The third annual Valle Food & Wine Festival kicks off one week from tomorrow with an impressive lineup of all-star chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, Michael Cimarusti, Rick Bayless, and Nancy Silverton. There will be a Chefs Welcome Dinner at Deckman’s en el Mogor on Friday, October 4, but the main event takes place Saturday at Finca Altozano, owned by Chef Javier Plascencia, who happens to grace the cover of the current issue of Food & Wine En Espanol. Get there early to enjoy unlimited food from more than 40 tasting stations, plus wine, craft beer and Mexican spirits tastings until 6:30 pm. Mosey over to “Talks Under the Tree,” culinary conversations moderated by Saveur Magazine’s co-founder, Colman Andrews. Stick around for great music from Baja’s Takon Machine and (YES!) Ozomatli. A portion of the festival proceeds will benefit the Corazon de Vida Foundation. According to a nice write-up in today’s Union-Tribune, attendance will be capped at 2,500 and the event is very close to a sellout, so if you don’t have tickets yet, get on it! Team EatDrinkBaja had a great time last year; we look forward to this year’s Fest, as well as “glamping” on a friend’s land adjacent to the Fest! Always an adventure.
Getting to the Fest early pays off!Early attendees with happy feet share the “dance floor” with one of Finca’s artsy cows.The incredible chef, cookbook author and TV show host, Rick Bayless.Cooking over open fire is a Valle tradition.. . . more goodies on the grill.Team EatDrinkBaja at the 2018 Valle Food & Wine Fest. Salud!
What a fantastic Baja festival season! We’ve got a lot of memorable eating and drinking to share; let’s get on with it!
Cocina La Baja – July27
This third annual all-seafood fest was new on on our radar screen, but what a winner! Held at the lovely Estero Beach Hotel & Resort just south of Ensenada, it sold out this year. Cocina La Baja spotlights super-fresh local and sustainable seafood from folks who truly care. Well-organized and beautifully presented, more cervecerias were on hand than wineries. We loved being in the presence of Baja royalty: Chef Javier Plascencia led a cooking demo of farmed totoaba, and Chef Drew Deckman made the rounds. Tix: less than $16 U.S. for a full afternoon of gastronomical delights. Incredible! We’ll definitely be back next year.
Beautiful setting at the Estero Beach Hotel & Resort!One of the many yummy offerings at Cocina La Baja.Smiling chefs Drew Deckman and Javier Plascencia.Several Baja craft breweries were represented, including Agua Mala.
Concurso de Paellas – August 18
I was fortunate to first attend the fledging but still popular Valle de Guadalupe Concurso de Paellas de Ramon Garcia Ocejo way back in 1996. It has grown, but remains a wonderful way to spend an August afternoon! With 92 paella-producing teams and 62 wineries to sample, how can you go wrong? We congratulate “paelleros” Los Chatos and Vivencias on their wins this year!
A lovely August afternoon under the oak trees of Vinas de Liceaga.WOW: Just one of more than 90 presentations of paella at the 2019 Concurso.Loved seeing Natalia Badan and her Mogor Badan colleague at the event . . . . . . as well as Victor Torres, patriarch of Vinicola Torres Alegre. So special!
Sabor de Baja – August 28
Bo Bendana and Dennis Sein recognized Baja’s culinary potential back in 2013, when they launched Sabor de Baja. And, the event keeps getting better year after year, with careful pairings of many of Baja’s best restaurants, wineries and craft brewers in the beachfront gardens of the lovely Rosarito Beach Hotel! Congrats to Tecate’s Amores, matched with wine from Monte Xanic, on taking first place in this year’s competition. But we attendees were the real winners! I’ve said it before: Sabor is a true labor of love by Bo and Dennis. It shows, and is much appreciated! Check out this cool video by Rosarito’s Scot Richardson.
A highlight for me: chatting with RB Hotel’s Hugo Torres and his lovely wife at Sabor. Dennis Sein presided over the formidable task of judging the dozens of pairings.
Como siempre, gracias to Bob Gove for the fine photos.
Summer’s here, and the beautiful Baja festival season is in full bloom. For example, this Saturday, July 27th, there are three fantastic options. We wish we could be in three places at once, but we’ve not quite figured out how to clone ourselves!
Verbena Campestre, Vinedos San Cosme, 2 pm – This family-owned winery sure knows how to put on a gran fiesta! Because it is located at the start of la antigua ruta del vino south of Ensenada – and not in the now red-hot Valle de Guadalupe – it has yet to be discovered by many, and it is muy Mexicano. Definitely worth the trip! Get there early, grab a table in the shade, sample offerings from several Baja wineries, enjoy some regional cuisine (for purchase, but reasonably priced), then groove to the live music and shake your tail feathers on the dance floor! We’ve always had a great time at this fest. Tickets >>
Team EatDrinkBaja at a previous Verbena Campestre.
Cocina La Baja, Estero Beach Hotel Resort, 2 pm – Seafood lovers, unite! You’ll find Team EatDrinkBaja at this event next Saturday. It’s the third annual, but we’ll be attending for our first time. Promoters claim Cocina La Baja will present all of Baja’s fish and seafood in one place, with Baja wine, craft beer and live music, to boot! And we love Estero Beach; it should be a sublime setting for an awesome afternoon. Tickets >>
One big fish at Cocina La Baja!
Valle Wine Fest, Foro Santo Tomas, 4 pm – Not to be confused with the Valle Food & Wine Fest coming up in October, this fest looks more like a concert than a food fest, with reserved, tier-priced seating facing a big stage, ranging from approximately $47 to $145 (VIP) per person. Prices include four food tastes, four wine tastings, as well as two samples of craft beer. There will be live music, with headliner Matute: Nuevo Show Planeta Retro Tour; the band appears to specialize in covers of 80s English language hits, but I love how they incorporated this rocking marching band in this video! Could be fun. Tickets >>
SHOULD BE ON YOUR RADAR SCREEN!!
Will post more info about these events soon, but we suggest you save the dates:
Friday, Aug. 2 – Muestra del Vino, Centro Social Cívico y Cultural Riviera de Ensenada
Saturday, Aug. 10 – Baja Blues Fest main event, Rosarito Beach Hotel
Another fave Valle de Guadalupe event, Fiesta de los Viñedos en Flor, will take place this Saturday, June 15. The event will feature local artisans, regional food, and over 120 different wines.
The family-friendly festival (those under 18 years of age enter free!) will also offer kite flying, tractor rides through the vineyards, and art projects for kids. This year’s event will benefit the San Vicente Shelter in Ensenada, which provides assistance to locals and immigrants in need. We’ve been to Viñedos twice: three years ago at Vinos Bibayoff, and two years ago at Finca La Carrodilla. It’s a fun event with plenty of wine, but warning: food (other than random samples) is not included in the ticket price; however, there are reasonably priced options available for purchase. Still, a great way to spend an afternoon (noon to 6:00 pm) in the Valle! We believe this is the first time Monte Xanic has hosted Viñedos, and we look forward to attending Saturday.
You know Spring is here when the Festival de las Conchas y el Vino Nuevo comes around! This fest has expanded into a week-long series of educational and culinary opportunities including A Day of Oysters, An Afternoon of Mussels, special Chefs’ Dinners, and more. Saturday’s Parrillada at Quintas Papagayo just north of Ensenada sounds fabulous (read my colleague W. Scott Koenig’s write up on his blog, A Gringo in Mexico), but we’re gearing up for this Sunday’s main event at Hotel Coral. A lovely setting, an abundance of fabulous shellfish and vino, and exceptional access to many of Baja’s best chefs and winemakers. Hope to see you there; as of this writing, it looks like tix are still available!
Can it really be late July already? Must be, because we’re coming up on one of our fave fests, Verbena Campestre! This annual event proves there’s more to the Baja wine scene than Valle de Guadalupe. Verbena Campestre is held at the family-owned Vinedos San Cosme near the start of Baja’s Ruta Antigua south of Ensenada, a bit past Maneadero but north of Santo Tomas. This well-organized party is worth the drive! We’ve attended the past couple of years and have enjoyed relaxing at the tables under the trees and umbrellas, sipping wine and watching the party build around us. There’s plenty of live music and the patio in front of the stage quickly fills with dancing queens (and kings). A band we loved at the 2015 Verbena Campestre, Tinta Bohemio, is slated to play again this year; you’re sure to enjoy their very charismatic lead singer, who really works the crowd. Verbena Campestre is this Saturday, July 29 beginning at 2 pm, and the party goes on long after dark. Highly recommended; get there if you can!
Lots of seating and shade, thanks to umbrellas & trees.
Opportunities to sample local artisan products abound!
Roast pig for you meat lovers!
The lead singer of Tinta Bohemio gets into the crowd at Verbena Campestre 2015.
Team EatDrinkBaja enjoying Verbena Campestre 2015!
We’ve been spending SO much time eating and drinking in Baja . . . we haven’t had time to blog about it! Here’s a recap of what we’ve been doing . . . and, because we’re in high season, very soon we’ll post a peek at what we’re looking forward to.
What a way to kick off the Baja food festival season! This great event, held every April at Hotel Coral just north of Ensenada, brings out the best chefs and wineries and feels like a homecoming of sorts. Yes, it DID get a bit crowded this year, so go early, grab a table and settle in for an amazing afternoon. This year’s “friendly” oyster competition had chefs striving to outdo each other . . . and we attendees were the beneficiaries!
Great to see Leonardo Torres Lerdo de Tejada of Torres Alegre (although I did not recognize him without his beard) and his colleague at Conchas!
OK, it’s not technically a food fest, but this annual FREE event offers plenty of opportunity to eat and drink . . . and serves up HUGE portions of art, music and dance. Takes place every Memorial Day weekend and for the second year was held at Rosarito’s CEART, a lovely venue south of town, just off the road to Popotla.
Check out these really cool masks. You can display one one your wall as a piece of art when you’re not wearing it!
Jorge, our Rosarito wine amigo.
Eating & drinking . . . ah, that’s what we do best.
Held in June, this Valle de Guadalupe family-friendly fest was hosted for the first time by Finca La Carrodilla. Now, most Baja food fests we’ve attended have seating in the middle, with wine and food opportunities scattered around the edge. Probably due to lack of shade at Carrodilla, the vast majority of wineries, chefs and local product purveyors were clustered under a huge tent in the middle, with tables and hay bales for attendees strung along the outskirts. But there were great wineries represented, and of course, we managed to have a wonderful time! Gracias to Natalia of Mogor Badan, who seemed to be a ringleader of this fun event.
Since my wonderful friend Patti and I checked out Finca La Divina in Valle de Guadalupe last year, I knew I had make it mine . . . even if for just one night. And so it was for a memorable Saturday as part of my birthday celebration! Bob’s sisters and significant others accepted my invitation, so we rocked the “whole house.” La Divina is a lovely venue that may serve as the model for my eventual Baja home.
Welcome to Finca La Divina!
The great room lives up to its name.
The pool and jacuzzi were not heated, however.
Put me in a sheepskin-covered chair in front of the La Divina fireplace, and I may never leave! But just up the hill is Drew Deckman’s relatively new Conchas de Piedra, with fantastic oysters, clams & sparkling wine from Casa de Piedra.
We lucked into a tasting at Lechuza, which was SO memorable (we have stories about trying to get into Lechuza in the past!) Spent HOURS under the eaves of Lechuza, dodging the drizzle, sipping their wonderful wines, nibbling cheese and savoring our conversations with Ray, Kristin & Patty, eventually visiting the cava and sampling their fine Nebbiolo. (We were stunned and saddened to hear that Lechuza owner and patriarch Ray Magnussen passed away suddenly last weekend. Our hearts go out to his familia, and the entire Valle; we will make the pilgrimage to Deckman’s this week to attend the celebration of Ray’s life.)
The late, great Ray Magnussen was the consummate host at Lechuza.
Team! In the Lechuza cava.
We couldn’t leave without buying bottles of Lechuza’s Amantes, cookbooks and more.
We also dropped in on Sol y Barro (which has expanded considerably since we first visited five years ago), chatting briefly with owner and winemaker Aime Desponds and marveling at the cob structures.
Inside the cob tasting room at Sol y Barro.
After relaxing & regrouping at La Divina, we capped off the day with a fantastic dinner at Malva, one of my VERY favorite Valle restaurants.
Malva’s pickled rabbit tostada.
Delicious octopus.
Lamb of Malva.
Sunday morning dawned clear and sunny; after a substantial breakfast of chilaquilies con huevos at La Divina, we worked our way around the Valle, stopping at Clos de Tres Cantos, Quinta Monastario (had to stock up on Viniphera spa products!) and a fave, Bodegas F. Rubio, where we purchased a bottle of Montepulciano. (NOTE: If you’re in the Valle on your birthday, don’t hesitate to promote it; you’ll likely get free tastings!)
Imagine a sunny summer Sunday afternoon in Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe. Sure, it’s hot, but you’ve secured a great table for your entourage to soak up the atmosphere under expansive oak trees. There’s plenty of great wine for tasting, and a bevy of bottles for sale once you’ve found your fave. And with so much delicious food to go around, you’ll certainly not go hungry!
Welcome to the Ramón García Ocejo Concurso de Paella, the traditional closing event of the Valle’s annual Fiestas de la Vendimia, or grape harvest festival. Each year, Vendimia organizers add more and more events, but the Paella Fest remains one of the Valle’s best bets.
With about 90 paella-producing teams (all cooking over wood fires; no propane allowed!), 50 or so Baja wineries, and two stages with live music, it’s a most enjoyable way to spend a hot August afternoon. Tickets to this über-popular event go fast and are usually first offered online in late May. Click herefor information about this and other Vendimia events. Don’t miss this perennial favorite next August!
Gracias for photos by Bob Gove, and for the friends who accompanied us!
It’s been a busy summer, filled with fun (often fantastic!) festivals. On July 30, we journeyed past Ensenada, past Maneadero to Viñedos San Cosme on the Ruta Antigua del Vino for the annual Verbena Campestre. This was our second time (we just discovered the event last year) and it’s become a fave summertime tradition. Yes, it’s a long way from our base in Rosarito – we encountered traffic back-ups at the San Miguel toll booth and through Maneadero – but totally relaxing once we nabbed a table under the trees, reconnected with Marisol (owners’ daughter), bought a bottle of vino, were joined by a bunch of friends, enjoyed the live music and made our way around the various food/wine/etc. vendors. Downside? Driving all the way back to Rosarito after too much fun! Maybe we should check out one of the cabins or teepees at nearby Las Cañadas next year . . . because we love this event. If you want to hang out with muchos Americanos, this is not for you; but if you want to spend a fun wine, food & music afternoon/evening with very gracious, non-pretentious mostly-locals, we highly recommend Verbena Campestre; ¡Nos veremos alla en 2017!
