Wine Tasting in Baja's Guadalupe Valley

The main event on our trip to Mexico was a day in the up-and-coming wine country of Baja California. Over the last ten years the region has really grown as a tourist destination for wine and food. We took our rental car up into the Guadalupe Valley, just a short drive outside Ensenada. There are dozens of small scale vineyards in operation across a pretty large area throughout the valley. Some are adjacent to the main road, while others are off the beaten path and tricky to get to on bumpy dirt roads. We went to four separate wineries before heading back into town for dinner.

We started at Vinícola Tres Mujeres, a very small winery. We had a private tasting in a small cellar. It was the perfect way to start our day!

The dirt road up to Tres Mujeres.

First sips of wine of the day at the small vineyard Tres Mujeres. Cheers!

The sign says it all.

Paul was the DD for the day, so only had sips here and there. Good sport!

Our second stop was Viños de Garza, a much larger and more developed winery. It had beautiful grounds and a deck with views across the valley. We did a full tasting here, trying a bunch of different types of their wine. We had some local cheese and spent a while relaxing and enjoying the weather!

Our second stop - Viños de Garza - was nicely landscaped.

Vineyards out into the distance.

It was sunny, warm and beautiful out.

Monique with the money shot.

Learning about our wine at Viños de Garza. This dude was also pretty easy on the eyes. ;)

What a great place to hang out!

Little drunk...didn't care.

Our third winery was the unique Vena Cava Vinícola. It took a while to get there, as it was down some very rough back roads. After getting turned around once or twice, we made it to our destination. The cellar is made of old boats, and there was a small pond with ducks. Bonus: there was a taco truck! We got some wine (just a glass, not a full tasting) and sat outside and had some food.

Third Stop - Vena Cava Vinícola - with bonus little lake and boat.

This place had the most laid back, party atmosphere, and was popular with some larger tour groups.

This part of the valley felt very rural.

Snacks we brought with us from Ensenada...

...and luckily they also had some food for purchase! After hours of drinking, these tacos were warmly received.

The man-made pond with mountains in the back.

Our final winery of the day was Viños Pijoan. It was approaching sunset and starting to cool down, so we just stopped in briefly before they closed. The bartender (vintner?) was super friendly and let us split a tasting flight. They also had an amazing port, and several adorable dogs. After finishing up, we drove back to Ensenada, stopping by some roadside dinosaurs on the way.

Last stop - Viños Pijoan - with some very friendly dogs hanging out and a small tasting room.

Mexican puppies at sunet - We call dibs on the instagram handle.

Cozy bar at Viños Pijoan.

What trip is complete without replica dinosaurs? This wasn't at a vineyard, but we pulled over for photo-op.

Julie! Watch out!

After a day of drinking with lots of sun, we returned to Ensenada tired and hungry. After chilling at the AirBnB a bit and watching some winter olympics, we walked down the street to Asadera Loyola. This little open-air, hole-in-the-wall restaurant was packed with families and had a great mom & pop vibe. Plus, they had tacos al pastor on their trompo! Yum!

mmmm. Tacos al pastor!

Paul got the photo op of a lifetime playing trompo chef for a minute!

The next morning on our way back to Tijuana we stopped for breakfast at a cute little shop/restaurant called La Flor de la Calabaza. It had a lot of farm fresh foods and was a good choice for a yummy meal. We also picked up some souvenirs there.

The non-touristy area of Ensenada.

Some unique trees near our AirBnB.

Breakfast!

Beans, egg, avocado... David was happy!

We had an awesome time exploring the wine region of Baja California with friends. It's a really great destination that's more laid back than Napa or Sonoma, but still produces some excellent wine. Next stop - Tijuana and San Diego!

¡Vamos a México!

In February we took a short trip to Mexico with Alejandra and some friends (Monique and Julie) to celebrate her birthday. We've been talking with Alex forever about making this trip to Tijuana and Baja, so we were thrilled it was finally happening. We flew into San Diego on a Wednesday, spent time with Alex's family, then crossed the border early the next morning for some tacos, wine and a good time for a few days before heading back to San Diego for a big Mexican birthday cookout. This was a short trip, but very memorable and fun! This first post focuses on our first evening in San Diego and our first day and a half in Mexico - hanging out in Tijuana and driving down to Ensenada.

We had a beautiful view of sunset over downtown San Diego while flying in.

We were greeted with tacos upon arrival at Alex's parents' house. These were the first of dozens of tacos...

We stopped by a liquor store and got some California beer. Tacos and beer within hours of landing? Paul was happy!

Thursday morning we took a Lyft to the border, crossed on foot, and then took an Uber to a rental car building. Unfortunately they didn't have power, so they drove us to the airport where we were upgraded to an SUV. More room for the five of us! We went straight to a late breakfast at Café de la Flor, which turned out to be one of the best meals of the trip. Everyone was in love with the mole chilaquiles. After eating we stopped by a bank ATM to get some pesos, then went to Venus Chocolates. Alex had brought us some of these delicious chocolates before, and we knew we had to go back. They have a wide variety of little chocolate truffles, some of which are flavored with liquor or local wine. Our favorite is the tequila con cajeta.

A mural in Cafe de la Flor.

Mole chilaquiles. Yummy!

And fancy drinks too.

Venus chocolates! 

Our last stop in Tijuana for the day was Mundo Divertido, a small amusement park. Of course Paul needed the roller coaster credits! It was actually a nice little park, but was very empty because it was the middle of the day on a weekday.

Paul and Alex with some kind of purple monster.

Paul and David on the roller coaster.

Paul getting his wacky worm on.

We loved hanging out with mister purple monster.

After getting our fill of Mundo Divertivo, we drove down to Ensenada via Playa Tijuana. Alex grew up in Playa, so it was cool to see her old neighborhood. We drove along the border to get there, and saw some interesting art on the wall.

The highway that heads west along the border. USA on the right.

The border wall actually juts out into the ocean.

Social commentary on the wall.

Paul with some ocean friends.

For a world without fences/borders.

The drive down to Ensenada passed inbetween the oceans and mountains, through a few towns.

We arrived in Ensenada in the early evening, checked in to our AirBnB, and went to dinner at Manzanilla, a fancy restaurant in the port area. After dinner we had a few beers at Cerveceria Wendlandt, then wandered around the Carnaval celebrations in downtown. It was the 100th anniversary of Carnaval in Ensenada, and a huge stretch of the main street was closed down for music, games, rides, and drinking.

The lovely ladies at dinner.

Yum!

Had to try every type.

Carnaval was busy, even on a chilly Thursday night.

We got beer and a minion drink.

OMG! GIANT BEER!

Ready to celebrate!

The next morning we took a walk down to the beach and explored a bit more of Ensenada before spending a day in wine country.

A mural near our AirBnB.

Alex on the beach. It wasn't exactly beach weather, even though it was sunny.

Downtown Ensenada has a nice tourist street.

We had breakfast at the new restaurant version of La Guerrerense. The original is a food truck. This is the owner/chef, Sabrina.

The group with Sabrina! Kind of. 

Delicious octopus tostada.

Smoked fish and octopus tacos.

We also stopped in Hogaza Hogaza, a bakery.

Our next stop was wind tasting in the Valle de Guadalupe... to be continued in another post!