Baja Meets NYC with Winemaker Joaquin Prieto

If you were to drive the length of Baja California on a wine-themed road trip (which is not a bad idea), you’d pass acres and acres – nearly 9,000 of them – of vines and dozens of wineries, most of them modest in size and scale, and many of them family run. It’s likely none of the names would be familiar to you. Though hailed by numerous American media outlets as “Mexico’s Napa,” Baja wines remain relatively unknown in the United States. This is due, in large part, to their limited production runs and small-scale exportation. But a new celebration of all things Baja, the Baja Meets NYC wine and food festival, is about to change all that. 

Many Baja winemakers seem to be content with this status quo; they like the intimacy and manageability of a boutique-sized winery and they appreciate the exclusivity that comes with small production levels. But some Baja viticulturists are eager to help the area’s profile (and production levels) grow to the degree that they can fulfill the promises inherent in being “the next Napa.” Joaquin Prieto is among them.

Prieto, the winemaker for Vino Tres Valles, located just outside Ensenada in the town of San Antonio de las Minas, has big aspirations. “Our winery is ready to enter the U.S. market, and as a region, we’re eager for Baja California to become known as a place where wine is produced,” Prieto said.

For these reasons, Prieto is looking forward to the upcoming Baja Meets NYC wine and food festival, which is scheduled for the last week of February. Prieto, along with other winemaking colleagues from Baja California, is excited  to speak with wine-loving New Yorkers about the particular properties of Baja wines, and, of course, to pour and share plenty of copas.

While Prieto’s ambitions for his winery and for Baja California wines in general are grand, he is also incredibly conscientious about not growing at such a scale or rate that the very attribute that makes Baja so special is threatened. “I believe we should scale only to a level that we don’t lose the human touch,” he said. The hands-on approach of Baja winemakers is legendary among those who know something about the region’s wines, and it’s a factor that distinguishes its bottles from mass-produced competitors north of the border. 

Prieto’s winery, Vino Tres Valles, is exceptionally loyal to its roots, a fact that’s visible even on the bottle itself. “We have always wanted our winery to have a strong identity, and we’ve chosen everything that’s Baja – ourselves, the winemakers, the labels, the artists, etc. – to represent our wine,” Prieto said. The names of Vino Tres Valles wines reference indigenous figures and ideas, and the labels, which are made by local artists, display images of animals and icons native to Baja California.

And then, of course, there are the grapes and the wine itself. Vino Tres Valles, named for the three valleys near the winery, sources its grapes from the Valley of Saint Vincent, where tempranillo and grenache grapes are grown. They buy additional grapes from other local producers when necessary. They produce their wines in small lots – less than a ton – and extract juice from grapes by hand. The whole process, from start to finish, is artisanal, a fact that’s likely to appeal to American consumers who are lucky enough to find and purchase a bottle. 

Vino Tres Valles opened in 2002 and has since attracted consistently positive attention from those who’ve been able to taste the fruits of its labors. Michael Schachner, who reviews wines for Wine Enthusiast, gave the 2010 Kuwal, a Tempranillo blend, a rating of 89, and noted that the wine was distinguished by its “big, ripe palate, with round tannins [and] harmony….” He was even more enthusiastic about the 2010 Jalá, Vino Tres Valles’ Cab-Sauv-Grenache blend, which he rated 90 and described as “clean, pure, and 100% balanced.”

Those of you in New York will have the chance to see if you agree with Schachner; Prieto and his wines will be among those featured at several Baja Meets NY activities, including a paired wine dinner by Chef Javier Plascencia, an eight-course dinner-wine pairing with all visiting chefs at Hotel Americano, and two “Meet the Winemaker” events. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.