crawl log chrono

13.04.27 comprehensive wine list

easy, safe way to get around to wine tastings
http://www.SDbeerwine.com

prioritized in order of tasting events.
http://www.sandiegowineandculinary.com/
http://www.the3rdcorner.com/
http://villagevino.com/
http://shop.vintagewinessd.com
http://proprietorsreserve.com/
http://sandiegowineclassic.com/
http://winesellar.com/
http://www.holidaywinecellar.com/
http://sandiegowine.net/     no-nonsense in-store Saturday wine tastings
http://www.bineandvine.com/   no tasting license yet but worth keeping abreast of.
http://knbwinecellars.com/events/   bit of a zoo scene - very popular. They do a wide hodge podge of events, and are the new high end liquor store in town with something to prove via their tastings.

some big local wine events in my order of preference
http://familywinemakers.org/ 2012 second weekend in March
http://www.julianca.com/media/grape_stomp.htm Labor Day Saturday
http://www.sdfair.com/index.php?fuseaction=festivals.wine_festival

Julian in order of preference
http://thebluedoorwinery.com/
http://www.witchcreekwinery.com/julian-location
http://jenkinswinery.com/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Menghini-Winery/334699435773

essential stops on the way back down the mountain
http://jeremysonthehill.com/    Wynola
http://www.countrycellars.com/    Wynola
http://www.orfila.com/tasting-julian.html    Wynola

http://milagrofarmwinery.com     north of Ramona on main highway across from camel dairy
http://turtlerockridge.com    Ramona on the old highway road
http://www.yelp.com/biz/southern-california-wine-company-Ramona    north end downtown Ramona on the highway

Ramona AVA & greater SD.
http://www.ramonavalleyvineyards.org/
http://sandiegowinecountry.wordpress.com/

in general order of preference
http://www.christophersoncongress.com/    possibly the best wine bar in San Diego
http://cafeparissandiego.wordpress.com/
http://www.farmhousecafesd.com
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bon-Vin/259064214131582
http://mosaicwinebar.com/
http://www.sandiego.andaz.hyatt.com/en/hotel/dining/AndazWineBar.html
http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/menu-restaurants/100-wines-hillcrest/
http://www.sognodivinosd.com
http://www.thewineencounter.com/
http://www.wetstonewinebar.com/
http://www.bacchuswinemarket.com/
http://www.sdwinery.com
http://www.winestealssd.com/our-locations/point-loma-location
http://fiftysevendegrees.com/
http://www.counterpointsd.com

notes on Valle de Guadalupe Baja wine trail.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B-vBl80sm4Q4WUlLc0Y5R190Zmc&usp=sharing
With a native speaker at the wheel of his vehicle, start at the south end as far as you plan to go and work your way back north. The Bibayoff winery is an essential midpoint stop.
http://www.bibayoff.net
Closest Mexican winery I know, Cava Garcia, still no small safari.
http://www.descubrebajacalifornia.com/2012/index.php/vinedos-y-vinicolas/item/cava-garcia

Possibly the most obscure wine event in San Diego, fundamentally a charity fundraiser.
http://www.barriologanwinery.com/grape-stomp.html

= = =

12.8.29 Uni Ave

A bad idea to blog on first blush still dizzy from delights but merit must not be denied, so, while the iron is hot, heretowith

100 Wines 1047
Superb yet delicate, nonetheless fiery & lengthy finishing Cerbos Armagnac VSOP at a quite favorable price. Second tier brand Blandys bual malmsey yet untried. Dios Baco olorosso shaming all the treacle drunk by that Jerez designation of late. Grenache Noir banyuls - agreeably tawny ruby port, astoundingly uncommon inky banyuls. Drink this quick before you never see it again. And the pour of each was obscenely generous so the price is delicious.
http://www.cohnrestaurants.com/menu-restaurants/100-wines-hillcrest/

Il Postino 3955 30th
It is painfully difficult to stop bouncing off the ceiling when I see a shelf like this. The bottle list is gargantuan. By the glass provides more than one interest. But the ports are possibly the finest I have seen yet anywhere as a group. The most compelling are not cheap. Their pour is the price of the finest scotch or brandy. Screwing up the courage of my wallet has yet to match my boundless palate.
Two curiously labeled scotches were pique of interest that just escaped drawing blood. Praise Dionysis for a wingman with yellow-card prudence stronger than my own. The scurrilous cur at least could have propositioned the barkeep for a small flight of the pair if his wits so outmatched mine.
Like Lion's Share, a rare venue demanding reprise for sake of the fare.
http://ilpostino-sandiego.com/

~ ~ ~
121211 jibe to the wingman

Couldn't wait for you. Saw in this past week's UT
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/dec/06/tom-hams-lighthouse-to-get-35-million-facelift/
 that Tom Ham's Lighthouse (north end of Harbor Island, opposite end from Island Prime) is closing for name changing renovation at the first of the year, so I went there tonight to give them their 45 second survey.
The bartenderess of 30 yrs at that location was spread thin tending all the tables sent upstairs to the bar because the dining room downstairs was taken with some corp. Xmas party. I ate the signature sea bass & vegetables steamed in brown paper and a glass of '08 CabSav, then a dark rum I've never seen, http://rumandreviews.com/2011/12/01/brugal-1888-panel-review/
prior to sniper targeting the obscured labels on the back of the top shelf.
End result, I caught her unawares and she quoted me the $10 price for Hennessey VSOP when I asked for the XO in a leafy vine & grape cluster embossed bottle, priced $39 according to the dessert menu.
She recognized her error after already pouring the last of the bottle, but honored her initial quote.

~ ~ ~

1.15.13 So many stops uncited that it is difficult to even recall high points since last post.

Urban Solace 12.29.12  30th Ave, south of University
 ~ Smooth Ambler independent bottling of legacy sourced bourbon. 100pf absolutely required ice. 6yr still plenty good quality. Tried to find bottle : BevMo La Mesa sold out, no shelf listing BM Pt Loma & Mission Valley, scored last bottle of discontinued Brugal 1888 sherry finished rum at BM Mission Valley. 6yr Smooth Ambler at Wine Time in La Jolla for $50,
Need to see if 7G has an older iteration of this brand.
13.02.26 update ~ Two fifths of last bottle remaining at USolace : Batch #4 dated 2.4.12 "Sarah". Same day, received home delivery of same product from Astor (NYC), Batch #17 12.6.12 "NiK", 13 addtional batches of 6yr from a negociant label in 10 months.
When a broker can put this volume into the supply chain in that period, the hyped "whiskey drought" au currant looks suspiciously manufactured rather than a result of snowballing demand.

Marine Room 1.13.13 La Jolla
 w/ Z distaff crew less one & Julian duchess.
 ~ Rare Wine Co. New York Malmsey Special Reserve $11 2 oz + pour, Great bargain, http://www.rarewineco.com/html/rwc-hist.htm
Also on shelf, but unsampled, Sandeman Royal Ambrosante 20yr PX $14 pour http://www.rarewineco.com/html/rwc-hist.htm
 ~ 2010 Santa Barbara Highlands Vineyards "Nadia" cabsav
Pricey at $16 for 5 to 6 oz pour, but quality is equal to the cost. Much better half hour of air after pouring, 
 ~ 2010 Pierre Henry Gadais muscadet (Loire).  Bargain $10 pour.
I am no particular fan of whites, let alone "mineraly" ones, often flavor profile code, as in the case of every marsanne I ever tried, for flavorless. But I give big props to the MRoom's madame sommelier for her bravery in putting a young, presumably unaged muscadet on the too short by-the-glass menu. At least as broad in flavor as a decent muscat, but not at all cloyingly syrupy, the wild grape aromatic funk I expect from a muscadet is fully present without being overwhelming as can too often be the case with this varietal. As a starter glass at this venue, this choice is automatic.
~ 2009 Bon Niche "Fenetres" Petit Verdot (Paso Robles) $59. Not one I'll buy again. Am alway eager to see what can be done with this varietal as a stand alone, but it would have needed 4 hours of decanting to see if there was hidden treasure in this otherwise acceptable but not especially notable curiousity. At least it wasn't one of the many three figure priced bottles on the list.
 ~ The food, as ever each time I've eaten here, is distinguishably superior, regardless of the dish. After this visit, I can opt for the MRoom with complete confidence that dining here is guaranteed to be a great choice. Just be sure to make a reservation early enough to catch the view before & during sunset. After dark, the location's greatest asset is lost.
The details of preparation on all the menu items are also so meticulously elaborate that Net research & review aforehand of their oblique gastronomic description makes their appreciation decidely greater.

Bobeau Kitchen 1.5.13 Ocean Beach
 w/ full Z distaff crew incl international diva, Julian duchess, and both grand-spawn.
 ~ Vin doux menu a noteworthy effort. Good tawny port, don't recall the brand, affordably priced. Decent sauterne, also affordably priced. By the glass wines lackluster or worse, depending on price. Cofermented three grape red blend a good bargain, but, as always, order it early and air it out to get the best from it.
 ~ Food better than expected.
 ~ Still prefer the bar across the street at 3rd Corner, but they were out of the St. Aubins armagnac that was so revelatory a discovery last (first) time there that I bought a bottle for my own shelf. The calvados was only spirit of interest, a label I didn't recognize across a crowded bar rail. It was a little harsh but still appreciable quality & fair price. Kept the diva in tow quiet with a pour of Whiskers Blake 8yr Australian tawny port. Given the great price on this stalwart product, I can't understand why it isn't on every bar in town instead of a very few.
 ~Need to dine here to test the kitchen.

Lupi Vino Cucina 12.31.12 Bird Rock w/ LM & RP
No real reason to go back here. The wine on the list I wanted was unavailable. Prices quite affordable so a good venue for cost containing a second or third stop of the day in La Jolla. Warm pear compote very tasty but not especially exotic in its prep.
The find here, like Bobeau, is the insane hidden treasure across the street, Maitre D. The owner said they've been there 31 years, but I never heard of it, nor any lifelong local to whom I've mentioned it. #1 priority on my must dine list. Much too upscale to give it the 45 second peruse for liquor shelf pre-qualification I typically apply to unknown places. Abalone "sauteed amandine" both as $30 hor d' oeuvre & $65 entree vs. $80 Fish Market Seaport Village http://www.maitredlj.com/Menu.htm

Westgate Hotel Fountainbleu 12.25.12 w/ LM & RP
Mercifully, they still served the Xmas eve prix fixe, a gloriously good five course.
Two good dessert wines and a 2yr aged Zin & PS three or four varietal red blend by the bottle.
Bar was not open for lunch, available after 5pm. Must revisit to survey liquor shelf.

Village Vino 12.12.12 Kensington
A no-nonsense proprietress with a ferocious list, incl a 15yr old tawny by the glass. Flatbread & epicure finger food of high caliber. Split a bottle of nebbiolo with a late arriving regular for my third glass who riffed graciously & engagingly on my usual bullshit rap. Always amazing to me how my sincere and enthusiastic engagement of fellow customers elicits a pursed grimace & scowl in short order from tavern keepers, regardless of whether I stay on topic with libation discussion or try to match my eccentric obsessions to their interests.
VV definitely deserves to be a default waystop on my regular rounds, particularly with Bleu Boheme & the newly opened liquor store wine tasting room a very short stroll across the street.

Baypark Fish 12.8.12 just off Morena Blvd beside I-5
Fair priced good quality food. Limited tolerable wine list, but make the effort to air out the reds early because dining here is too quick paced for the decanting necessary.
 ~ Started at the bar on the corner with an acceptable Ramos Pinto port RP10. Had to scream bloody murder at the bartender to get him to stop overpouring the horrible house labeled grappa which was attributed to Jacobo Poli and distributed by Mondavi.
 ~ Swung by Old Trieste afterward for a fast assessment. Scary sepulchral lighting and weird sad vibe, but did make a highly notable booze find of so far unattainable armagnac http://www.empirewine.com/liquor/castarede-armagnac-vsop-10yr-750ml/

Baci's 11.30.12 Morena Blvd beside I-5
Not inexpensive at all but astoundingly good food. Best of all, we killed a bottle of fantastic baked cream sherry, no longer commercially available, that had been on the shelf for 10 years per the proprietor : Rotta Winery (Templeton, Paso Robles) "tawny port" (mission grape varietal)

57 Degrees 11.8.12 Washington west of I-5
Bleak & all but empty at Happy Hour on Thu. Acceptable but unnoteworthy pricey food, young wine, tame overpriced dessert wines from safe label names. The draw here is serious tipplers schooling themselves by the glass for their bottle purchases. If they'll talk to you, take notes.

SD Culinary Institute 11.1.12 along the trolley track west from 5th St downtown SD
Gitana sherry tasting with paired amuse bouches by a New Mexico big name chef doing a hurried delivery. Learned a fair amount but overpriced at $65 for shoehorned seating and rushed presentation for a bare bones, second tier, commercially common product line hawked by the distributor. 1) Manzanilla aka fino is nothing but brined white wine 2) Amontillado is customarily very dry 3) Olorosso is preferable to overly syrupy, more expensive PX 4) cream sherry is olorosso base with PX blended in.

Small Bar 10.30.12 Park Ave
Pricey burgers not worth a repeat. Prefer to eat across the street at Park Blvd Wine & Pizza, straightforward flatbread with upscale ingredients. Parker's Heritage by the shot, $20+ as I recall, but an early limited edition you will never see again in your life. Oodles of long aged scotches, several uncommon independent bottlings, some effort at a notable bourbon selection. The key here is that the best of the liquor is essentially the choice of the proprietor, not some bar manager stocking what his wholesaler tells him is best for his customer base.

Italianissimo Trattoria 10.23.12 downtown Chula Vista
One of the very few upscale places in CV. I have always found the food to be enough of a cut above in quality to justify the price, but the wing man thought the ciopinno was inferior. A limited wine list with some priced by the label as much as the bottle contents, but one or more dessert wines of mild note.

7G Tasting Society inaugural

They were giving away free high grade whiskey last night at one of the classiest new places located in one of the hipper districts of SD. A dozen seats out of forty principals & their +1s were empty. More elbow room for me.
Now the bad news.

The event was fronted by a cowboy casual clad Diageo rep who showed no shame when I asked him to confirm his employer. I don't expect strangers in neutral social encounters to exhibit a conscience of social justice. Experience has proven that sanctimonious standard to be counterproductive on my part. He did bring the booze I drank at no charge.

Diageo aka Coca Cola doubtless will point to such self aggrandizing astroturfing as this. But plenty of us remember the resource grabs and murderous power plays that make their paychecks & dividends blood money. E.g. Malvern  & Colombia. Ibid

"after the disastrous year of 1982 severely crippled the whisky industry, {Diageo nee} DCL would close Glenlochy one more time and this time it would not reopen. May of 1983 was the final date of production and in 1986 the distillery was scheduled for demolition, before that decision was appealed by the Lochaber District Council. Eventually, most of the main infrastructure would be removed and converted into a hotel, on the condition that no distillation would ever take place there again (a typical Diageo deal)."                        per DD 8.26.12

 

D/CC isn't, in any fashion, Bruichladdichesque artisans furthering the peaks of spirits craftmanship in league with sustainable locally focused culture. That firm is the JPMorgan among too big to fail/jail cartel elite of the international beverage industry, largest among behemoths, swing trading distilleries like 2006 credit default swaps.

The proof this is a bad thing is in the proffered quaffs, 7 items, priced regionally in this table,
 begun with

 ~ Oban 14, much better than I remembered it from the last time I ordered it experimentally at some empty hotel fern bar. It rates a check plus, meaning one bottle belongs on your liquor shelf. Medium light peat, thankfully, plenty butterscotch and mild honey when given time to bloom in the glass and on the tongue. Still overpriced consequent to Scotch chic and brand price gouging.

But there is a rare fond spot in my heart for fair Oban as one of those that got away. It isn't a small  place, and I had only a brief hour there before the Craignure ferry left dock during my sole foray to thistledom and moss drenched Mull thickets.
Jim McEwan makes a rational defense that turning an honest buck from peated barley ain't cheap or easy.

 ~ Oban 18 was appreciably superior to the younger sibling with a notably prolonged finish. It is two star, meaning you should have a bottle to sample and another in reserve. Noting the $5 per additional year, bite the bullet & buy since those Costa Mesa samaritans can't hold the line on price forever despite their longstanding yeomanry in doing such, upon which I have oft relied.

 ~ Oban DE. Approx. an additional year in sherry cask. More smoke, more spice, Not good things, surprisingly for this preferred finish. Note that the sherry is a fino. Delicate refinement of an old heavy scotch makes no more sense than a razor edge on a battle ax. It will only be chipped & spoiled by the first skull it splits. If you're beyond flush, one of these bottles is acceptable completion of the entire expressions' collection, but many better squanders of that C-note are in my wish list.

A wisely anticpated product sequence schedule then went pear shaped as they say in Avon.

Throughout, presenter E. shared many useful kernels of knowledge I greatly appreciated as an aficionado. He provided both standard and peat smoked barley grains for comparative background. Consensus was the first had Grapenuts flavor. To me, the second was dubiously redolent of bacon.
Other tidbits included Oban's long 100 hour ferment compared to a 40 hour industry standard, characterizing the longer as yielding "grassy notes" ( One of many common flavor profile descriptives I've never distinguished ) and the shorter as nutty.

He repeatedly cited the distinction in volume between American standard cooperage and the two larger standards used for sherry. He brandished a barrel lid exhibiting the four common grades of char. He distinguished U.S. oak as "white", French as "red", yielding taste elements of vanilla & dry fruit respectively. He attributed sweetness as the prime taste contribution of wood.
Re the heathen but necessary practice of adding water to liquor, he asserted it the equivalent of allowing wine to breathe.

He revealed the shibboleth of holding spirit on the tongue a second for each year of age.
My preference is minimum 120 seconds per, doubtless my dour & thrifty Calvinist heritage begrudging loss of flavor to my undeserving and unappreciative throat, but nevertheless confident in a full measure of redemption by fumes' reflux to my nose.

Of terroir, he cited Islay in SE Scotland as characterized by peat flavor, to Skye attributing smoky style.
And so he blithely benedicted attendees to a wretched demise via the "dark side" (his phrasing)., more ominous than the stygian fuel blocks of peat he'd laid on the table in doomladen foreshadow.

 ~ Talisker 10. This is why inexperienced drinkers hate Scotch. It tastes like a band aid. No other flavor elements can survive the iodine onslaught.

 ~ Talisker DE. Approx. a year additional in an amoroso sherry cask, not typically a superior form of sherry. Dump it in a can of cherry coke, punch it with a squeeze of lime and call it a craft cocktail. Just don't serve it to me. Brown sugar icing on a band aid is a waste of panocha.

 ~ Lagavulin 16. A scabby band aid with the flavor of iodine AND hydrogen peroxide.
How lovely White Horse, that once common now near extinct bargain blend, could be primarily predicated on this abomination is beyond my ken.

~ Lagavulin 12 cask strength 56.5% abv. There is a limit beyond which horror cannot be compounded. From my excessive experience, I've drawn a line for purchasing below 50% abv, but I rarely water the very best tasting liquor. I was eager to make an exception in this case, but band aid flavor will not be denied, let alone enhanced, by mere dilution.

As for the stalwart 7G crew, kudos & thanks are not adequate expression of my effusive delight in being the beneficiary of your stupendous ground breaking effort in establishing a dedicated facility for investigation of spirits. You already had three local competitors in your niche market, but not one, as far as I know, has shown similar respect for their clientele by offering a regular & frequent opportunity like your Tasting Society. For all my judgmental severity re product & producers, I beseech you not to banish me from your hallowed congregation for my profane repudiation of the sacrament.

Allow me to suggest you guide guest presenters to the true path of righteousness & glory by independently including a ringer every meeting or other of an artisanal oddity as alternative benchmarks. In the same vein, I notice there is an unopened bottle of Edgefield in one of the wall display cases.

Baja & Valle de Guadalupe notes

http://www.vinofrommexico.com/information/baja-wine-country
http://www.localwineevents.com/ticket_deals/detail/483739

maps
http://www.vinedosmalagon.com/images/Vinedos-Malagon-Area-Map.jpg 
http://www.viajaydescubre.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/ruta-del-vino-mapa-1.jpg
http://www.hotelmesondelvino.com/fotos/mapa-hotel.jpg 
http://www.moon.com/files/map-images/baja_02_Valle-del-Guadalupe-and-the-Ruta-del-Vino.jpg
http://www.descubrebajacalifornia.com/2012/images/img/mapa-ruta-vino1.jpg
http://www.mexicomatters.net/images/more/wineroute.jpg

articles
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KkPDPic3GkPvfPYWixy5qN4gfKrIeaUhHfVBf4qXCe8/edit
http://www.winesfrombaja.com/blog/
http://www.moon.com/destinations/baja-cabo/ensenada-el-rosario/valle-de-guadalupe/ruta-del-vino
http://www.bajatimes.com/bajawine.asp
http://mexidata.info/id3017.html
http://www.mexicoaboomersguide.com/Travel_Valle_de_Guadalupe.html 
http://www.intowine.com/mexico%E2%80%99s-wine-guadalupe-valley-0
 http://www.mexicomatters.net/travelinginmexico/07_valledeguadalupe_ensenadamexicowinecountry.php

vintner list
http://www.discoverbajacalifornia.com/wineyards-and-wineries.php
http://www.bajatimes.com/bajawine_list.asp
http://proturismoensenada.org.mx/EXPAGES/vinicolas.asp
http://expedicionmexico.net/ruta-del-vino/
http://www.descubrebajacalifornia.com/2012/index.php/antigua-ruta
http://www.discoverbajacalifornia.com/south-valleys.php
http://www.bajabound.com/images/content/winecountrymap.jpg


Tecate Vendima grape harvesthttp://www.discoverbajacalifornia.com/new.php?id=276
"Parque Encino in downtown area of Tecate, open at 11am & end 7pm free admission. Scenic train ride available for people coming from Tijuana, leaves Garcia Station in La Mesa de Tijuana at 10 am. buses meet them in Tecate to take them to the fair."
Local wineries

Cava Garcia 8.18.12
http://productoslacava.blogspot.com/
km 3 CF 3 (Tecate-Ensenda hwy)
SE corner @ CF 20 crossing ?

120811 - four or five heavy reds, all very dry & initially flavorless, some moderate bloom on airing the CS/ME/SY/TE blend. Inky dark brown port & a muscat both tasting as if heavily sweetened with honey, but uniquely flavored hence these were the take home. Thanks to the ever gracious Choropera R., chauffeur & navigator. Petting zoo & pony rides for the kids; got to pet the emu. Mision del Sol for dinner - definitely the conejo platter.

Tanama
www.vinostanama.com.mx
km 7.5 CF 3

33 Encinos

Viñedos Don Juan, Vinicola Suenos
vinedosdonjuan.com
y Vinos Granadia
km 28 CF 3
Valle de las Palmas

Cava Los Nietos de Doña Inés
(Rancho Los Chabacanos)
http://www.rancholoschabacanos.com/es/home.php
Km. 118, CF 2 Carretera Libre Tecate-Mexicali

Vinicola L.A. Cetto
http://www.cettowines.com/ensenada-cava-wineries/ensenada-wine-winery-cellars-valle-guadalupe.html
Km. 73.5  CF 3
10am-4pm

Casa Pedro Domecq
http://www.domecq.com.mx/
km 73.5 CF 3 Francisco Zarco

La Casa de Doña Lupe
http://www.bajawine.info/2010/08/la-casa-de-dona-lupe/
N from CF3 past L.A. Cetto on right
Rancho La Gotita, Francisco Zarco 
same road leads to the Native community of San Antonio Necua
"much sweeter than most wines in Valle de Guadalupe"

Paralelo
http://paralelomexico.com/
Km. 73.5 CF 3 same exit as L.A. Cetto
  
Vinícola Lafarga
http://lafargavin.com.mx/
km 78 CF 3 then E 2.5km

Viñedos Malagón
http://www.vinedosmalagon.com
Calle Sexta #75m, Francisco Zarco

Vinícola Tintos del Norte 32
http://www.norte32.com/
Calle 10 s /n Francisco Zarco

Monte Xanic
http://www.montexanic.com.mx
NW of Francisco Zarco

Vinos Fuentes
http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/fuentes.php
Calle principal #290
Km 1.25 Highway Francisco Zarco-El Tigre
port

Chateau Camou
http://www.chateau-camou.com.mx/images/mapafull.jpg
north from road west off CF 3 @ Francisco Zarco
Take main road and turn right at Health Center (IMSS Centro de Salud) and right again at the end of Adobe Guadalupe’s vineyards. You’ll see the winery on top of the hill on your left

Adobe Guadaloupe
http://www.adobeguadalupe.com/en/
west from CF3 south of Francisco Zarco
Col. Rusa de Guadalupe, Valle de Guadalupe
first harvest 2004

Viñedos Santa Ursula
http://www.vinosantaursula.com
Salida a San José de la Zorra
N of El Porvenir

Barón Balché
http://www.baronbalche.com/
Ejido El Porvenir

Villa Montefiori
http://www.villamontefiori.com.mx/
 Ejido El Porvenir

Emeve
http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/emeve.php
Road to San José de la Zorra, Ejido El Porvenir

Torres Allegre
http://vinicolatorresalegreyfamilia.com/

Vinos Shimul
http://www.shimul.net
Ejido El Porvenir

JC Bravo
http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/jcbravo.php
Emiliano Zapata #680, El Porvenir
Palomino, Carignan

Las Nubes
http://www.vinoslasnubesbc.com/
mile west of El Porvenir

Quinta Monasterio 
http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/quintamonasterio.php
From CF 3 take Main St toward Ejido del Porvenir, turn right at social security clinic until reach  m

Rancho Sol Y Barro
http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/solybarro.php
km 87 CF 3

Hotel Meson del Vino
http://www.hotelmesondelvino.com/
km 88 CF 3
west from El Porvenir

Mogor Badán
http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/mogorbadan.php
km 86.5 CF 3 SE El Mogor
Chasselas

Tres Mujeres
http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/tresmujeres.php
km 87 CF 3
Mision & Rosa del Peru

La Villa de Valle, Vena Cava
http://www.lavilladelvalle.com/en/brisas-del-valle-directions.html
km 88 CF 3 salida Rancho Sicomoro west

Bibayoff
http://www.bajatimes.com/bajawine_bibayoff.asp
From San Antonio de las Minas take back road
west from km 92 CF 3 at “El Tigre

Alximia
http://alximia.com/
Camino vecinal al tigre Km.3 (enseguida rancho El Parral

Martín del Campo
C. Mina La Fortuna No. 1 Fracc. La Fortuna, San Antonio de las Minas
2 km NE of Vinisterra within the town

Viñas Pijoan
http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/pijoan.php
Km. 12.8 Highway Francisco Zarco-El Tigre

Xecue
http://www.bajabound.com/destinations/bajawinecountry/xecue.php
km 89.1 CF 3

Viña de Liceaga
http://www.vinosliceaga.com/
km 93 CF 3
north of San Antonio de las Minas

asa de Piedra
http://winesfrombaja.com/casa-de-piedra
km 93.5 CF 3
San Antonio de las Minas

La Casa Vieja
http://www.lacasaviejabaja.com/
km 93.5 CF 3
San Antonio de las Minas

Viñedos Zapien
Rancho la Llave San Antonio de las Minas

Hacienda La Lomita
http://www.haciendalalomita.com.mx
Comunidad de San Marcos
Fraccionamiento 13
past San Antonio de las Minas
From CF 3 take El Tigre road, follow signs to winery W of S.A. De Las Minas

Vinisterra
http://www.vinisterra.com/
km 94 CF 3
Vallarta #466 Poblado de Villa de Juarez,
SE of San Antonio de las Minas
http://www.vinisterra.com/imagenes/mapaVisitas.jpg

Vinícola Tres Valles
San Antonio de las Minas
Off Highway #3 at the only paved entrance to the town of San Antonio de las Minas. Turn left one block at the end of the street and then one block right

Bodegas de Santo Tomas
http://www.santo-tomas.com/
Miramar 666 Zona Centro Ensenada
between 6^a & 7
oldest winery in Mexico

Casa Valmar
http://www.vinosvalmar.com/
Av. Riveroll # 1950 corner Ambar St Ensenada

Vinícola Pedraza
http://www.discoverbajacalifornia.com/wineyards-and-wineries.php
Calle Colón #820, Col. Bustamante

Roganto
http://www.roganto.com/
Km. 114 Transpeninsular highway s / El Cipres, Ensenada
four locations: Valle de Guad., San Vicente, Ojos Negros, Ensenada

Bodegas y Viñedos San Rafael
http://www.bodegassanrafael.com/
Km 39.5 Ensenada-San Felipe Hwy, Ojos Negros Valley

La Cava de Marcelo - La Cava de Los Quesos
Road to Ojos Negros, turn left on Km 43.5 Ejido Real Del

Cava del Moro
CF 1 past km 70
Rancho San Antonio, Valle de San Vicente.

Viñedos Palafox
http://www.aldopalafox.com/
Transpeninsular Highway south bound, when you reach the Km42 in Ejido Uruapan take paved road exit on your left. Follow approximately 500 meters and then right at the first corner on the dirt road

Vinícola Rincón de Guadalupe
Transpeninsular highway Km.105+700 mts., San Vicente

Vinícola Rubasuvi
Transpeninsular Highway Km 41.5 Valley of Ejido Uruapan

Vinícola Santo Domingo
 Rancho Santo Domingo Km. 41.8, Ejido Uruapan

Viñedos Villarino
Trans peninsular Highway Km 50.5 Valley of Santo Tomas

http://www.gbsan.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1000:la-puerta-norte-de-la-ruta-del-vino&catid=18:get-to-know&Itemid=163

Vinos Ulloa

Rancho San Lorenzo

Rancho Tecate Resort. 

http://www.tecatebcmx.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=286&Itemid=176&lang=en

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http://expedicionmexico.net/ruta-del-vino/

las Ciudades de Tijuana, Tecate, Mexicali y Ensenada se encuentran 8 valles que conforman la Ruta del Vino Mexicano, en ellos localizamos más de 50 vinícolas, algunas de ellas ancestrales, con más de 100 años de existir.
 alles y sus respectivas compañías vinícolas (de norte a sur):
I Valle de las Palmas (municipio de Tecate):
1. Vinos Tanamá
2. Cava de Don Juan
3. Vinícola Don Juan y Vinos Sueños
II Valle de Guadalupe (municipio de Ensenada):
4. Adobe Guadalupe
5. Barón Balch’e
6. Casa Bibayoff
7. Casa Pedro Domecq (a)
8. Chateau Camou
9. Vinícola Torres Alegre y Familia
10. La Casa de Doña Lupe
12. L.A. Cetto (b)
13. Mogor Badán
14. Monte Xanic
15. Quinta Monasterio
16. Vinícola Lafarga
17. Vinos Shimul
18. Vinícola Tintos del Norte 32
19. Viñedos Santa Úrsula
20. Viñedos Malagón
21. Villas Montefiori
22. Vinícola Juan Carlos Bravo
23. Vinícola Emeve
24. Vinícola Paralelo
25. Vinícola Tres Mujeres
26. Vinos Fuertes
27. Vinos de Santana
28. Viñedos Alborada
III Valle de San Antonio de las Minas (municipio de Ensenada)
29. Casa de Piedra
30. Bodegas Santo Tomás (c)
31. Vinos Pijoan
32. Hacienda La Lomita
33. Vinisterra
34. Martín del Campo
35. Viña de Liceaga
36. Vinícola Tres Valles
37. Viñedos Zapién y Vinícola Gabriela Medina
38. Xecue
En la Ciudad de Ensenada también hay importante vinícolas:
39. Cavas Valmar
40. Vides y Vinos Californianos
41. Vinícola Pedraza
42. Vinos y Terruños
43. Vinícola Navegante
30. Bodegas Santo Tomás y Rancho San Antonio (c)
44. Vinos Mediterráneos (d)
45. Roganto
IV Valle de Ojos Negros (municipio de Ensenada)
46. Bodegas y Viñedos San Rafael
V Valle de la Grulla (municipio de Ensenada)
47. Viñedos Palafox
48. Vinícola Rubasuvi
49. Manuel Delgado
50. Santo Domingo
VI Valle de Santo Tomás (municipio de Ensenada)
30. Bodegas de Santo Tomás (c)
51. Viñedos Villarino
VII Valle de San Vicente Ferrer (municipio de Ensenada)
52. Cavas del Moro
53. Rincón de Guadalupe
45. Vinos Mediterráneos (d)
VIII Valle de Llano Colorado (municipio de Ensenada)
7. Casa Pedro Domecq (a)
12. L.A. Cetto (b)

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Note: U.S. Customs and Border Protection will allow you to cross into the U.S. with only a liter of alcohol every 30 days

From Aug. 3-19, thousands assemble for annual grape harvest festival, Fiestas de la Vendimia, a series of fine dinners, wine tastings, workshops, performances and partying done from Ensenada all the way to the wine-growing region. For event schedule bajabound.com/events/vendimiaschedule.php

1½- to two-hour drive from San Diego. Cross the border at San Ysidro and follow signs for the Rosarito/Ensenada cuota (toll road). Just after passing through the third toll booth north of Ensenada, get on Highway 3 Tecate-Ensenada. Wineries begin around kilometer 93 and are marked with blue grape-icon signs or wooden signs reading “Ruta del Vino.” Downloadable maps are available from the event website

Event admission ranges from free to $200 per person per event, with most dinners hovering around $100 per person. Tickets to individual events may be purchased online and delivered via parcel service. See fiestasdelavendimia.com for full details, including hotel listings and maps.

Lodging: Advance booking is essential as the valley has only a handful of hotels, ranging from upscale B&Bs to more modest establishments. Fifteen minutes away by car, Ensenada has more hotel options but they also fill up quickly.

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Gourmet restaurants in Mexico’s wine country Valle de Guadalupe to eat and drink. 7.18.12 http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/18/gourmet-restaurants-unearth-mexicos-wine-country/

Minutes from the Ensenada coast, there’s a patch of peace and Mexican wine country called Valle de Guadalupe. Its wineries are spread out, camouflaged in a vine-studded, mountain-ringed valley. Restless food explorers like me (and Anthony Bourdain, and Andrew Zimmern) have trekked over red dirt roads to experience the Valle’s unhurried pace, to try its gourmet restaurants, and to report about the region’s unique mexicanidad—its Mexican character. For your own Baja California travelogue, consider these food-and-wine gems:

Corazón de Tierra
La Villa Del Valle hotel; 52-646-156-8030 or corazondetierra.com
Tipsy after tasting innovative wine blends at Las Nubes (52-646-176-8120) — one of about 50 wineries in the valley — I found a meal I’ve looked for my whole life. At Corazón de Tierra (Heart of the Land), chef Diego Hernández turns Mexican gastronomy into pure-tasting anthropology. Owned by Hernández and Phil and Eileen Gregory, the restaurant is eco-modern: The dining room is textured with reclaimed wood. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out on an artichoke-dense organic garden. And when I sat down to a $55 lunchtime tasting menu, all five courses cheered for the Mexican scene. From the delicate head cheese (a jellied pork terrine) to the oyster gratin with Swiss chard and bits of fried lamb, the ingredients came from the nearby ocean or surrounding land. Take that sumptuous salad with chicharrónes (deep-fried pork skin), turnip purée, sorrel, lardons and aged cheese from the valley’s Rancho Cortés: It glowed with civic pride. I’ll never forget the perfectly cooked yellowtail or its fine black crust of burnt garlic, onion and vegetable leaves turned into ash. “Ash is a very common preparation in Mexican gastronomy, especially in the Yucatán Peninsula,” Hernández explained. At Corazón, the plant cinders elevate the fish to something age-old yet surprising, like finding a family treasure undamaged after a fire.

Vena Cava winery
lavilladelvalle.com
Upturned boats serve as rooftops at the stunning Vena Cava (Wine Cave) winery, found on the same property as the boutique La Villa Del Valle hotel (52-646-156-8007) and Corazón de Tierra. There, British expat Phil Gregory makes 15,000 bottles of artisanal wines each year. The Sauvignon Blanc shimmers like liquid silver and tastes mildly of peaches. (I’ve happily discovered it stateside at North Park’s El Take It Easy.) “My lot in life is to help people drink wine,” Gregory said. He learned winemaking nearby at Estación de Oficios del Porvenir (52-646-175-0000), the school started by Bordeaux-trained oenologist Hugo D’Acosta, who’s credited with turning Valle de Guadalupe into a global vino-contender.


Almazara 52-664-648-1267
Miguel Angel Guerrero leads the “Baja-Med” culinary movement in Tijuana (see the chef’s celebrated La Querencia). His weekends-only grill is set among an olive grove and has roasted duck pizza and smoked ahi tuna tostadas.

Laja Restaurant
52-646-155-2556. lajarestaurante@gmail.com or facebook.com/restaurante.laja
An easy-to-miss orange sign on the Tecate-Ensenada Highway will point you to the gated Laja compound (folksy garden, outdoor oven, an adobe-and-stone building with hardwood floors). It’s certainly alta cocina, high cuisine, but executive chef-owner Jair Téllez’s restaurant isn’t pretentious. The inside feels like a refined country church. And two food pilgrims can have eight courses lavishly packed with garden-fresh vegetables for around $120. Because the hand-fashioned fare changes often, I can only hope the lamb ravioli with Swiss chard returns every time I visit — those finespun phyllo sheets are flavor-packed with umami richness. To pair, try a Moebius wine from Laja’s general manager/winemaker Andrés Blanco. Tell me, what goes better with flan ice cream and buñuelos (fried doughnuts) than a raisin-y muscatel?

Mogor Badán
52-646-177-1484; 52-646-156-8156. cavasdelmogor@hotmail.com or facebook.com/cavasdelmogor.mogorbadan
Make a Saturday sidetrack (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.) over to the small-scale winery started by the late Antonio Badán. Stroll through the rustic property, sample crisp Chasselas wine in the underground cellar, and don’t miss the modest farmers market. I picked up lettuce, asparagus and fresh-laid eggs here for lunch at chef Javier Plascencia’s private ranch. Plascencia, the chef of Tijuana’s Misión 19, is planning to open a small restaurant there. Expect his Finca Altozano to open this summer, just up the road from Laja.

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Hit the road: Valle de Guadalupe
8.11.11 http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2011/aug/11/hit-road-valle-de-guadalupe/

David Bibayoff is drinking a crisp rosé and sitting in his sun-dappled garden, a grassy expanse that stretches out from his tasting room toward rows of grapevines beyond. The setting is idyllic: a trio of dogs snooze in the afternoon heat, purple mountains loom in the distance, and the utter quiet is interrupted only by the sound of children’s laughter emanating from the front yard.
Soon, this tranquil garden will be filled with some 500 revelers who will gather for a multicourse dinner featuring Bibayoff’s wines and cheese made at the ranch next door, while strains of live music waft through the August air. It’s a classic wine-country scene straight out of Napa or Bordeaux, only this one happens to be in ... Mexico?
“The ruta del vino, the wine country, is like an emblem for Baja,” said Bibayoff, a third-generation winemaker whose Russian grandparents, fleeing religious persecution, were among the first to make wine here in the Valle de Guadalupe northeast of Ensenada. Today, the region is home to about 50 wineries — from boutique operations to behemoths like L.A. Cetto — as well as the La Escuelita winemaking academy, founded by vini-auteur Hugo d’Acosta. Taken together, Baja California wineries produce the vast majority of Mexico’s wine.

Bibayoff is the president of ProVino, the winemakers association that mounts its annual Fiestas de la Vendimia, or harvest festival, over two weeks and three weekends in August.
“This is the most important festival in Mexico, because it involves wine, gastronomy, tourism, fish, ocean, everything,” he said between sips. “The people and the climate we have here, from my point of view, it’s one of the best.”
Now in its 21st year, the Vendimia draws an estimated 35,000 visitors annually. Hotels are booked for miles around, and some of the festival’s headline events, like the opening-night grand tasting and closing-night paella contest, sell out months in advance.
This verdant pocket of the Mexican economy appears not to be suffering too much from the disappearance of American tourists. Though participants remember years when the Vendimia attracted a fifty-fifty split of Mexicans and Californians, organizers estimate that 90 percent of this year’s attendees will be national visitors, as Baja California’s reputation as an epicurean center continues to spread among Mexico’s fashionable foodies. Today, medal-winning merlots from Monte Xanic and rosés from Viñas Pijoan grace the wine lists of trendy eateries in Mexico City, and local chefs like Jair Tellez of the restaurant Laja and Benito Molina of Manzanilla are culinary celebrities throughout the country.

“When I arrived 15 years ago, Ensenada was not known,” said Andres Blanco, who came here from Mexico City to study oceanography before taking a left turn into oenology. “Now it’s a place with a very high reputation about wine. I remember when the Vendimia parties would be like 70 people; now it’s thousands.”
This is the ninth year that Blanco has worked the Vendimia. He makes wine under the Moebius label and co-owns Laja, which will cook for four dinners during the festival in its signature farm-to-table style, using ingredients from the valley.
A separate luncheon held on Laja’s rustic outdoor picnic area will feature the debut of Blanco’s latest Moebius release, Vice Versa — a Mexican wine made, notably, with grapes grown on a small plot of land he owns in France. “We jokingly call it Reconquista (reverse colonization),” he said.
More than 40 events will take place over the festival’s 17 days. In addition to Bibayoff’s “Memories of Russia” dinner, which comes complete with a performance of Russian dance, other notable happenings include a concert by Latin Grammy-winning singer Ely Guerra accompanied by the Monte Xanic symphony orchestra, a cheese tasting with live blues music, a golf tournament, and dozens of wine dinners with entertainment ranging from tango to opera to jazz.
At boutique hotel Villa del Valle, owners Philip and Eileen Gregory will throw a party at their just-opened restaurant, Corazón de Tierra. Guests will dine on food prepared by visiting chef Enrique Olvera — whose Mexico City restaurant, Pujol, was recently named one of Restaurant magazine’s top 50 in the world — and drink Gregory’s own wine, Vena cava. There will also be a performance by the alternative circus Nomad Artz.
“I just love the parties,” said Philip Gregory, whose well-appointed inn has been sold out since last year’s festival. “Business is fairly brisk. We have had a distinct rise in Mexican tourism, which has picked up much of the slack we encountered when Americans stopped coming.”
Recently, however, there’s been a shift. The news about this place, often called the wine world’s best-kept secret, is out.
“This year seems different,” Blanco said. “We’re seeing more Americans around. The season of fear is ending.”

120802 Wynola incl Julian Grape Stomp

2013 JGS notes

http://www.lajollawinetours.com/contact/

I have attended the Julian Grape Stomp the last three years. I know what stops I want to make.
I request an approximate price from your firm for a driver & vehicle for the day & evening to carry six to ten people.
No event organizing or management is needed.

Following is the itinerary: 9.7.13

8:15am prompt (earlier if you need) - from whatever location you prefer no further east than El Cajon (Santee if it reduces the price), no further north than La Jolla.

9:45 - drop at Menghini winery { buy ticket, walk down to Jenkins }
http://www.julianca.com/media/grape_stomp.htm

11:45 am - pickup at Jenkins tasting room just down the road from Menghini
http://www.jenkinswinery.com/Hours_Directions.html

noon approx. - drop at Witchcreek's Julian tasting room
http://www.witchcreekwinery.com/julian-location

1pm - pickup at or generally near Blue Door tasting room in Julian
http://thebluedoorwinery.com/tasting-room/

1:30pm - drop at Jeremy's in Wynola
http://www.jeremysonthehill.com/

Country Cellars
http://www.countrycellars.com/

3pm - pickup at Orfila tasting room Wynola
http://www.orfila.com/tasting-rooms/julian/

3:20pm - stop & wait Edwards winery north of Ramona

4:15pm ~ stop & wait Milagro winery north of Ramona

5pm - stop & wait Turtle Rock Ridge winery http://www.turtlerockridge.com

7:30pm or earlier - arrive at final disembark

= = =
With Ramona wineries shuttered except for weekends, Thursday was a washout for any place new. The regulars, Pamo Valley tasting room & Southern California Wine Co., too near in the calendar's rearview mirror, it was a reprise in Wynola, owl & buzzard in tow.
First stop, since nearly closing time, was the sly & winsome doña of Country Cellars for a take home of a Shadow Mountain "100% estate" 2009 Carignane (sic) at a quite reasonable retail price. Always like to see SoCal locals daring to bottle single varietal from the thunderously leaden pole of the grape spectrum. 
http://www.pamovalleyvineyards.com
http://www.southerncaliforniawinecompany.com/
http://www.countrycellars.com/
http://www.shadowmountainvineyards.com/


Jeremy's OTH is an inescapable must to or from Julian, so dinner of bison meatloaf, pork tenderloin (top choice here even if you have to split three ways to warrant the calorie onslaught) and pecan crusted lamb chop (small, not tiny, so reasonable caloric intake, but insist medium instead of house suggested medium rare).
http://www.jeremysonthehill.com/


Paired was excellent Black Rock 2008 Petite Sirah, only such bottle on their shelf, and list staple 2007 CabFranc (Shadow Mountain ?) at least its equal. Jenkins apple wine for slaking road dust is nice but sparsely flavored so a kiss of something beyond in it is a better ticket, even if only from the flask in your pocket. Still waiting for J to serve the Papyrus by the glass before I blindly spring for pricey half bottle.


Julian grape stomp is now in planning stages for anyone stalwart enough to join the caravan. See initial comment below for projected itinerary.

http://www.julianca.com/media/grape_stomp.htm

Quarterly fete famille Friday 120803 at soon shuttered El Bizcoccho was only a qualified success, mainly in that it finally came together at all.
The fare had its high points, but the wine list was an endless brand name parade with triple digit pricing and port only by the bottle, no sherry at all, no spirits list in sight.
The abbreviated list by the glass was respectable, at least re reds, but the sauterne indicated online was grievously absent.
The foodie community's extant standards for potables are sorely missing among the country club set.
The heir amused himself by banging both hands on the table in time to the cocktail piano and tossing his coloring book page on the carpet to test how dutiful his courtiers.
http://www.ranchobernardoinn.com/el-bizcocho-restaurant/


This pay period's purchases were also disappointing. Results logged at http://logabottle.com/home/wine_log.php?pu=4616
2002 Concordia passes minimal muster and looks much a bargain for 24 months oaked, but the barrels are wasted on such a tepid varietal, and the moderate ABV causes suspicion the vintage is watered.
http://logabottle.com/home/s.php?b=24939