Tag Archives: San Antonio de las Minas

2023? Ancient history.

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We made a couple of quick year-end visits to Valle de Guadalupe. The first took us to a winery we were not familiar with, En’Kanto. It’s off the “back road” as you enter the Valle via La Mision, on an unpaved road heading south that later becomes paved and connects with Hwy. 3 in San Antonio de las Minas.

En’Kanto has reasonably priced food options, including breakfasts. They also have cabanas, which look lovely.

En’Kanto is a low-key, hidden gem with good wines. We shared a regular tasting of four wines for 300 pesos (about $17), including a natural Merlot named WYGIWYG (What You Grow Is What You Get), a 2020 Merlot and Enigma, a delicious blend of Nebbiolo and Merlot.

In our humble opinion, En’Kanto’s wine bottle labels are among the most beautiful in the Valle! Right up there with Torres Alegre’s Cru Garage series of labels by Leonardo Torres.

We had to pull ourselves away from this peaceful refuge to get to our lunch reservation at Santo Tomas’ Villa Torrel, not far from En’Kanto.

Villa Torrel has a beautiful setting, with vistas to the west. Villa Torrel ranked very highly among Mexico restaurants in recent awards recognizing culinary excellence throughout Latin America.

Bob and I shared the yellowtail amberjack raw fish . . . 

. . . and the seafood rice (covered in greens).

Everything was delicious, we had very attentive service but . . . something was missing. In our opinion, our visit to Villa Torrel did not come close to reaching that rustic-meets-high-level-cuisine-vibe that we look forward to in Valle de Guadalupe.

Gracias por fotos de Bob Gove. We’ve been eating and drinking in Baja a lot lately, so stay tuned for more posts coming soon!

Two Festivals (& A Fun New Restaurant)

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This Saturday, October 21 is the second annual Vino Sin Fronteras Festival in Tijuana. The afternoon-into-evening event will be held in the parking lot of Caliente Hipódromo from 3 to 10 pm. Boasting the participation of 50 wineries and 30 restaurants, the fest is put on by the wonderful Comite Provino, so it’s very likely to be well-organized (and well-attended). Tickets are $1500 pesos, or about $82-$85, depending on the ever-fluctuating exchange rate.

Chef Diego Hernández, a Baja native who helmed the acclaimed Corazón del Valle restaurant in 2011 until it was shuttered during the pandemic, has launched a new eatery, Parador Mercedes, named in honor of his late grandma. Taking over the former Mesón de Mustafá space in San Antonio de las Minas, Hernández and chef-partner Ana Juncal are focusing on home-style cooking geared toward Valle de Guadalupe-area residents. It’s a welcome departure from the delicious-but-expensive tasting menus at so many Valle eateries; can’t wait to check it out. Parador Mercedes is open from 8am to 4pm daily (closed Thursday) on Highway 3 at Km 93. Read more about Parador Mercedes on Eater San Diego.

If you are heading a bit further south – to Baja California Sur – later this year, try to time your visit with the GastroVino Baja Food & Wine Festival in the lovely town of Todos Santos. This three-day celebration of Baja’s finest eating and drinking looks like fun! And, love the graphics. Although Todos is just an hour north of Cabo San Lucas (on the Pacific side), this “Pueblo Mágico” is a world apart. Save the dates: December 8-10.

Look for a report on our recent foray to three Valle de Guadalupe wineries we had not yet visited, coming soon!