I am in the Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California, Mexico – about 20 miles east of the coastal town of Ensenada. Most Americans know this area for the great surf beaches, fishing, or bar life. However, it makes some fascinating wines as well. I have bottled a barrel or two of wines from the region myself. The wine is called El Sueno. And my charity wine – One Wine One World – was bottled in this sleepy wine region.
I have tasted about 100 wines from Baja as well as shot a handful of videos. The report will be posted in a few weeks. There are some fascinating and excellent Rhone and Bordeaux inspired blends. Many are only recently being sold in the United States. Stay tuned. I have some cool videos too.
However, the tiny tasting made me think about two wines I drank for New Year’s Eve in the Argentine restaurant Gardel’s in Los Angeles. They were a 2001 Chateau Margaux and 2006 Georges Roumier Morey St. Denis Clos de la Bussiere. I rated both 93 points.
Those two wines set the tone for me in 2012 for tasting. It wasn’t that the wines were so amazing in quality; it was that they were so very drinkable and enjoyable. They had such balance and finesse. They were so, so fine – pure pleasure. I just wanted to drink them.
It’s all about drinkability in this day and age for me. How about you?
This was the message I tried to get across with my trip to Australia where fellow blogger Ned Goodwin and I created the idea of #realaussiewine, and it spread like wildfire through social media. For Australia, the best wines have balance, finesse, and they show the character and structure unique to their respective area and microclimate. They are not overpowering, over-extracted, mammoth sort of wines that show very little more than the hand of the winemaker.
It’s the same for all wines, wherever they come from. And I will be looking for that this year through my tastings and visits.
(Photo: Adobe Guadalupe Inn, Valle de Guadalupe)
