VALLE DE VINO

Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe is a wine-and-foodie wonderland.

/ by BENJAMIN EPSTEIN /

Consider it Baja California’s answer to Northern California’s Napa. A mere 90 minutes south of San Diego, Valle de Guadalupe is home to more than 150 wineries from micro to mega, dozens of top-notch restaurants in often magical settings and an abundance of architecturally noteworthy accommodations. The rural paradise is up a hill from the coast but still within the greater Ensenada municipality. Amid skyrocketing visitor interest, efforts are afoot to maintain the region’s distinctive character, but one thing won’t change: The focus remains almost entirely on eating and drinking.

Eating > Arriving by day? Consider lunch on the half shell. Chef Drew Deckman may be best known for his eponymous Deckman’s en el Mogor, an open-air venue where he mans the grill. But the don’tmiss day spot is his more intimate Conchas de Piedra, where he offers elevated “regional-responsible” Baja shellfish—e.g., abalone aguachile, oysters with fermented habaneros and harissa citrus— and sparkling wines.

As for magical, Fauna, the finedining destination at the Bruma ecoluxury resort and winery, is just that.

Its ceiling of intertwined twigs casts mesmerizing shadows; changing dishes by chef David Castro Hussong—yes, his family owns Ensenada’s famed cantina—are just as provocative; the venue is also ideal for a sunset with cocktails and “snacks.” Nearby is a 300-year-old oak tree, extraordinary centerpiece below ground for the Bruma Vinicola tasting room and above ground for a dramatic reflecting pool.

Weekends at Wa Kumiai Tabita, chef Tabita Dominguez offers an indigenous brunch featuring dishes of the Kumiai people, who also staff the rustic restaurant. Start with acorn coffee and white menudo; whole lamb turns on a spit for the starring barbacoa. Find it beyond massive producer L.A. Cetto winery in the village of San Antonio Necua. The very modest Siñaw

Kuatay museum nearby focuses on the Kumiai, too.

At the valley’s other end, expect huge portions of delicious Baja fare, and lines, at famed breakfast destination La Cocina de Doña Esthela

For more casual culinary experiences at any time of day, both in the town of Francisco Zarco, consider a mulita or vampiro at Tacos del Valle and sample superior salsas and marmalades at Alvéolo bakery-café.

Drinking > Valle de Guadalupe and its neighboring valleys produce 90 percent of Mexico’s wine. Tasting is in order!

Finca la Carrodilla, Mexico’s first certified organic and biodynamic vineyard, offers pours on

90 percent of a beautiful view deck near El Porvenir. Finca la Carrodilla wines are also featured at Lunario Restaurante, set on a pond and known for chef Sheyla Alvarado’s innovative monthly menus.

El Cielo Winery offers elegant terrace and subterranean tastings and a wine-blending experience as well as golfcart vineyard tours and an upscale gift shop.

For a deeper dive into the glass, the Museo de La Vid y El Vino—Museum of the Vine and the Wine—is in a striking modern building along Highway 3, aka La Ruta del Vino.

The entrance is below ground; above are an event space and a deck with spectacular panoramas. Exhibits throughout include one that traces the history of wine from Russia’s Georgia to Mexico; others that look at wine production and appreciation; and a gallery of wine-inspired art.

Outside > For a break from culinary pursuits, local ecotour leader Alejandro Solís Morán suggests Aguas Termales Valle de Guadalupe, a hike on a private ranch: about 4 miles roundtrip, with ponds and hot springs, and ruins at the end. It’s near San Antonio Necua and Wa Kumiai Tabita.

Accommodations >

Look up from the highway along Francisco Zarco and you’ll spot a series of freestanding cubes dotting the hillside—the distinctive accommodations of Encuentro Guadalupe. Guests are shuttled from the striking reception area up a narrow drive or can access their eco-pod

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• via a recently unveiled nature trail; new BajaMed restaurant and bar JAK is open to the public. Stay in larger cubes at half the price at tuckedaway Chateaux del Valle

El Cielo, cited above for its tasting opportunities, is also a resort offering nearly 100 luxurious CalTuscan suites, many of them lakeside, and dining at Polaris restaurant.

Know before you go > The Valle consists of two highways crisscrossed by dirt roads along which many of the best restaurants are located. Navigating can be an adventure; map routes carefully before setting out and avoid driving after dark. Make dinner reservations weeks in advance.

Know before you leave > Re-entering the U.S. in Tijuana generally means a long wait; consider instead continuing north on Highway 3 to the Tecate Port of Entry.

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FEATURE reasons and because they obstruct views. The audio mixing console has a retractable roof, and pop-up tents and other solutions are utilized for visiting technicians.

The Bowl has long been known for the many planes and helicopters that fly overhead during performances, but Vitale says flyovers no longer occur as often as people might think. Crossbeams projected over the audience and up into the sky, alerting pilots it’s a concert night, have become an audience favorite.

Mixing is designed to handle the outdoor sounds picked up on the microphones; string players have individual mics attached to their instruments. “You’re getting as much isolated sound out of that individual instrument as you possibly can,” Vitale explains.

On the ground, the Bowl’s inhabitants include deer, raccoons, skunks and coyotes.

Birds—likely sparrows, Vitale believes—live in the Bowl shell and add their own music to morning rehearsals.

OUTDOOR venues present theater and dance as well as music; this year, for the first time, the La Jolla Playhouse staged its annual Without Walls (WOW) Festival at the Rady Shell; the event returns there in 2024.

Festival producer and Playhouse associate producer Amy Ashton believes the rewards of outdoor performances outweigh the risks—but that some material is better suited for indoor performances.

“If you’re going to have intricate language, a really wordy drama, where you want the audience to hear every beat and be really listening, that’s difficult outside,” Ashton says. “You never know when a car will drive by. You could hear birds or planes.

“If it’s something very verbal, very intimate, it can be a challenge. Inevitably, the environment will pull your focus.”

As for dance, Ashton says, “The biggest factor outdoors is that dancers have very specific movements and the surface they dance on is very important. If you put a Marley [floor covering to provide spring] on a stage floor, you have to shade it—a Marley is black, very absorbent, and gets hot.”

Whatever the venue and issues affecting outdoor performances, Wininger says, “there’s something about experiencing art and nature at the same time. It just has a magic to it.”

reprogrammed !

Performances Magazine unveils a digital program platform for shows and concerts

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NO RUSTLING PAGES, no killing trees . . . Of all the innovations to have come out of the pandemic, the new Performances program platform, accessed on any digital device, may be least likely to disappear in the foreseeable future. Not only had its time come—it had been long overdue.

Performances provides the programs for 20 SoCal performingarts organizations, from the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Ahmanson to San Diego Opera, where the app made its debut.

The touchless platform provides cast and player bios, donor and season updates and arts-centric features. Audiences receive a link and code word that instantly activate the app; QR codes are posted, too.

Screens go dark when curtains rise and return with the house lights. Updates—repertory changes, understudy substitutions, significant donations—can be made right up to showtime, no inserts necessary.

Other features include video and audio streams, translations and expanded biographies.

WHAT’S ON

What’s coming at a glance and ticket information.

For those who consider printed programs keepsakes, a limited number, as well as commemorative issues for special events, continue to be produced. Collectibles!

Meanwhile, there is less deforestation, consumption of petroleum inks and programs headed for landfills. For the ecologically minded, the platform gets a standing ovation.

Theaters and concert halls reopened after a long intermission. Stages are live, the excitement is back. Activate your link and enjoy the shows. —CALEB WACHS