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It’s said there are now more than 150 wineries in Valle de Guadalupe. Although we love our faves, our recent mission (which we did, of course, choose to accept) on an autumn Saturday was to make our way to three wineries we had heard about – and even tasted their wines at Baja food and wine fests – but had never visited. And here we go!
First stop: Solar Fortún. A few years ago, I asked our buddy Armando at Lechuza (one of those fave wineries): “If you could visit just one other winery in the Valle, which would it be?” Armando promptly recommended Solar Fortún, and it’s been on the EDB bucket list since.
SF is tucked WAY back off the El Porvenir/Francisco Zarco road, on the north side of the Valle. SF, with a first harvest in 2010, was founded by Alberto Lopez; his son, Santiago, now serves as winemaker. SF’s tasting area is very capacious, with a super relaxing vibe. (Sorry, no links – at time of publication, the Solar Fortún website seems to be down).
Food and wine options at Solar Fortún.
Love the SF logo! We worked our way through a tasting of five wines: Viña en Rosa (Mourvèdre), Baya Baya (50/50 Cab/Petit Verdot), Mourvèdre (85/15 Mourvèdre/Cab), Confabulario (50/50 Mourvèdre/Petit Verdot), and Noble Cru (40/20/20/20 Mourvèdre/Cab/Syrah/Petit Verdot).
When Bob moseyed over to take a pic of our neighbors’ yummy-looking cheese platter, of course he presented an EDB card!
In the interest of research, we moved on to our second stop: Bodegas Cieli, located at Km 84.7 on Hwy 3.
The Cieli website provides a long and colorful history of the family, going back to Italy, but doesn’t explain how they ended up in Valle de Guadalupe. FYI, the name Cieli translates to “heavenly” in Italian.
In addition to their wines, Cieli brews craft beer! The website states that they have six beers (with very interesting names) on tap regularly, although we did not sample any.
Instead, we tasted Cieli’s Sognato di Amarone (50/25/25 Cab/Nebbiolo/Syrah), Ore Quatro Vini (75/25 Sangiovese/Cab), Il Gran Cieli (Syrah/Nebbiolo) and Dolcezza Frutale (Vino Tinto).
A highlight of our visit was meeting owner Don Cieli, who dropped by during our tasting, working the room to introduce himself.
But eventually, we pulled ourselves away to travel to our third and final destination of the day: Cava Maciel
Cava Maciel is tucked away on the outskirts of San Antonio de las Minas, east of Liceaga, west of Clos de Tres Cantos, and a bit south of Hwy 3.
After a trip to Italy, founder and winemaker Jorge Maciel began making wine in his parents’ garage in 2000. He has since greatly expanded the operation!
The names of CM’s wines are “inspired by the universe and the cosmos”. They include Venus (Vino Blanco); Lúnero (50/50 Mourvèdre/Cab); Orbita (80/20 Tempranillo/Syrah); Alba (100% Cab); and the divine Apogeo (100% Nebbiolo).
Based on these visits, here are EDB’s humble opinions:
Best Atmosphere – Solar Fortún, for being tucked away, tranquil and so, so roomy.
Best Warmth – Cieli, for live music and owner Don Cieli making the rounds, welcoming visitors, introducing himself and thanking folks for stopping by.
Best Wines – Cava Maciel; we definitely remember their wines from festival tastings; glad we were finally able to make the pilgrimage to their winery.
Stay tuned for a report on our final Valle visits of 2023, coming soon!
Como siempre, muchísimas gracias por los fotos de Bob Gove.