from Mexico
| BY JOSEPH SORRENTINO, writing from Mexico | When
Wine shines in
Querétaro EDITOR’S NOTE: Querétaro, a state in north central Mexico, is becoming a key stop for culinary travelers thanks to its growing inventory of locally produced wines. Here, el Restaurante contributing writer Joseph Sorrentino shares what he learned as he traveled Querétaro’s Art, Cheese and Wine Route (also known as the Querétaro Wine Region), home not only to myriad wineries, but to artisan cheese factories, too.
30 el restaurante | JULY/AUGUST 2021
thinking about where the best vintages of wine are produced, Mexico probably isn’t the first place that comes to mind — even though, historically, the country is the oldest wine-making region in the Americas. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, who overthrew the Aztec empire and won Mexico for the crown of Spain, didn’t like the wine made from indigenous grapes growing in Mexico. To solve that problem, he ordered some Spanish settlers to plant grapevines — a move that ultimately caused such a dramatic decrease in Spanish wine imports that Spain’s King Charles II banned wine making in Mexico, except for sacramental wines. The ban was lifted after the Mexican War of Independence in 1821, but Mexico’s wine industry continued to languish. Until somewhat recently. Many wines from Baja, California — the area that produces about 90 percent of the country’s supply — have become well-known, well-respected vintages. And Querétaro, a state in northcentral Mexico where few wineries existed until the 1970s, when Redonda and Freixenet built wineries, has been getting some well-deserved attention for its wines,
too. Now, there are more than 40 wineries in the state, and most are expanding.
CHALLENGE = OPPORTUNITY IN THE VINEYARDS On the surface, Querétaro doesn’t seem like a great location for a vineyard, according to Tom Pence and his wife Tiffany Pence, a wine rep from the U.S. who relocated to Querétaro with Tom three years ago. Tom has worked in the wine industry since 1988; together the couple have 37 years experience in the industry. First, there are the harvestseason rains, which cause mildew and decrease the sugar in the grapes, affecting alcohol content and flavor. “A lot of years, 30 percent of the harvest will be lost to mildew,” says Tom. Second, there are the large, volcanic rocks that make vines struggle to grow, and
