MEXICO

While most focus is on the United States when considering wine in North America, Mexico has in the past few decades been making some of the most exciting wines on the continent. Though it doesn’t have the volume of our neighbors to the south in Chile and Argentina, Mexican wines have an imaginative, scrappy edge to them, as they combine ancient techniques with modern technology and widely avoid the use of herbicides and pesticides throughout the country.  This looseness can be associated with the relatively new renaissance in the country's wine industry despite its long viticultural history reaching back to the 16th century.  This month, we will be focusing on two distinct regions of the country that showcase the diversity and quality of the current Mexican wine scene. One of which is the country's current leader in production and most well known internationally.  The other is the historical home of wine in Mexico with a history dating back to the 1500s.

While the indigenous people had been drinking fermented beverages made with honey, fruits, and indigenous grape varieties like V. rupestris, V. vinifera used in trad-Euro wine making wasn’t introduced until the 1521, when Hernan Cortez ordered each Spaniard to plant 10 vines for every slave they owned.  These original plantations were centered in what is modern day Mexico City and Puebla, but quickly spread throughout central Mexico to Querétaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, and Hidalgo.  By 1553 wines from these regions of “New Spain” were being produced by Augustinian monks to be shipped to Mexico City.  In 1568 Spanish conquistadors embarked from Zacatecas in search of gold and stumbled upon the Valle de Parras in the southern region of modern day Coahuila.  While most of the state is semi-arid, this high elevation oasis (the highest point of this region can reach up to 2000 meters, approximately 6561 feet) was perfect for growing grapes, and in 1593 Marqués de Aguayo was founded followed in 1597 by Hacienda San Lorenzo (which still produces wine under the name Casa Madero), the first commercial wineries in the Americas, was opened and became known for high quality wine and brandy.  In 1683 Jesuit monks traveled north along the peninsula to spread christianity and convert the indigenous population of Sur, Baja, and Alta California.  The first mission was established in 1693, and the first vineyards were planted around 1717, though wine was not made officially until 1755 when Father Jorge Retz planted vineyards in the mountain's northeast of Guerrero Negro, and he remained there tending the vines until the Jesuits were expelled from Spanish held territories, replaced by Franciscans and Dominicans.  By this time, Mexican wine could only be made for sacramental purposes, as wine and brandy from the territory had become so popular that it started cutting into Spanish exports, leading to a ban on winemaking and the growing of vineyards in the 18th century that lasted until Mexican independence in 1810.

Mexican viticulture received a brief boost of government support following their independence in the form of subsidies and tax breaks, but the arrival of phylloxera followed by the Mexican Revolution in 1910 combined with low demand for wine within the country slowed the wine industry considerably. Things began to change after World War 2 with a 400% tax on foreign wines implemented in 1940 and the creation of the Mexican Viticultural Council in 1949 to promote and support the sector.  Slowly but steadily the volume and quality of the wine improved, and despite the economic crisis of 1994 slowing down the development of the industry, leaving only 7 producers in the country, Mexican wine has been gaining attention for the innovation and quality on display.

¡Salud!,

Justin Malesheetz, Fillmore Wine Buyer