Ensenada and their wines
Centuries of migration and the richness of the Mexican lands have led to the creation of renowned wines in Ensenada, Baja California. Let's get to know their history.
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To the north of Mexico, in the state of Baja California, is the Valle de Guadalupe region.
Its proximity to the sea and the fertile valleys that coexist with desert landscapes have made this region the ideal place to cultivate world-famous vineyards.
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The cultivation of the first vineyards dates back to the arrival of Spanish friars in the region in the 17th century.
They brought with them shoots to have their own wine supply, which they used for the Eucharist, at the table to accompany their food and for medicinal purposes.
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Among these early wines stands out Santo Tomás, the oldest in the area that still prevails and is growing.
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Its history dates back to the end of the 19th century. The Bodegas de la Misión de Santo Tomás had a surplus of the precious liquid, so, according to legend, they sent it to the Puerto de Ensenada by carts for export to the United States, thus starting one of the most important industries in the region.
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Later, then-President Porfirio Diaz gave asylum to a group of Russians in the Valle de Guadalupe, in the region of Francisco Zarco precisely. Today, they continue to make wine under the name Bibayoff.
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In the 1920s, Don Angelo Cetto arrived from the north of Italy who bought land to the northwest of the Valley and founded Bodegas L. A. Cetto , being one of the largest wine producers in the country to date.
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Another important company is Domecq, which settled in the Valley in the 1960s with the intention of producing grapes for its brandies. Although they have very little activity today, they have plans to return.
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The case of Vino Casa de Piedra and its founder Hugo D'Acosta is also worth mentioning.
After studying in France and working in northern Italy, Hugo d'Acosta decided to return to Mexico and work in Santo Tomás, a place that he considers his great school and space where he worked as an enologist for 12 years.
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In 1997 with the support of friends and the architecture of his brother Alejandro D'Acosta, he founded Casa de Piedra at the entrance to the Valley.
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His Vino de Piedra is considered the watershed in the Mexican wine culture. Its mineral notes from the area give it a character of its own with personality and elegance that we still find in the wines that Hugo produces and advises on.
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Today he runs the wineries Paralelo and Aborigen, who produce wine for the Mexican and export market.
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Currently, just over 150 wines occupy the Baja California panorama of wine and produce 90% of the wine that is bottled throughout Mexico.
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As we can see, Ensenada is a melting pot in which the wealth of the Mexican lands is combined with the ingenuity and creativity of other lands.
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Ensenada and its vineyards are the ultimate expression of the fusion that enriches the Valle de Guadalupe and Mexican gastronomy.
Photographer and text: Ignacio Urquiza
