Winery Tour--Queretaro

For years, Mario has been telling me that I needed to see Queretaro.  That it´s one of the most wonderful cities in all of Mexico.  So colonial, so full of trees and flowers, so full of culture.  And we were almost there this last weekend.

But we went a half hour out of our way and went to Bernal, instead.

Queretaro may indeed be charming.  I sure don´t know.  But I´m pretty smitten with Bernal and the area surrounding it.  And at under 7 hours from Saltillo, we´ll be back for another long weekend.  (That´s Mario-drive-time, of course.  Normal people will not make it from Saltillo to Queretaro that quickly.)

Did you know that . . . Querétaro is one of the most important states in wine production?
(I´m guessing that it´s second--behind Baja California, of course.)

Our point in stationing ourselves in Bernal was to take advantage of the Wine and Cheese Trail.  Places in Bernal do offer guided tours to wineries and cheese makers, but we made our own tour.  On our list, Freixenet Vineyards, Azteca Vineyards, and Redonda Vineyards.  For cheese, we were hoping to find a variety of cheese makers, but El Hostal de los Quesos was well stocked and we couldn´t ask for anything more.

Patio at Freixenet

First on our stop was Viñedos Freixenet.  I´ve had their wine before, and it´s good, but not exceptional.  And stopping by the vineyard, it became clear that while they may be in the wine business (and doing a pretty good job at it) they are also very much in the tourism business, and take full advantage of their proximity to the hordes from Mexico City, looking to get out on the weekends. They offer a variety of tours--basic tours cost $60 a person, tour depth, length, and price expand from there.  Every other weekend, they offer wine pairing classes, which include full meals.

Their buildings and grounds are beautiful, making me almost feel like I was in Napa instead of Queretaro.  Like I said, these guys have wine tourism down pat.   I would have been happy to stay and get to know the place better, but we were on a mission, and had to stock up on more wine.

Azteca Vineyards is just on the other side of the street from Freixenet.  The gate was open, but as we entered, I noticed a sign that said that they only did tours by appointment.  No problem--we were just there to buy wine.  However, it was a sign that things at Azteca were a great deal different from Big Ol´ Freixenet.

Now, on September 15th (the day we were there) Freixenet was opening up an additional parking lot to accomodate all their visitors.  At Azteca, there was one other car besides ours.  They didn´t look open.  We drove around a bit.  Then a car came driving up like he owned the place.  (I think he did.)  We asked if they were open, and he told us to follow him.  We got to the store, where we were told they were not open.  But then boss-man said that we, and the guests he had with him in his car, were welcome to buy what we wanted.  Excellent.

Azteca´s tourism niche is that they also boast stables and a charro (Mexican cowboy) program.  Their grounds were filled with grapevines (of course) and ponds and horses and stables and old-style Mexican buildings--very appropriate to visit on September 15th.  I was in love with the place and wished they were open, so we could have spent more time there.  However, they had a big harvest festival that weekend, so their staff was understandably having a very deserved day off that Monday.  Now we know for next year--Independence Day weekend at Viñedos Azteca!

In short, Azteca seemed a little more serious about their wine and less serious about tourism.

Third and last on our list was Redonda Vineyards.  We had to wind our way through the town of Ezekiel Montes again (not fun), as they are on the other side of it.  They were also closed for tours, but their store was buzzing.  Redonda had plenty of picnic tables on their patio and a variety of play equipment for kids (thank you, thank you, thank you!).  For those hungry, they also sold cheese and cold cut trays, and plenty of families were enjoying a wine-laden picnic right there.

We spent a very relaxing half-hour there.  We would have stayed longer, but rain was falling as we were leaving.  And had we come on a day besides Monday, we probably could have had a tour.

But I´m looking forward to enjoying their wine at my leisure this week!

As for tasting rooms?  Freixenet offers tastings for a price, of course.  The other two did not offer tastings (nor does Casa Madero, here in Parras, so I was not surprised).  Just a word to the wise, if you´re used to California tasting rooms!  Even though I´m used to it, I still get disappointed.

Vintage 2011

At our house, we like wine.  A lot.

Whenever I´m in the US, I spend far too much time dallying in the wine aisles of the grocery stores, in awe of the sheer volume and selection and countries and varietals represented on most large grocery stores´ shelves.  It´s overwhelming, and often I can barely make a selection.  Or, when I do, it´s pretty much because I played eeiny, miney, moe.

Here in Mexico, our wine options are a bit more limited.  Wine aisles in the grocery stores here have come a long way in the last decade (at least, in the fancy-pants grocery stores).  The limited selection does make choosing a wine much easier.

But, as the town of Parras is a mere two hours from Saltillo, we make our wine purchases even easier and get almost all our wine from Casa Madero.  It´s the oldest vineyard and winery in North America, and, I believe, the second-largest.  Despite its size, it pumps out some pretty awesome wine.  Let me state for the record here that I´m no wine connoisseur.  However, a few of Casa Madero´s wines (merlot and chardonnay) have made me step back for a second, give them a second look-over and say, ¨Wow--that´s GOOD!¨

Thanks to us getting almost all our wine from the same place, I´m getting better at guessing what we´re drinking without looking at the label on the bottle.  So, last week, as we were eating, I was a bit stumped to what we were drinking, gave up guessing, and had to ask Mario which wine he choose.  It was a cabernet suavingnon--what I usually think of as standard, red wine.

¨But this is so . . . fruity!¨ (For lack of a better word.)  Forgive me for trying to sound all wine critic-y, but I usually think of fruity wines as wines that are a bit young, and sweeter than cabernet suavingon.  That´s not what I meant by calling that cab fruity.  Cabernet usually bites back a little.  This one didn´t.  It tasted all . . . balanced.  Smooth.  All those irritating adjectives for wine that really give one no sense what it actually tasted like, except that it was good.  Think of Tim Allen growling, ¨gooood¨ here.

Mario´s response?  ¨Yeah--that´s what a cabernet sauvingon should taste like.¨

Huh.  Really.  Well, I´ve liked all the apparent cabernet flops that I´ve tasted, but this one?  Yeah, it stands out.

Now, we´ve drank what must be a few gallons of Casa Madero´s cabernet sauvingon in the last 5 years.  Why on earth was this one be so exceptionally different?

The clue on the tag told us that this wine was from 2011.  A-ha!  Why was 2011 such a stand out year?

It was the worst drought in the last 70 years.

Whatever grapes survived that drought, they had to fight hard for their survival.  Grapes that have to work extra hard tend to make kick-ass wines.

And that philosophy kind of translates to people, too.  When I´m together with friends and we´re discussing life, we often wonder why life has to be so hard.  Why do bad things happen to good people?  And, of course, there´s not really any good answer to that question.  At least not one that I´m fully satisfied with that doesn´t sound trite.

But it seems to be a general pattern that when we do go through hard times, and we manage to come through those tough times with our souls intact, our caracters do not come out unscathed.  We´re often transformed, more compassionate.  Just like with the drought affected the grapes and made a more flavorful wine, our characters can be made more beautiful by tough times.

Now, I´m not one to romanticize suffering.  No way.  If I can somehow get through life with less than my fair share of suffering, I won´t complain.  But when I do go through those times, here´s hoping that I, too, get more beautiful on the inside.




And not just shrivel up and die, as I bet a lot of grapes did in 2011.

Destination: Parras, Coahuila

Last Friday, Mario came home from work and suggested that we pack up, so we could spend all weekend in Parras. As I was ready to go anywhere, all three of us were packed up and in the car in about an hour.

Parras is about 2 hours west of Saltillo. Saltillo and Parras are both oasises in the desert, as the drive between the two towns is dominated by the Chihuahuan desert. Ugh. Now, when I lived in New Mexico, I remember thinking that the Chihuahuan desert was beautiful. But, New Mexico has plenty of mountains. While Coahuila also has plenty of mountains, the stretch of desert between Parras and Saltillo is flatter than Kansas. Sorry, Chihuahuan Desert--not pretty.

Therefore, it came as a huge relief to finally turn off the highway and head towards the mountains upon nearing Parras. Trees started to appear, then pecan groves, then vineyards, and my eyes were refreshed after more than an hour of staring at ocotillo and scrub.

Parras is famous for producing three products: jeans, candy, and wine. We haven't explored the jeans stores yet, so I can't really comment on those (there is a huge Dickies factory just off the highway, though). Their candy stores are dominated by pecan candy, fig candy, and dulce de leche. While not providing as many options as the candy stores in Puebla (also famous for candy) and quite a bit more expensive (it is a different type of candy, after all), the candy they sell is altogether delightful--nutty, yet creamy. I'm looking forward to knowing those candy stores better in August, when my mother-in-law comes to visit, as she has a sweet tooth to rival mine, and always seems to find her way into candy stores, wherever she may be.

However, this weekend, Mario and I were on a mission: to go swimming and to try some wine. While Parras boasts about 4 lakes, most of which are open to the public for swimming, we decided that it would be easiest, while traveling with a 4-month-old, to stay at a hotel with a pool. Therefore, while she napped, we soaked up some pool time. Little Girl even tolerated the pool for awhile herself after waking up.

Sunday was Wine Day. After checking out of the hotel, we headed to Casa Madero, founded in 1597 and the oldest vineyard in North America. They give tours, so our guide, Victor Hugo, told us all about how Casa Madero makes their wine and brandy, as he walked us over their grounds, open production areas, and bodegas. Of course, we wound up our tour in their tasting room. Casa Madero is best known for their Shiraz and Chardonnay, but we had to take their word on that, as those aren't among the wines they provide for tasting. The house exports about 85% of their production, mainly to Europe. As they're not hurting for clients, and it came so well recommended, we took them at their word and bought the Shiraz and Chardonnay. Victor Hugo also described the wine festival that both the town and Casa Madero host in the early part of August. The streets will be full with vendors, a hill near the vineyard will have a late-night processional complete with dancing, and they'll elect a new Wine Queen. What a job that must be!

As the day was winding to a close, we climbed back into the car, loaded down with our candy and wine purchases. We'll return to Parras in a few weeks. Next time we'll visit the lakes. Little Girl will like that better than the pool, as the water should be warmer--or so we can hope!