Food & Wine
Mexico by the Glass
By Dick Avery
October 17, 2008 San Miguel de Allende

Weekend wine warriors

Roberto, Abel and Bernardo Lafarge with the author.

What does a mama get when she raises a plastic surgeon, an x-ray technician and an architect, then adds a soon-to-be-oenologist grandson and turns them loose in a winery? Serious, muscular, deep, rich, thigh-slapping red vino on the dinner table, that’s what! 

What does a Swiss-French oceanographer do in his spare time, other than rescuing damaged olive trees, growing organic produce, managing a farmer’s market on his property and raising chickens and Charolais cattle? He makes lip-smacking vino!

In this installment, we’ll take a look at two smaller, focused, highly artisanal Valle de Guadalupe wineries producing the good juice.


Viñedos Lafarga

In 1994, tres hermanos, Roberto, Abel and Bernardo Lafarge, began planting grapevines in the upper Valle under the name Viñedos Lafarga. They concentrated on four heavyweight red varietals: Cabernet Savignon, Merlot, Syrah and, interestingly, Nebbiolo, a varietal originally from northwest Italy (think Barolos and Gattinaras). 

Loving the evenings cooled by marine breezes, and warm-to-hot days, the grapes thrived. Initially, production was miniscule, because consistent pruning made for small, but highly concentrated, lots. Now up to only about 1,000 cases, Lafarga would have to be considered a small player in the game, but it would be hard to find a group of reds with more power, extract, complexity, depth and flavor. 

We were honored to be invited as the first-ever visitors to their winery. There is no formal tasting room yet, so we stood among the barrels and were treated to some of the finest juice of the trip. A “wine thief” (a long glass tube winemakers use to draw barrel samples) was employed to taste upcoming blends. The smart thing to do would be to take a small sip and dump the rest, but they were too delicious to waste. We loved ’em all. The brothers have made two special blends named after their parents. I thought the “DJ 1905” (a 2004 Cab/Merlot/Syrah named for their father, Don José, born in 1905) a knockout! Janet liked the more approachable NV Merlot/Cab blend, “Esther” (named after mamá). Don José and Esther have much to be proud of.

Mogor-Bedan

Antonio Bedan arrived in the Valle at the ripe old age of two. His father, Henri, had come to the Valle to start an olive oil business based on the abundance of olive trees thriving there. He selected a 2,500-acre property called “El Mogor.” Among the olive trees, Henri planted some vine shoots given to him by a friend. So, you could say, Antonio grew up in the wine business, and, in the European tradition, wine was served with daily meals.

However, it was many years before he got the “wine bug.” A trip to Bordeaux changed all that and he began to devote all his “free time” to studying wine (and getting a doctorate in marine physics all the while). Mogor-Bedan Winery was born.

Only two types of wine are produced. One is a tightly wound, intense, Bordeaux-style Cabernet/Merlot blend with some Temeranillo and Cabernet Franc. The other is Chassalas, a pretty, fresh, citrusy white with elegant, delicious tropical fruit flavors. A Swiss varietal, it is grown only in Switzerland, northern Germany and at Mogor-Bedan. 

Antonio oversees every aspect of his 600-case-per-year operation, from crushing the grapes to pasting on the labels. He had the labels designed using old type from a print shop in Paris. He is totally “hands-on.”

His sister, Natalia, lives on the property and operates a weekly impromptu farmer’s market on the porch of the main house. As active as her brother, she has organized protests against proposed housing subdivisions and other large-scale intrusions into the Valle.

The recently completed wine cellar is stunning, made from rocks dug from the property and surrounding area. Armed with a generous glass of the red blend, we repaired there, sat around on the barrels and talked shop, among other things. A true Renaissance man fluent in many subjects, Antonio is old-school and deplores “creeping gentrification” and the dumbing down of society.

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

House & Garden Tour
By Jennifer Hamilton

High on a hilltop, Guatemala huipiles, Spanish bishop’s house 

House & Garden Tour
Sun, Oct 19, noon
Biblioteca Pública
Insurgentes 25
US$15 or 150 pesos
Breakfast at Café Santa Ana starting at 9am


1. This enchanting home with open spaces, softly curving arches and lofty ceilings is high on a hilltop with luscious views down to the town and across the hillsides to the west. The tall wooden entrance door leads into an arched hallway with the living room on the left filled with plush seating areas, an iron chandelier atop the coffee table and a magnificent mirror on the carved cantera fireplace. Arched cantera columns separate the sala from the dining room, with its eye-catching hand-painted cathedral-shaped ceiling, iron and teardrop-glass chandelier and iron-paneled antique mirror. The “entertainment” kitchen is rife with gleaming dark wood cabinets; even the refrigerator is fronted with wood! The working kitchen behind contains a dumbwaiter and beautiful rustic red walls and tiles from Dolores Hidalgo. A statue of San Miguel tops the outdoor sala’s cantera fireplace, comfortable chairs surround an old chest, with lots of candles and long curtains to keep the heat down. In the library, a beautiful painting fronts the entertainment area and a window seat faces the western vistas. The master bath has an oval Jacuzzi bathtub, granite sinks and small chandeliers over the sinks. Upstairs are additional cathedral and bóveda ceilings, with a guest living room, tin lamps and again, many candles, with wood strips and beamed ceilings and a fully stocked bar. The two guest bedrooms flanking the upstairs sala lead out to their own spacious patios with fountains and views over the town. A lush garden is at the very bottom of the house. 



2. The second enchanting property is in a gated community. The long hallway leads to the modern kitchen with a large tin lamp over an antique wood island and on to the living and dining area, with its whitewashed, tunneled bóveda ceiling and three cúpulas. Natural light emanates from these cúpulas as well as the French doors which open out to the garden. Colorful huipiles from Guatemala add color to the dining room walls. The living room fireplace was extended to the ceiling and covered with a copper patina. Outside, the garden is divided into several separate areas: an sculpture garden, a reflecting pool with fountain and a covered entertainment area. Up the winding staircase are two charming guest rooms and an office. Heretofore unused, the owners created a rooftop garden filled with flowers, herbs and plants, and an entertainment area from which to enjoy San Miguel sunsets. 



3. Purchased as a ruin by a local award-winning architect and his designer wife in 1994, this seventeenth-century property in the heart of San Miguel may have housed a Spanish colonial bishop. Three bedrooms, a loggia, a large living room and lanais face an intimate central patio with mature trees and tropical gardens. The living room floors are made of mesquite banded with stone and the walls are of stone with floors of patterned cantera. The house has seven fireplaces, a spectacular roof garden and heavily beamed ceilings. It has been furnished with antiques from around the world.