Drive a couple hours south of San Diego and you’ll find yourself among the dusty rolling hills of Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe, the region responsible for the majority of Mexico’s wines. The warm, dry climate coaxes concentrated fruit from a dizzying range of soils, yielding powerful wines that recontextualize familiar varieties.
Although the country is known for its agave spirits, Mexico is home to the oldest winery in the Americas, founded farther inland in 1597. It’d be another four centuries, however, before Mexican winemakers began bottling on a commercial scale. Modern viticulture began in earnest here in the 1970s before blossoming in the ’90s. Now Mexican winemakers are entering a new era. “There’s a renaissance in Mexican wine these days,” says Matt Diaz, owner of Brooklyn Mexican all-day spot For All Things Good and organizer of the Mexican wine festival Vinos Chingones. “Second- or third-generation wine-makers are taking over their families’ vineyards and they’re getting some really cool stuff.”
Whereas many countries maintain strict standards around winemaking—which varieties can be cultivated where, how vintners can combine them, what the resulting blends can be called— Mexico does not. That freedom is both a challenge and an irresistible invitation to winemakers; there are no rules, but also there are no rules.
Valle de Guadalupe is just the beginning. Experimentally minded vintners are making their marks in Guanajuato and San Vicente too. Central Mexico’s Querétaro state produces lovely sparkling wines with bracing acidity, a product of the vineyards’ high elevation. In the north, the state of Coahuila produces intriguing, muscular reds. “A lot of people try to talk about Mexico as if it’s the next Napa Valley, and it’s not even close,” says Tomás Bracamontes, founder of La Competencia Imports, the largest importer of Mexican wines in the US. The comparison suggests Mexican winemaking is a monolith and that its offerings mimic Napa’s brawny fruit-forward wines—two deeply misguided assumptions. “Nor does Mexico want to be compared to Napa,” he stresses.
Many Mexican wines are only available south of the border (a good reason for a trip), but these four spectacular bottles can be found stateside.
Bajío Sparkling Brut
With a gentle, fine bubble, this offering presents a subtle brioche on the nose that gives way to a crowd-pleasing, juicy hit of lychee and white peach.
Octagono Blanco
All wines from Octagono spend time buried in artisanal clay amphoras. In this expression, grapes first ferment on their skins for a few weeks—long enough to introduce a gentle musk to its intense notes of Meyer lemon and bright salinity.
Bodegas Henri Lurton Chenin Blanc
French winemaker Henri Lurton uses Chenin grapes grown in Valle de San Vicente to make this full-bodied wine with exceptional acid. Aromas of fresh-blossomed white flowers anchor intriguing notes of pear, peach, and guava.
Casa Jipi Nebbiolo
The balance between brash berries and tantalizing smoke makes Casa Jipi’s Nebbiolo deeply drinkable. It’s a prime example of how complex Mexican Nebbiolo can be.