Valle de Guadalupe

Valle de Guadalupe is a broad valley of vineyards, olive groves and granite hills in the municipality of Ensenada, and it is the heart of Mexican wine. Highway 3, the road that runs south from Tecate to Ensenada, is signed as the Ruta del Vino, so Tecate is the natural gateway when you come in from the border at its crossing.

The valley has grown fast. Small family estates sit next to large commercial wineries, and the count now runs well past a hundred, along with restaurants that cook over open fire, boutique hotels and glamping in the vines. Most wineries are reached on dirt side roads marked by blue signs off the few paved roads.

The valley also has a quieter history. In the early 1900s a group of Russian Molokans, a Christian sect that left Russia, settled around the village of Francisco Zarco and farmed wheat and grapes; a small community museum keeps their story. Every August the Fiestas de la Vendimia, the harvest festival, fill the valley with tastings, dinners and concerts.