25. A Look Into The Wine Scene in Mexico

Anshu: [00:00:00]
Welcome to the Wineitupanotch Podcast, a podcast where we talk about wine, life, and everything in between. My name is Anshu and I am thrilled that you've decided to join me today. 

Welcome to episode I don't know what number of the podcast! 

I've kind of lost track, to be honest. I think I'm at 25. But I've been recording and not necessarily posting, getting a little lost in the editing process if I'm absolutely honest, because I'm trying to use different softwares and I do it all on my own, which is very time consuming, especially every time I try to learn a new workflow for the podcast or a new software. But, you know, I hope that it's all going to make it better in the end for you, the listener. And hopefully someday I'll have some help and then I won't be doing it all on my own and I'll be much more organized.

 As I've waded into this world of podcasts, I've learned that there's a role, a job called Podcast Manager, not something I was familiar with before, but that sounds heavenly....i f you could have a podcast manager to keep you on track. Maybe one day I will. Until then, I will keep recording when I can and feel inspired, just to share, what's going on in my life and also what I'm learning from a wine perspective. 

 And if you're noticing that the sound is a little different on this particular recording - you might be noticing that I sound a little bit more breathy than usual, or you might be noticing that there are some birds chirping in the background - that is because I am actually on a walk in the most stunning part of Mexico. Maybe not THE most stunning, but I love it here! It's called Punta de Mita and Punta de Mita, or Punta Mita for short, is about 45 or so minutes away from Puerto Vallarta. 

It's along the coastline. It's tucked into a small little community. Very safe, very quiet, actually. Uh, quite an, you know, expat orientation here. There's a lot of snowbirds I think, that spend their winters here and a lot of people come for spring break and it's just gorgeous. And so I'm out for a walk. It's almost actually the end of our vacation and it's the first time I'm managing to get 

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out for a walk on my own.

I've been sort of attached to the family and the kids and they seem really stuck on me this time, which has been lovely, but it's nice to have some time on my own. 

It's an interesting day -the sun is shining, but there are certainly clouds in the sky so up until just about a minute ago, it was quite cool as I was walking. Nice breeze and just very serene. And as I said, this is a quiet place, generally. 

Not to say that you won't hear cars going by because the walking track that I'm on is along a road - just generally speaking, it's just a really quiet and serene setting. So much so that when you go out for dinner in the evenings as we've been doing, I'm almost sort of like, "Hey, you know, uh, where's everybody? There doesn't seem to be anybody here."

 I love it though. It's quiet and just a lot of time to be able to spend that family time and go for good food and drink some good wine. 

Which brings me to what I thought I would talk about today, which is a very high-level introduction to Mexican wine because I actually haven't done a lot of research myself yet.

I plan to, and in fact, later today I'm getting to participate in a wine tasting that's going to be focused on Mexican wines with a sommelier that's passionate about and specializes in Mexican wine, so I am so excited. And I think after that I'll know a lot more and I'll have a better starting point for the research that I want to do to learn more.

But for now I thought I would just share a little bit about what I've learned so far, in my six or seven days here. 

And you know what? I have been here in Mexico before, I've been to Punta Mita before. This is a place that we enjoy as a family. We like to come. So it's not my first rodeo.

But it is my first time coming here as a sommelier or a deep student of wine, if you will. So it's the first time I'm very seriously looking at the wines and the wine lists where I go with a specific focus on Mexican wines. 

In the past when I've come, I've actually avoided them just because I had heard that, you know, they're overpriced and not that good. 

And I don't think that that was necessarily warranted. I'm not even sure where I heard it. I think I heard it from a mixture of, online 

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sources that I referenced while I was Googling at a restaurant, but also even some of the staff in restaurants, and so I would steer myself or they would steer me to things like the Argentinian wines or the California or Chilean wines that were on the menu.

There's a lot of that here. But this time, as I said, I've actually steadfastly been avoiding wines from other countries and trying my hand at some Mexican wines. 

And so here is what I've tried and here's a little bit of what I've learned. And as I said, I'm super excited because later this afternoon hopefully I will be adding to this piece of knowledge.

 But for now, there are actually quite a range of wines being made here in Mexico, and while you may not see a lot of them in external markets, certainly you know, in Toronto where I live in Canada, I don't know if I've ever seen a Mexican wine. Maybe I've seen one at the LCBO, which is our government owned liquor outlet.

So you won't see a lot of them outside, at least in Canada. and I've asked a couple of Americans and they said, you know, hit and miss, like, you might get a few, but it's not a prominent feature of wine lists or wine shop menus, even in the U.S.. But that notwithstanding, there's actually a lot of wine being made here and quite a range of varieties as well, and unexpected ones, at least from my perspective.

 I certainly wasn't expecting to find some of the things that I've ended up trying and you know, some have been average. and some have been delightful and what I'd say about the wines that have been average is that to date I have not tried any premium Mexican wines. I think I've been trying more entry to mid-level wines, because I tend to buy them by the glass.

My husband's not particularly interested in buying a bottle and sharing that with me. He's not yet at the point where he wants to drink a lot of Mexican wine. And in fact, I think he's veering more towards obviously cerveza and mezcal and tequila. It is his vacation in Mexico after all, I can't force him to do what I do for a living while he's on vacation.

 So I've been mostly benefiting from wine by the glass programs wherever we're going. And I have noticed that most of those wines when we're talking about the 

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Mexican wines are not, uh, I don't think they're a premium offering in a producer's portfolio. So that might be why. they haven't really knocked me off my feet yet.

 But the other comment I'd make is that - and this is coming directly from the sommeliers I've been talking to in the various restaurants - you know, I think the industry here would acknowledge, and when I say the industry, I'm just, talking about people who work in food, beverage, and hospitality broadly.

The industry would acknowledge that there's a lot of exciting things happening here in Mexico when it comes to wine, but that it is still in its infancy in terms of an industry, and there's still room to grow and a ways to go. 

But here are some of the strengths, I think, as they've been conveyed to me thus far.

So there are areas of the country that are extremely hot. They're well-suited and sorry, they're also low from an altitude perspective, so close to sea level. So they're well suited for varieties that like a hot, sunny environment. You know, let's talk about things like Cabernet or Syrah.

But then there are also areas of the country that are cool and are at very, very high altitudes. So I didn't know this - I feel kind of stupid saying, I didn't know this, maybe I should have, but I have not learned a lot about Mexican geography - but apparently, Mexico City itself, central Mexico, is at very high altitudes.

I think Mexico City is north of 2000 meters above sea level. I will have to check that in my research, but that's what I was told. And so the central part of the country is also a source of wine and the local people here seem to be quite excited about what's happening in central Mexico because of the altitude, because of the significant diurnal ranges.

When I say diurnal ranges, I mean the differences between day and night temperatures, which are very, very favorable conditions for grape growing because grapes like a lot of sun and warmth, generally speaking. But if they get too much too quickly, they're going to ripen far too fast and turn flabby, turn too ripe and then the wines don't retain good acidity and freshness like we want them to. So diurnal 

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range is always a magical word when it comes to grape growing and winemaking. And I'm being told that there's really great diurnal range here and apparently even in parts of the country where it's quite hot, because it's like desert-like conditions, apparently the day to nighttime temperature variances are significant, which is very favorable for grape growing. 

So, I think I've heard so far that there's about five areas. Let's call them broadly, like really big wine growing areas where wines are being made.

One that people will probably, if you're, you know, into wine and you've taken that beyond the traditional varieties and the traditional areas of the world where wine comes from. Um, so if you know you're wine curious as I like to call it, or a wine geek like me, you might have heard of 

Baja California, so Baja, Mexico, which is just underneath. San Diego and, is almost like a little peninsula that juts out from the mainland into the ocean. and there they do make wine and I have read about wines that are made there. it's quite a burgeoning wine scene with the opportunity to go and do tours with the casas or the bodegas.

And, I think a lot of perhaps Americans, if you're an American and you're listening to this, you know, pop me line and let me know if I've got this right. But I think a lot of Americans are foraying into that part of the world and enjoying wine tourism and learning about the wines and so they're set up for that.

So that's probably an area you've heard a lot about if you're into more curious aspects of wine.

 The other areas that I'm hearing about, I've never even seen those names before, so obviously there's more for me to learn there and hopefully, as I said, after my wine tasting today, I'll be able to come back with more information on that.

So what else? I think I would like to talk about some of the wines I've tried. 

It's been really interesting. 

The first day I was here and we sat down for dinner, it was suggested to me that I should try a Nebbiolo, which was a huge surprise to me. I really did not associate Nebbiolo with Mexico.

 When I think of Nebbiolo, I instantly think of northwest 

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Italy and Piemonte. so I was intrigued and, you know, it was a really good wine. 

It was very different from a traditional Italian Nebbiolo. Italian Nebbiolos tend to be quite light in color. They are very red fruit driven. Uh, so things like cherries, pomegranates, and tart.

So almost underripe, not, not always, but you know, they have a lighter profile in the mouth and high acidity, high tannins. These wines, often the best ones, are associated with tar and roses. They've got that profile of florality and fruit and then also kind of an earthy element. Whereas the Nebbiolo that I tried here was

I would say, deeper, richer, definitely still had red fruit character, but far more ripe red fruit. So I wouldn't be talking about, you know, tart cherries and pomegranates. I'd be talking more about ripe plums, almost jammy strawberries, almost moving into a little bit of a black fruit character. And less overt florality. So quite different. Uh, still a good tannic profile. But just a richer wine than what I would think Nebbiolo would be if you just told me, "Hey, I'm pouring you a Nebbiolo". I'd be surprised for sure. 

Now, I think that makes sense given the climate here and the growing conditions. I'm not a hundred percent sure exactly where that wine was from, so I need to check that out before I leave.

But, oh, there go a bunch of people in cars. Um, but that was one that I tried that was kind of cool. And then I tried a Sauvignon Blanc. I've tried an unoaked Chardonnay.. I've tried a sparkling rose that had a bit of Sangiovese in it, along with some of the Cabs. I have tried a Malbec and I tried a really interesting white sparkling wine that was made from the same three grapes that are present in Cava - so Macabeo, Xarel-lo and Parellada, and it was fermented in stainless steel, I believe, so I don't think it was made from the traditional method, just didn't have those bready, toasty notes on it. It was very fresh, very floral, very light, very beautiful 

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for sipping by the ocean. Very interesting to me that it was made from the three grapes used in Cava.

But you know, that actually makes sense because climatically speaking the climate would be fairly similar, I think relatively anyway.just talking in broad strokes about proximity to the ocean, long hot days, some elevation, but you know, fairly close to sea level. Sothe growing conditions could be apt or relatively similar, if you will, to Cava. 

Now, as I said, I wouldn't say any of these wines that I've just reamed off blew my socks off. Oh, I should mention, I've also had some interesting Tempranillo blends. So there's quite a bit of Tempranillo, it seems here, but they're blending it in interesting ways with things like Syrah and Cabernet. and it's got a different flavor profile for sure to Tempranillo that you would find in Spain, but, interesting. 

And lastly - I can't believe I forgot this one! - I had a Syrah which I loved. 

So this Syrah was from the central part of the country from a higher elevation. And just really nice. I thought that it was really good. It had beautiful fruit flavors.

It had a spicy note, it had chocolate cocoa notes. It was comparable, I would say to, a Rhone Villages. I mean, it's definitely not Northern Rhone quality, in the sense of the designated appellations of say Cote Rotie or Hermitage or Crozes-Hermitage. It wasn't that, but, Rhone Villages? I think so! I thought it was very nice and it paired beautifully with spicy or Mexican food - it just had a good, depth of flavors 

So what would I say about pairing Mexican food and Mexican wine? I mean, they often say what grows together goes together. Have I found that here? I mean, I think so. I think what might be getting in the way here a little is they're obviously planting international grapes.

And I'll come back to that point in a moment and sort of emulating international style in a way. 

 So to an extent I would say what grows together goes together. But I wouldn't say that, you know, it's like French cuisine and French wine or Italian cuisine and Italian wine where there's 

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this long history and tradition of wine making and the wines pair perfectly with the local foods.

I do think the white wines here are a great match for the seafood dishes, especially those that are from close to the sea or have an aspect of salinity or minerality to them. 

 As I mentioned, I thought the Syrah here was an amazing match and I've had Syrah twice actually, and both times I was really impressed with it and I thought that that paired nicely with the local cuisine, and I'm not sure how, you know, it's French cousin or even an example from say, Australia in the form of Shiraz would pair - it would be quite interesting actually to throw down three Syrah slash Shiraz examples and try them with a traditional Mexican dish. Um, but I did find that to be quite a nice match.

 So those are my thoughts thus far on food and wine pairing as it relates to Mexican food and Mexican wine while you're on vacation and very casual. You could probably tell from this episode I'm super relaxed and really just speaking off the cuff. so I've not spent a lot of time doing deep research and being very measured about what I'm saying here. I just really wanna share my thoughts. 

 So the last thing I want to share, just as I'm ending my walk here and I'm about to approach the resort - and you'll hear more traffic at this stage - is just the thing I learned about where winemaking is coming from. What I was told is that there's a lot of foreigners here in Mexico, obviously a beautiful place.

Why not? And a lot of the people who are here have brought cuttings of grapes from their own countries and they've brought the cuttings that they thought would do very well. and so they have brought things like Tempranillo, Syrah, uh, you know, Malbec, all the Cabernets obviously. But yeah, like I said, there was that one sparkling wine that I had that was the Spanish varietals that are indigenous to Spain and used in Cava, but they were here.

 So I think that's really fascinating and it's so cool to see how global mobility affects us, but also affects grapes. And I mean, this is an age old tale, right? Grapes have - grape vines, I should say - have moved around the world in people's hands for eons so it's not like this is something completely novel or 

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new to Mexico, but I just found it really interesting that that's the source of wine making here. There isn't necessarily a longstanding or old tradition of wine here. They prefer other beverages, I think. 

And then culture-wise, you know, I've heard that, uh, yeah, people enjoy wine, but it's not the main thing that they're enjoying.

 They're enjoying cerveza and tequila and mezcal and other beautiful beverages but some do enjoy wine and it's starting to become more popular. And I get the sense that a lot of people here locally like Cabernet or they like big powerful, California cabs. I think they get a lot of access to that in terms of premium wine in this market.

 That's what's available so that's probably why they've developed a taste for that. 

And let's see. I think I'm reaching the end. I think I wanna go back and see my family and have some breakfast. And let's see what I do with this recording. I don't know what it'll sound like after the fact, but it's certainly been a great way to capture my thoughts on Mexican wines so far.

And if you've listened and I post this, I hope you enjoy it. I hope you get something from it. I hope if you come to Mexico, you are tempted to try the local wines and not bypass them thinking that they're not going to be good quality because, I think there are some interesting examples here for sure. And that yes, there are good food and local wine pairings that you can enjoy.

 And with that, I will sign off. I've got to go have some breakfast now and find my family. And as I said, I'm so looking forward to learning a little bit more this afternoon and when I do, coming back and sharing a little bit more about what I learned, probably more of a focus on the various regions and climatic and growing conditions across Mexico and how that translates into the wine in the glass. I think that'll probably be the focus of what I learn this afternoon and what I come back to share. Um, but I'm looking forward to that opportunity and hopefully - I'm just listening to the birds singing in the background - hopefully that hasn't been too distracting.

It's lovely for me. Um, and hopefully that's added to your enjoyment if you're listening to this podcast and you've made it all the way to the end. 

And as always, I wish you lots of peace, love, light, and of course, good wine. 

Until next time, see you later.