Monday, January 25, 2010

 

Ensenada is emerging as Mexico's Wine & Gourmet Capital

 

'Vino-Tourism' by Steve Dryden

 

Varivision de Baja California, a cable TV station in Ensenada, Mexico, began filming a unique new series in November featuring the wineries and gourmet culinary establishments in this region. The Grapevine is a promotional adventure show featuring an in-depth investigation into Mexico’s wine and food cultures. Cable TV 8 producers decided to add some local flavor for their viewers by creating a bilingual program on wine and food awareness by offering Spanish and English hosts with bilingual subtitles to reach each specific audience, and to build a bridge of understanding between the two cultures.

 

Every show features a different winery matched with a local restaurant, offering the audience an educational insight into wine and food pairing.  The real “stars” of The Grapevine are the winemakers, chefs, and other members of our regional wine and food cultures. Currently showing on Cable TV 8 is part one of the series containing footage of Roganto Winery and El Rey Sol restaurant.

 

Ensenada has been the “Sleeping Beauty of the Pacific” for many years, which makes it a real treasure in the eyes of lucky beholders. Our secret is that we’re blessed with near-perfect weather, affordable cost of living, an abundance of fresh produce and seafood with numerous international chefs blending it together into culinary delights of great quality.

 

Due to the proximity of the wine country many local chefs are extremely good at matching premium Mexican wine with gourmet creations. This is the second key element for the new feature show series. During each show the hosts and crew visit a winery, interview winemakers, select a wine that they appreciate, and venture off to a local culinary establishment that carries the wine. The hosts and film crew go behind the scenes into the kitchen (with help from the chef) to bring alive the art form of creating gourmet cuisine while pairing it with premium wine.

 

Varivision Cable TV 8 generously offered local communicators and promoters a stage to perform on with an opportunity to tell the many unique stories about our wine and food cultures. General manager Lorenzo Cardenas Zertuche, business partner D. L. Streets Johnson, and operations manager Keith Cossairt Maillie of Cable Channel 8 are committed to producing shows using local talent harvested from people residing in the neighborhood. They didn’t have to look far in their talent search due to the fact that our region is blessed with an abundance of chefs, gourmet culinary establishments and winemakers that are supported by a large number of wine and food lovers. The timing for this feature show is perfect as Ensenada quietly emerges into the wine and food capital of Mexico.

 

The Spanish speaking host of the show is winemaker Veronica Santiago, with English language hosting by wine writer Steve Dryden.

 

Host Veronica Santiago fills the gap with her Spanish dialog and English subtitles, enhanced by her Masters’ degree in Enology.  She’s currently an assistant winemaker for Vinisterra Winery. In addition, her studies in the artisan wine and food cultures of Australia, Europe, Napa Valley and her native Mexico give her an in-depth view into the dynamics of the international wine and food industries.

 

In June of this year Veronica will host a special production within this series entitled "Wine Country Women of Mexico." In the meantime, she’s managing her own vineyard in San Antonio de las Minas, with plans to create artisan wines that reflect the terroir of the family ranch, express the essence of the grapes, and are influenced by the hand of the artist. 

 

One important revelation observed while filming this show is that we’ve discovered real people (with dedication and passion) are actually shinning stars amongst us. This is the premise and message of the series on Mexican wine and food. You won’t find any Hollywood makeup here, just the plain truth of simple living.

 

The emerging Mexican wine industry is unique in that most of the operations here are individually and family owned businesses. In a wine world that is quickly becoming globalized with corporate ownership, we’re still small and personal here in Baja California. That fact makes this region special because many winery owners, grape growers and vineyard managers actually depend on the income from their operations to support their families, and they take great pride in what they create.

 

What we get in Mexico are handmade wines from dedicated artisans versus wines that are over-manipulated, mass-produced and mass-marketed. We’ve proven that wine is not limited to the wealthy, that real people have a right to enjoy drinking and making wine, and we can produce high quality wines on a grassroots level. Winemakers in Mexico have blended old world methods with modern technology, financing this on limited budgets.

 

The Grapevine will feature any winery and culinary establishment in Baja California that wants to be acknowledged on the show. This is an inclusive community service for the regional wine and culinary industries without any fees. Channel 8 allows public access (at no cost) for those who produce interesting content.

 

Despite the fact that we have a limited local audience, we’re taking this program around the world via friends, family and networking. Join us in our grassroots effort in telling our story to wine and food lovers everywhere. For interested readers who are not hooked into Varivision Channel 8 in Ensenada, who need information on how to receive copies of the show, or if you want permission to broadcast this show, please contact me directly.  In addition, we are looking for sponsors or advertisers willing to make a minimal investment to help pay for the cost of our productions and to promote this region in a positive manner.

 

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For a Baja California Wine Route map, click on MexiData.info "Links," and go to "Mexico Maps and Time Zones"

 

Steve Dryden is a wine, food and travel writer living in Valle de Guadalupe, in northwestern Baja California, where he guides individual and small group wine tours. He can be reached at sbdryden@hotmail.com. Visit his new blog at www.winefoodguide.com.