It's been awhile since I've blogged, and it's mainly because we've been in Baja for the past 5 months soaking it all in again. Traveling through Baja this year was lovely because we felt like we knew so much more- where to stop, where to pass up, where to stay, where to eat. However, it's tough to match that first time exploring a place feeling.
Staying an extra 2 months in Baja this year (and having Starlink) allowed us to still get those first time feels when we explored the East Cape (La Ventana, Los Barriles, and Cabo Pulmo), the beaches in Mulegé along Bahia Concepción, and Valle de Guadalupe.
This blog will focus on Valle de Guadalupe because, wow, what an incredible way to end our adventure here. Valle de Guadalupe is the wine region of Baja and has incredible Baja Med cuisine. La Ruta del Vino (the Wine Route) is home to over 120 wineries that can accommodate any budget. While it would be so easy to gatekeep this gem of a town, I won't. I can see this place blowing up even more in no time because it is less than 2 hours from San Diego making it such an easy destination to check out.
We stayed for a week and didn't even scratch the surface of what this town has to offer, but were able to experience 9 wineries and several restaurants. So, here we go!
Wineries (In no particular order)
Shedeh- We really enjoyed everything about this boutique winery. The wines were good, the atmosphere was cute, the bistro food was reasonably priced and delicious, and the vineyard dogs were adorable. Wine and dogs- take my money.
2. L.A. Cetto- One of the larger production vineyards in Valle de Guadalupe (if not the largest), you can find this wine throughout Baja. It was a beautiful bike ride back to the winery. Once there you can purchase a tour which ends with a tasting, just a tasting, or purchase a bottle. We opted to just buy a bottle since we knew what we liked here. This was the most inexpensive stop at $8 usd for a bottle.
3. Bruma- This vineyard in Napa would be out of our budget, but in Valle it was doable- still on the higher end though. We did not reserve a tasting, and just showed up. In order to go through a self guided tour we just had to purchase a glass of wine. The property is beautiful and sprawling. It took us almost 10 minutes to find the tasting room by bike. It's up on a little hill with the top of a tree poking out of the water. When you go through the underground tour, you see where the tree is growing from.
4. Mina Penelope- This was one of my favorite wines. We bought a bottle of Julio 14 to save for a special occasion because we enjoyed it so much. We were lucky enough to have a personalized tour and tasting with the owner on a day they were closed to the public thanks to a friend we met last year! Every wine we tasted here was wonderful, the property is gorgeous, and the restaurant on site looked like it would be an amazing experience. Highly recommend booking a tasting here!
5. Bodegas Magoni- This was a wonderful mid-sized winery on a beautiful property. Though they have several tasting options, we opted to split 2 bottles with friends and make our own tasting under a huge shade tree while the property pups came by for scratches. I mean, if you have wine and dogs, I'm happy. I didn't take many pictures here, which can usually be an indication that I'm sidetracked by wine or pups... or both.
Photos stolen from @beerrving_america videos!
6. Ojo Azul- On one of the most beautiful days we were here we biked to Ojo Azul. This is a winery, resort, and restaurant. It was a another beautiful property with good wines. We biked with 2 friends, each of us got a different wine and we again made our own tasting. Before we left we had to try the cheesecake!
7. Sol de Media Noche- This location offered free wine tastings paired with fresh breads, jams, and salsa machas. The tomato bread was fantastic!
8. Lomita- Really neat property with colorful murals. We were lucky to hop on a friend's reservation, unfortunately though, it was because he didn't feel well and couldn't join us. There were 3 choices for tastings and we did the mid level one, and I'm glad we did because the last two wines in that set were my favorites here.
9. Decantos- A larger vineyard in Valle de Guadalupe with stunning valley and mountain views. Lots of tasting options, bottles to purchase and the food menu looked great too. While there, we got to hear live music too. I could definitely go back and spend the afternoon there as all the wines we tasted were very good.
Food
Doña Esthela- This place was voted the world's best breakfast so of course we had to try it! The whole menu looked great, but the award winner is the machaca con huevos. Also, best chai vainilla I've had in my life. Pro tip: get there before it opens! As we were leaving the line was wrapped around the building!
2. Oja- Social media influencers got me here. I saw they had zebras and I was sold! BUT the food was so good. This is definitely on the higher end, but the risotto de mejillones was out of this world. I'd go back for that... and the zebras.
3. La Esperanza- A great example of Baja Med cuisine which is Mexican and Mediterranean influenced dishes. We loved it. Gorgeous views, great menu options, and so delicious. We tried to go back to get the roasted vegetable dish again, but they were closed.
4. Taqueria Juquilita- Authentic Mexican street food. This family run business makes excellent food! We ate here once and then brought friends back a second time. Once again we followed our nose and the locals and were not disappointed!
5. Alveolo- Casa del Pan- Possibly the nicest owners we've met, and that's saying something because everyone in Baja has been so kind. They shared so many breads and cookies to pair with jams, tapenades, pestos, cheeses, and salsa machas. We ended up buying a loaf of olive bread and pesto as well as breakfast. Highly recommend!
Overall, I love it here. It's beautiful, there's so much to explore, it's a foodie town, and very bike friendly.
Комментарии