How much do you know about Mexican wine? Would you like to have a sommelier guide you through the possibilities with a tasting? If you stay at the luxury Belmond resort Maroma in the Riviera Maya, you can book a “Mexico in a Glass” tasting to try vino from five states.
Even dedicated oenophiles who have done tastings around the world don’t tend to know much about Mexican wine. Only a small portion of the production is exported and high taxes keep what does go out from being more than a novelty. At this point, 17 states have at least one winery, but outside of Baja California, they’re generally small producers, not giant production facilities like you find in the USA, Europe, and the Southern Cone of South America.
I appreciated this Mexican wine tasting with a Belmond Maroma concierge because of the thoughtfulness that went into the whole event. We tried wine from five different states: Sonora, Chihuahua, Guanajuato, Queretaro, and Baja California. A placemat showed the spots on a map and my sommelier Edward Sanchez explained the history of wine making in each place and what makes the area unique.
Mexico was the first place to produce wine in the Americas after the Spaniards arrived and it didn’t take long: 1524 is when it all began. So fittingly, one of the wines we tried was a commemorative 500th anniversary one called 1524, from Dos Bujos, a winery near San Miguel de Allende. This biodynamic sparkling wine is a tasty blend of Tempranillo, Syrah, and Cabernet Franc. I’m getting ahead of the order though because that was actually the last one we sampled.
We started out with a white sparkling wine, biodynamic and produced by hand using the Champagne method. This was a 2021 Puerta del Lobo Brut from Queretaro, a lovely mineral-rich bubbly from a winery with plenty of experience, with more than 30 award medals on their shelves.
Next up was a Rosé from Valle de Guadalupe in Baja, the leading wine-producing region in the country. As such, this Rosata de Montefiore was the only one of the tasting that I’d previously seen in a store before. It is a delicious dry but acidic and fruity wine made from 100% Sangiovese grapes. I was a bit surprised that it was paired with a fish bite that had habanero peppers, but it worked beautifully.
We then moved on to a full-bodied Chardonnay from the state of Chihuahua, paired with some cheese from the same state. With 14 months in oak, Blanquisimo is an interesting wine that’s bursting with flavor and one I’m going to be looking for in the future to take home.
The fourth bottle opened was a serious Quatro Sierras Cabernet Sauvignon from 2022. This one was from the state of Sonora, from a desert climate marked by hot days and cool nights, which gives the grapes a thick skin. We paired it with a chicharron gordita and once again, it was a surprisingly good combo.
Then as mentioned earlier, we finished up with the 1524 sparkling pink wine from Dos Bujos winery of Guanajuato. Here’s a link to their website, one of the few Mexican ones you’ll find in English, unfortunately.
This tasting and pairing was a unique learning experience for me, even though I live in Mexico most of the year and have tried more than my share of the country’s vino. I was impressed by the interesting food pairings that seemed counter-intuitive but worked. I got to try some wines I’d never seen before.
Tasting Mexican wine is just one sensory treat you can choose from at this luxury beachfront resort. The spa has an air-conditioned perfume testing center from Guerlain and the signature restaurant has been recommended by the Michelin guide. There’s an impressive collection of Mexican spirits at the beautiful bar and in your room’s minibar, plus the resort’s custom tequila will be waiting for you in a small ceramic pot when you check in.
Want to see what it’s like to stay at Maroma, a Belmond Resort in the Riviera Maya? Come along on our video tour here:
See a detailed review of Belmond Maroma, complete with original photos.
