hotter-than-a-country-marshal’s-pistol hot days. It’s primarily red wine country, but some producers, with careful handling, can make exceptional whites. 

The Parras (grapevines) Valley in Coahuila has very special climatic conditions. Being almost a mile in elevation, it’s semi-arid. Grapevines love it, and the low humidity and cool nights mean fewer grape-loving bugs and fungus. It’s home to the oldest winery in the Americas, Casa Madero, founded in 1597, which to this day produces a broad array of delicious varietals, including award-winning Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc and Syrah.

Querétaro is one of Mexico’s most prosperous wine-growing areas. With vineyards at altitudes of 1,950 meters, the grapes mature in extreme and unusual conditions. Querétaro boasts the Spanish sparkling wine producer Grupo Freixenet’s Mexican operation, proving good bubbly doesn’t have to be a wallet-buster.

Zacatecas, in north-central Mexico, wouldn’t ordinarily be considered “wine country” since it’s a tad south of what is considered “the global wine zone” (30- to 50-degree latitudes), but its vineyards are located at high altitudes (also about 1,950 meters). So the region, with its crisp winters and fresh summer temperatures, is optimal for wine growing. The clay soil, with its high moisture retention, makes for happy grapes.

En México Vino Est Veritas, if I may paraphrase a bit. Mexican wines have come into their own in a big way. Delicate, crisp, flavorful whites and reds of intensity, power, richness and complexity are available to the wine lover in Mexico. Future articles will focus on many of these and “name names.” Sooo, when you are hankering for a copa de vino, think local! Your palate will thank you! 


Dick Avery is head sipper at VinoClubSMA, a wine club dedicated to the enjoyment of boutique Mexican wines through free tastings. He can be reached at vinoclubsma@gmail.com.  Check out the website at www.vinoclubsma.com . 

House & Garden Tour
By Jennifer Hamilton

House & Garden Tour
Sun, May 18, noon
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
US$15 or 150 pesos
Breakfast at Café Santa Ana starting at 9am

1. A cactus-filled front garden greets visitors, leading into a two-story hallway with bóveda ceiling, and a high bookcase next to the stairwell. The home contains beautiful objets d’art acquired during the many years spent working for the BBC. More recent additions include art works by leading Mexican artists, such as Tamayo and Francisco Toledo. To the right is an entertainment area, housing a substantial collection of videos and music. The dining and living areas afford extraordinary views northwards to countryside and gently undulating hills. The owner decided to decorate the downstairs guest room in the Mexican style, with colorful folk art, a brilliantly-hued bedspread and a fun bathroom “afloat” with fish decorations from around the world — right down to the shower curtain! On the stairwell are noteworthy old British prints of Japan. The spacious master suite with its wood-burning fireplace is home to more artwork (spot the David Hockney print) and commands further outstanding views, leading to a cosy terrace. A small gym makes good use of another, heretofore unused terrace. Ceilings throughout the home, save for the entranceway, are wood beamed with tejamaniles (wood strips) between the beams to emanate warmth and tranquility. The walled-in rear garden is a tribute to San Miguel’s high semi-desert climate: a profusion of cacti reached by winding pathways eliminates the need for constant watering. 



2. This warm and welcoming Mexican-owned home commands a beautiful view of San Miguel and the distant mountains. Built in Spanish colonial style, the corridors, patio and fountain graciously extend the living and entertaining areas. The light airy feeling of the rooms is achieved through indirect natural lighting as well as extensive use of glass walls. Solar heating of both water and the cooking stove are utilized. The house features beautiful hand-carved wooden doors, bóveda ceilings, artistic niches, and lovely tilework, all of which contribute to strikingly display a splendid collection of paintings, statuary and Mexican artifacts and handicrafts.



3. This charming home contains a plethora of outstanding Mexican folk art. The long entrance hall contains a stunning painting of a Virgin and child, with a small, captivating patio with high walls bursting with climbing bougainvillea plus an intimate seating area and fountain. The walls on the left contain striking tiled designs embedded in the wall and old artwork. The comfortable living room with its cantera arches is filled with nichos containing various saints and leads out to the larger outdoor patio and ramada with a large fireplace, more spectacular folk art, and high walls with climbing bougainvillea clinging to the surfaces. The kitchen also contains colorful Talavera plates (probably from Santa Rosa) beautiful tilework and more folk art pieces. The stairwell to the second floor contains a large collection of ancient crosses and beautiful artwork. On the landing is what only can be described (you be the judge!) as a pregnant devil, one of the most colorful and delightful pieces of folk art 
in the house. A rare collection of mariachis adorns the fireplace in the bedroom. From the rooftop the views of the domes of La Iglesia de la Concepción (“Las Monjas”) are exceptional.