San Rafael is a familiar winery, installed in the Ojos Negros Valley, 38 km from Ensenada, Mexico,  at 820m altitude.

This project was born only with 7 has of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot and Syrah.

This valley has a very extreme weather, but very good soil and the height and the weather conditions predominating in the valley are relevant for the quality of the grapes. All this elements are important to get fruits with intense tannins and well equilibrated levels of sugar and acidity.

What makes this producers different from the rest? They are the first ones in Ojos   Negros, where nobody believed they could produce anything in a valley that was so different from the other valleys in Ensenada and another thing…they have Pinot Noir vines!

This innovative winery, always finding new production techniques, but keeping the romance of the classic enology, joined the Meritage Association in US, to become the first Mexican winery member, committed to follow the quality and excellence requirements established to produce a world competitive wine.

A Meritage wine is elaborated with the blend of two or more of the noble traditional varietals of Burdeos (Cabernet Sauvigon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Malbec, St. Macaire, Gros Verdot or Carmenere), but none of them can exceed the 90% in the blend.

Passion Meritage 2003 was their first label elaborated with hand picked and carefully selected fruit, product of the passion of the the Hussong family (Ricardo and his son the Enologist Ludwig) pioneers of Ojos Negros valley, where we will see very soon a new Wines region in the north of México.

Keep an eye on Ojos Negros, we will hear a lot about it in the next years!

SOME of their wines:

Passion Meritage
The word Meritage is the harmonic composition of the words Merit and Heritage and it´s a trade mark of the American Meritage Association, that endorses the quality of the wines that have it.

Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot
Produtcion: 3,000 bottles/botellas
18 months in French and American Oak Barrels

Deep, bright red color, with intense fruitful aromas of cherry, cassis and raspberry, light tones of butter and caramel. A complex wine with character, balanced and smooth in mouth but with an elegant, strong structure. Better to open it 30 min. before drink it and if possible, decanter it. It has an aging potential. Pair it with red meats and aged cheeses.
Alegria

Blend of Tempranillo 50% and Syrah 50%, aged in French, American and Hungarian Oak barrels for 7 months, a 7,200 bottles production. This is a new wine with joyful fruity and floral aromas like lavender, hibiscus, blueberry and cherry. Intense red magenta color, with a medium acidity and a long lasting, pleasant end. Decanter it 30 min before enjoy it.

Merlot

100% Merlot

Production: 1,800 bottles.

14 months in French, American and Hugarian Oak barrels.

A varietal of intense fruity flavors of black cherry and berries, light black pepper and clover notes. With a soft sweetness in mouth, complemented with an acidity touch. Versatile wine, easy to drink with almost every dish. Decanter is 45 minutes before enjoy it!

Enjoy your wine, looking at the eyes of someone´s special…

Cheers!

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Today I’ll be talking about a great Mexican Enologist, Hugo D´Acosta, and his 2 amazing (and well known) wines; Vino de Piedra and Piedra del Sol and a familiar, warm, beautiful… made stone by stone winery: CASA DE PIEDRA.

This winery was born in 1997 and as his owner Hugo D´Acosta sais, it was “Inspired on the freedom of doing”

Casa de Piedra has a building, that has not only a home warmth, it has also the enologic sensitiveness and the technology needed to give the wine the taste of the terroir.

Piedra del Sol

White wine 100% chardonnay, made from the vineyards that concentrate the floral touch and fermented in stainless steel tanks. This is a simple wine, but it shows the pure character of the grape without the use of any wood or anything that could distract the personality of the Vineyard. It´s a pale yellow with smooth green reflects wine. In nose has green apples, oranges…and in mouth is smooth refreshing with a very elegant end of honey taste.

Vino de Piedra

Vino de Piedra is a blend in equal parts of Tempranillo and Cabernet Sauvignon. Aged for 15 months in oak barrels. This wine has a very nice and uncommon frutality, it is a medium bodied wine, with strong notes of lavender and black cherries.

A very elegant red wine, with light notes of evolution, it has a very wide developments of aromas like species, dry fruits and a touch of olive and oak. In mouth it is a smooth, elegant, round wine. The capacity or aging is medium- high.

I recommend to let it breath a bit, as this wine in particular develops amazingly… each smell, each sip offer different possibilities!

Cheers!

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Viña de Liceaga is one of the finest wineries in México.

As they say: “At Viña de Liceaga, we capture the magic of the vineyard through our selected wines, so you can enjoy…México´s fine Wine”

Their wines:

A white “Castillo de las Minas” 100% Chenin Blanc.
A red Castillo de las Minas, (blend of Merlot and Grenache)
A Merlot Viña de Liceaga , 100% Merlot.

And their GREAT Merlot Gran Reserva (made of 90% Merlot Grapes and 10% Cabernet Franc Grapes)
In my opinion, this wine is a star from Viña de Liceaga: it has a very dark color with an intense red granate tone; the aromas are a mix of fruits (black berry, black cherry and blue berry), flowers (Violet and Carnation) and spices (tar, vanilla, dark chocolate and cinnamon). It has a very complex, clean and pleasant taste, a wine with great tannins that give it volume, structure, it´s a very elegant wine with a long lasting persistence.

And we cant forget their new and GREAT Grappas.
One is Aqua the vid from pressed red grapes of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache and Barbera
and the other is Aqua de Vid Moscatel a distilled spirit without color, but full of taste and aromas.
Both handled with the supervision of Italian professional experts.

Viña de Liceaga, a winery that is worth visiting, as they have beautiful vineyards, a big and elegant wine tasting saloon and an amazing cave.

Cheers!

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