What's up everybody?
I'm Alex
I'm Marko
And we're the Vagabrothers.
This week we are wine-tasting in the Valle de Guadalupe, Baja California, Mexico.
[Intro sounds]
The Valle de Guadalupe is one of the best open secrets in Mexico.
Just two hours south of the US/Mexican border, "The Valle" makes the best wine in Mexico
but gets just a handful of visitors.
That's partly because Mexico more known for its tequila than its wine, but also because
of the brutal drug war of the last 10 years, which – understandably - scared a lot of
tourists away from Baja California.
- But things have changed, the drug war has calmed down, the number of wineries in the
Valle has doubled, and good wine has attracted some of Mexico's top chefs, who've become
international ambassadors for their so-called "Baja Med" cuisine.
We didn't need more convincing.
So we linked up with San Diego based Angel Mirón from Let's Go Clandestino tours, who
offered to show us what makes the Valle de Guadalupe one of the premiere food and drink
destinations in Latin America.
We visited in off season just before Christmas and crossed the border at dawn, so we started
with breakfast.
Angel tells us this is the best breakfast place in all of Baja, is that true?
I think so, it's my favorite, if that counts for anything.
What's it called?
La cocina de Doña Esthela.
Let's get some birria.
¡Vamanos!
Let's do it.
The one-room family-run cantina was a reminder of the Valle's unpretentious roots, serving
up simple yet delicious birria and chilaquiles that gave us a good foundation for the sophisticated
meals to come.
...and a good base for soaking up that wine we planned on drinking...
Haven't even finished breakfast and we got the first stain of the day, and something
tells me that it's not going to be the last.
But before we started boozing, we took a stroll around Dona Estela's place to get a taste
of the Valle's rustic charm.
One thing about Mexico is that there is always a bigger dog, like this guy right here.
There ya go... ¡oye!
You're a nice guy too, aren't you?
Alright you guys, we just got to the Valle de Guadalupe, it's a beautiful day here and
we're at Lechuza winery.
Angel says he's got mad respect for this winery, it's one of the up-and-coming places here.
So we're going to try some wine and meet the owners.
¡Vamanos!
Wine was first brought to the Valle by Dominican missionaries from Spain and later developed
by Russian Molokan immigrants, but more recent newcomers are from France, Italy or - in the
case of Ray and Patty Magnussen - California.
Instead of going north to California's wine region, Napa Valley, Ray and Patty headed
south – to Mexico!
They're part of a new wave of innovators creating a cross-border culture around food and drink
in Northern Mexico.
Most Americans, when they're thinking of wine country, they're thinking of Napa.
Do you think that's changing now, more Americans coming down here?
We're different than Napa, I think we're very special.
I love what's going on here, I love the rusticness of it, you know?
I mean, you kinda have to know where you're going, it's not like you're driving down the
Silverado Road and you can just pull in and have a wine-tasting.
But we've got all these great people that are passionate about making wine.
I mean, you'll find a bunch of folks in this valley that will spend their very last dime
to make sure that they've got the absolute best wine that they can make.
Yeah, you can see the efforts are paying off in the glass in my hand right here.
Cheers, this is the idea.
Good stuff.
[Alex aerating wine]
This is the idea!
Eso es el idea...
After some wine and appetizers, it was time for the main course - lunch at Corazon de
Tierra, a symbol of the gastronomic revolution hot on the tails of the Valle's burgeoning
wine scene
The restaurant is just down the valley on the property of la Villa del Valle, a six-room
hacienda overlooking a winery, an organic farm and the restaurant itself, which was
recently named one of the top 50 in Latin America.
Head chef Diego Hernandez-Baquedano is part of a handful of Baja Californian chefs who
have made their food famous around the world, so we sat down to ask him why the Valle had
become rising region of Mexican cuisine.
For a long time, the best restaurants in Mexico were French, and now Mexican restaurants are
the top restaurants in the country.
And this all happened when Mexican chefs started to own their own restaurants.
But what makes this region so cool is that there's a lot of fresh produce – you got
the seafood, and you guys have like... talk about 'farm-to-table'... that's the farm right
there.
It's not a theory – you guys are really doing it in everyday life.
It has a lot to do with... first, the geography.
We are rich in ingredients and biodiversity.
And second, the culture.
This is a land where a lot of migration happens.
This mix of cultures gives Baja Cuisine it's own taste.
So what is Baja?
This is Baja, this who we are and we are proud of it.
Speaking of that I think we should do a cheers.
An oysters cheers.
Look at this dude.
This is going in my mouth.
Cheers, bro.
This is Baja cuisine.
That is the most amazing oyster combination I've ever had in my life.
Wow.
Oh yeah.
But food is only part of the story at the Villa del Valle, which is also home to the
Vena Cava winery - a bodega carved into the hillside and roofed with upside-down boats.
It's a style that's been dubbed the hippest winery in Mexico, so we asked Phil what he
thought about the praise.
I think it's pretty cool.
I prefer to look at it like that.
When Alejandro D'Acosta designed and built this winery for me, I had asked him for something
funky.
And I got funky.
Here on this property, we have things that stemmed from the desire my wife and I had
to know what we were eating, to enjoy what we were eating, to be eating really wonderful
things.
And the same applied very quickly to what we were drinking.
Our wines are a little bit unusual.
They're very high quality and they're made by people that are thinking with their hearts
and their souls and not only with their minds.
There's a lot going on here, it's a really nice place to be.
We couldn't agree more, so we asked Angel what he thought about the Valle's future.
Where do you see the Valle going in the next ten years?
It's doubled in size in the last ten years, but in the next ten years, what's going to
happen?
It's going to be probably the number one destination in all of Mexico as a hotel destination, as
food destination and for the wine as well.
I can imagine in ten years it's going to change a bit, so if you're watching you gotta get
down here now while it's still rootsy.
But we're so lucky, we live literally an hour from here.
But I feel that so few people know about the Valle.
Why do you think that is?
Because people are still somewhat afraid of traveling into Mexico by themselves.
They need a little a push to find out for themselves.
We'd seen quite a bit, but to wrap up the night Angel took us to a posada, a Mexican
holiday fiesta, held at Deckman's El Mogor, a country kitchen in a winery run by Drew
Deckman, an American chef who came to Baja California by way of Berlin.
But for such a global chef, the food was entirely local - grilled local quail from the valley,
lamb chops and heirloom veggies from the farm itself, and oyster's from Baja's nearby pacific
coast.
This is out of control.
I have no idea how we ended up here.
It's all because of Angel – we love you.
What a pleasant ending to an amazing day.
Quail?
Come on... quail?!?
Sorted.
I'm going to go feast right now.
After he got off the grill, we asked Drew what advice he had for people thinking about
coming to the Valle de Guadalupe.
This is one of the coolest, most progressive food places and wine places and beer places
in the world that nobody knows about.
So if you even need to put it in question, this is probably not the place for you.
This is where it's happening, man.
Ok well thank you for having us.
No, dude, enjoy.
We're going to be here at least until the cops come.
Cool.
And then if we can get them to drink, then they'll stay.
And then the party will keep going.
[Laughter]
Alright guys, it's been an amazing day here in the Valle de Guadalupe.
This place is really, really cool but the roads are super complicated so make sure you
look up Angel for Lets Go Clandestino Tours because otherwise you'll be lost out here
for hours when you'd rather be sipping wine.
Perdidos!
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Feliz Navidad!
Cheers!