Visiting Vinicola L.A. Cetto

My first trip to the Valle de Guadalupe in Mexico for Wine Tasting was outstanding. I was planning a visit for the Friday after Christmas, so I had done a little research to find who would be open. Per the recommendation of several friends & family, I contacted L.A. Cetto through their Facebook page. To my extreme pleasure, the replied the following day saying they would in fact be open that day & with information about visiting the property. They included the cost & levels of wine tasting available, along with information about touring their facility. 

That Friday morning I loaded up my family into the car along with my Mother who was visiting from Wisconsin and headed out to explore Mexico's wine country. We crossed the border in Tecate (same name for the towns on both sides of the border) and followed the signs for the 'Ruta del Vino.' The Mex-3 highway was a very smooth ride to the area & is 1 of 3 paved roads in the Valle de Guadalupe. The rest of the valley is a network of unnamed dirt roads with blue signs pointing you down the path to the your destination.

Our first destination L.A. Cetto was easy to spot from the main road, as they have a giant billboard sign pointing you toward the Winery, the standard blue sign off the highway, and a very nice adobe wall at the entrance of the dirt road indicating you were on L.A. Cetto's property. I eagerly turned down this dirt road and was immediately struck with the beauty of a dirt road lined with vineyards, olive trees & rose bushes. After a long ride down a washboard riddled gravel road, a very welcoming entrance greeted up to their main winemaking facility. First impressions were that the property is meticulously maintained & beautiful.

We had arrived early and found that with our wine tasting, also came a tour if we wished. They offered these in 20 minute intervals for the first half of the day & 30 minute intervals for the afternoon. Upon speaking with the hosts at the counter, I discovered that the first English tour with room would not be available until 1pm. My wife is a native Spanish speaker, so we opted to take the first available tour & have her translate for us. They also informed me that my young children could come along on the tour, so all of us could go on the same tour instead of attending multiple tours so that someone was always with the children.

At our designated time, we gathered at the meeting spot & awaited our tour guide. It turned out that we were early enough that it was only us. We got a private tour of the facility with the ability to ask many questions & see the in-depth processes they go through to make their 27 varieties of wine. The tour started in Spanish, but the guide soon realized my wife was translating for us & asked if it was okay for him to practice his tour in English. We graciously accepted the offer, with the guide only needed to get 3 terms translated from my wife during the remaining part of the tour.

We started with a brief history of the winery, L.A. Cetto was founded 1928, by Italian immigrant Don Angelo Cetto. In 1963 the winery went through a modernization under the guidance of Luis Augustin Cetto. As we made our way through the grape receiving section, our tour guide shared with us that they operate an Italian destemming machine & French bladder press.

We then moved into their fermentation room. This very impressive facility had rows of very large German made Stainless steel temperature controlled fermentation tanks. Our host explained that they had 2 different sized stainless steel tanks & that they use a mix of technology from Germany, Italy, & France in this fermentation room. They use this for majority of their White wines & fresh Red wines. The smaller of the tanks had a capacity of 18,000 liters, while the large tanks on the outside row (not pictured) had a capacity of 30,000 liters.

Our next section to explore on the winery tour was the barrel room. The smell was amazing as our host pushed back the double doors of this beautiful adobe building. The first thing you see are the gigantic Red Oak Barrels that I had only seen in pictures of German wineries prior. The room was filled with a mix of New & Old French barrels, French Red Oak barrels, New American Oak barrels and Acacia wood barrels. They even have celebrities & musicians who preform at their winery sign the oval Acacia barrels that they use for extended aging of their desert wines.

 

We then proceeded outside to see the silos where they store the base wines for their sparking wine options as well as some of the harvest overflow facilities they use during the peak times when processing the fruit ASAP is top priority. They have 2 smaller processing facilities on the property, both of which are only used when the harvested grapes can't be properly handled, due to volume, in a time manner. He said that the last 2 years both facilities were utilized, but that the year prior everything was timed in a way that the overflow areas were never utilized. Crazy to think that the weather at harvest can differ that greatly.

We rounded out the tour by visiting one of the vineyards on our way back to the tasting patio. At which point I asked about the olive trees & rose bushes everywhere. The tour guide explained that they press their own olive oil from the trees that they use as wind breaks. This is to help protect the vines from the early spring storm winds that blow off the Pacific Ocean up through the valley. He also told that they plant roses every or every other row of the vines, on both end of the row, to help the vineyard management team keep track of pests. He explained that this is because the pests that most commonly attack wine grapes tend to prefer roses, and that they can immediately take action to protect the fruit when the bugs start to show up in the flowers of the rose bushes.

Our group ended the tour back where it started and proceeded up onto the covered patio where we were able to taste 4 selection of L.A. Cetto's classic offerings. We had a L. A. Cetto Sierra Blanca Sauvignon Blanc 2016 (link), L. A. Cetto Chardonnay 2010 (link), L. A. Cetto Merlot 2015 (link), and the L. A. Cetto Cabernet Sauvignon 2015 (link).

After the tasting was over, I proceeded to go inside and get a snack. They had 2 fresh baked breads to choose from, a handful of oils & vinegars, and a very nice selection of local fresh made cheeses. I selected a loaf of Parmesan & Herb bread along with a chunk of local white cheese. The ladies at the counter provided me with plates & a plastic knife to serve, and our group moved to one of the many covered picnic areas on the property. This was one of the best loafs of bread I have EVER HAD. Seriously if was absolutely incredible.

I took this opportunity while the other ate, to go do a 2nd wine tasting & selected the Reserve wines this time. The young lady who helped me this time was fluent in English & explained to me the differences in what I was tasting. The selections mirrored two of the first wines for comparison, as well as an introduction to their premium label (Don Luis) & a label they use for experimentation (Peninsula.) We started with the Don Luis Viognier 2016 (link), then moved to their  L. A. Cetto Reserva Privada Chardonnay 2016 (link) &  Don Luis Merlot 2014 (link), and finished with a Peninsula Lyra Montepulciano - Barbera 2014 (link). All of these wines spend longer in barrel before bottling and had nuances flavors the fresher classic wines did not posses. It was fun to see what a few more months in barrel can do to the character of the final wine.

We ended this trip with wandering through some vines & getting a recommendation on where to get some fish tacos. Go into Ensenada, Baja California city proper on the coast was the consensus. We did just that for dinner.

I would like to take this time to thank the wonderful staff of L.A. Cetto for the incredible hospitality the entire staff provided as well as welcoming our small children to the experience. You all made our visit extremely enjoyable & I will be telling stories of our visit for many years to come. I will also be recommending your location to all who ask where they should go along the Ruta del Vino in the Valle de Guadalupe.

Note to Parents: Your children are welcome to come along to visit, but please remember that this is an operational commercial winery with heavy equipment in use. Use your best judgement as to the ability of your children to follow the instructions given for their safety. On a 2nd note, No One under 18 can enter the gift/wine shop where they sell merchandise & tickets for the tours. This is Mexican Law & young children will be politely asked to return to the patio outside while you conduct your purchase.

I will make sure to get the reviews imported very soon & get the links active. Thanks in advance for your patience.