Baja Wine Region - Bacground and links

This is excerpted from www.chiff.com - nicely done.
Baja California's three wine-producing areas are all located within 120 miles of the west coast.
San Antonio de las Minas (which includes the Valleys of Guadalupe and Calafia), San Vincente Valley, and Santo Tomás Valley on the Baja Peninsula grow nearly ninety percent of all Mexican wine grapes.
Ensenada, 50 miles southeast of San Diego, is a center of Mexican wine growing with a convenient day trip to the beach and nearby winery visits complete with tours and tasting. A must-see visit during the summer is the Fiestas de la Vendimia, the vintage festival in August, which is fun for both locals and tourists alike.
Indeed, an increasing number of wine connosiuers from Callifornia make regular trips to the region - which has been recently giving its Northern neighbor a run for the money in terms of wine quality and consistency.
On the Web, find out why everyone else is suddenly talking about the newest 300 year-old secret from Mexico ...
Ensenada Wineries, Festivals and Wine Tasting - Looking for wineries in the Ensenada area? That includes San Vicente, Santo Tomás and Guadalupe, probably the best known of Mexico's wine areas. Check out the map with contact information and location details. The Fiestas de la Vendimia lasts for 10 days in early August and gives you a chance to sample the young vintages.
Château Camou - One of the top rated wineries in the Valle de Guadalupe, you can peek into the wine cellars, see their long list of awards and scan through magazines that have featured their wines. Information on tours is available. Skip the guest book which seems to be a repository of trash email.
Monte Xanic - We include this Spanish-only site because it's a winery that you will hear about if you look anywhere for Mexican wines. If you don't habla, click on the ¿quienes somos? section where the pictures tell the story.
The Spirit of Wine - Exploring Mexican Wine - The exploration is limited to the Baja area wines, but that's hardly a limitation. Flowery prose on the spirit and basics of wine grapes and types leads to a good review of several Mexican wines.
Mexico's Baja Region - An enthusiatic article offers specific wine tips from the wineries in this area. This virtual tour of the Baja wineries presents a balanced picture of the wines, but picks out winners from the "Big Three" as well as smaller boutique wineries in this Mexican region.
Yo Quiero Baja Wine - The Wine X style comes through in the punchy prose that gets the point across that wines from Baja are "good in an 'I-would-actually-buy-this' way!" A nice skip through history and reviews of the top wineries lead to several recommendations to sample for yourself. Now you can't say no one told you...
Valle de Guadalupe - Sign on San Diego takes you on a tour of the Guadalupe wine scene with more than a few hints that Napa may have some stiff competition in a few years if the area develops to its full potential.
Baja Wineries - Ignore the stuff on the top of the page and scroll down to the meat. The list of Baja wineries is extensive and, while there are no links to the sites, there are some contact email addresses and telephone numbers.
Casa de Piedra - A small winery, where the products range in quality and color. The 2000 white made here was a production of a little over 400 bottles and is sold out.

This is a nice article from the San Francisco Chronicle about Baja Wine!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2005/04/10/TRGRJC4JBP1.DTL

Cruise from LA to Ensenada Wine Cruise

This seems like an interesting cruise and way to see Baja's Wine Country!

May 12-16 Wine Cruise! Baja Mexico & Catalina Island
Date: May 12, 2008 (Mon) - May 16, 2008 (Fri)
Time: 1:00 PM - 8:00 AM
Cost: As low as $425.00/pp +taxes


Place: The Andrade Wine Group w/ Carnival Cruise LinesLong Beach, CA

Phone: 925-370-0274 Email: getEmail('events','andrade.net','Email Event Organizer','161297');
Email Event Organizer Id: #161297

Baja Wine Tasting in The Napa Valley 1/26/08

Wines of Baja Tasting Event: January 26, Napa.

Link for this article (and a great wine blog) http://www.vinography.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/7164

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The Best Kept Secret of Baja (sorta - kinda)

Geography, water, and talented vintners seem to come together along the inland ranges of California. The inland valleys are cooled by gentle afternoon Pacific breezes, yet warmed by the sun just far enough away to escape most cloudy days. These inland valleys also have aquifers and other sources that produce grapes in abundance when tended by knowledgeable vintners.

This gracious coincidence blossomed in Napa a long time ago, and in Sonoma, Temecula and other famous wine growing parts of California. About that same time the "Other California" we all know so well was experiencing similar viticulture in the Valle de Guadelupe - North and East of Ensenada. In the late eighties they began to be recognized for producing some incredible wines... and boutique vineyards today produce wine that is impressive and tempting for any well seasoned palette (or those of us who just love great wine).

This blog will highlight some of these great vineyards in the valley and will serve as a companion to our website: http://www.baja-wine.com/

To our readers who know us to work at El Milagro, just south of Puerto (selling Baja Real Estate), We will be conducting Wine Country tours monthly from the site. Visit us at http://www.elmilagrobaja.com/ - click learn more to register and get invited to this and our other great events.

Robert