Wines of Mexico Festival

As you may remember, I’ve been pretty sick and I couldn’t attend the Wines of Mexico Festival (despite having accreditation for it). Thus, I asked Gus and Russ whether they’d be my representatives, and they kindly agreed. Here is Gus’ review of the event. Enjoy!

This a guest post by Gus Fosarolli of Gusdigital.com

This past week Russ and I, with the help of this gracious blogger, attended the Wines of Mexico Fest – Vancouver 2009. This was the first event where the most popular Mexican wineries got to showcase their finest wines outside of Mexico. The event was sponsored by the General Consulate of Mexico in Vancouver, ProMEXICO and the National Association of Vintners and was hosted at the Metropolitan Hotel.

As we entered the event, we were given our allotted wine glass and our first table was from Monte Xanic. They were the youngest of the three with just over 20 years experience. The name “Xanic” means “flower which blooms after the first rain” to the Cora Indians of the Nayarit region of Mexico’s Pacific coast. Their Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 was refreshing, but lacked a bit of strength for a wine that has been maturing for a few years. I believe that with more years they will improve their process and create great wines.

We continued to the Santo Tomas table which had the most selection of wines than any of the other wineries in attendance. Santo Tomas was established in 1888 and is the longest standing winery in Mexico. Their S.T. Unico and S.T. Duetto were excellent tasting reds, though I believe their Cierzo Cabernet Sauvignon was the best of the bunch I tried. It had a full body and contain medium tanins. If you are interested in a sweet red wine, their Tardo Valdepenas is a good choice. Their Chenin Blanc 2006 was very refreshing, the wine had a pleasant and refreshing palate with a nice light wheat colour and could easily be served with a cold weather dish. The wine is best served at a temperature of 10C.

L.A. Cetto Vinyards (the most recognizable in Mexico). L.A. Cetto was established 75 years ago and have won several awards in France, Italy, Spain, England, Canada and the US. Their Carbernet Sauvignon 2005 was the strongest of the wines and the most enjoyable.

I have to admit I wasn’t even aware that Mexico created wines, but from the experience I learned that the wines of Mexico come from the Baja California region between Ensenada and Tecate where the temperature is similar to Europe’s wine regions.

There wasn’t many food pairings or food samples beside a chocolate fountain from Chocoatl (we were not allowed to try their chocolates as they were only for “display”) and trying some cheese samples from Benton Brothers (amazing cheeses!!!). As this was their first “fest” in Vancouver, I believe next year will only be better.