A Service of Leibniz-Informationszentrum econstor Wirtschaft Leibniz Information Centre Make Your Publications Visible. zbw for Economics Covarrubias, Jorge; Thach, Liz Article Wines of Baja Mexico: A qualitative study examining viticulture, enology, and marketing practices Wine Economics and Policy Provided in Cooperation with: UniCeSV - Centro Universitario di Ricerca per lo Sviluppo Competitivo del Settore Vitivinicolo, University of Florence Suggested Citation: Covarrubias, Jorge; Thach, Liz (2015) : Wines of Baja Mexico: A qualitative study examining viticulture, enology, and marketing practices, Wine Economics and Policy, ISSN 2212-9774, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Vol. 4, Iss. 2, pp. 110-115, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wep.2015.11.001 This Version is available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/194505 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Documents in EconStor may be saved and copied for your Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. personal and scholarly purposes. 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Cotati Blvd., Rohnert Park, CA 94928, United States Received 15 September 2015; received in revised form 2 November 2015; accepted 12 November 2015 Available online 22 November 2015 Abstract Mexico has been producing wine since the 1500, yet very little is known about their viticulture, enology, and marketing practices. This qualitative research study was designed to shed more light on these issues. Based on 10 in-depth interviews with winery owners and winemakers in the Valle de Guadualupe of the Baja Peninsula, where the majority of Mexican wineries are located, this study describes viticulture, enology, and marketing practices for Baja wines. It concludes with a discussion on the future of Mexican wines. & 2015 UniCeSV, University of Florence. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Wine; Mexico; Viticulture; Economics; Marketing Contents Introduction . ..................................................................................110 Overview of Mexican wine .........................................................................111 Major players in the Valle de Guadalupe ................................................................111 Terroir and viticulture practices in the Valle de Guadalupe ....................................................112 Common winemaking practices in Valle de Guadalupe .......................................................112 Sales and marketing tactics of Valle de Guadalupe wineries . ................................................113 Pricing strategies ................................................................................114 Exporting wine from Mexico ........................................................................114 Conclusion: the future of Mexican wines ................................................................114 References . ..................................................................................114 Introduction Mexico for winemaking (Delsol, 2009). Vines were planted in several locations, but the region where the vineyards thrived Mexico has a long history in winemaking and is considered was the warm and dry climate of the Baja Peninsula. Brought to be the oldest wine growing region in North America. there in in 1701 by Juan de Ugarte, the first wines were crafted Documents attest to the fact that after conquering the Aztecs in in 1707 (Wines of Baja, 2013). Since that time Baja has been 1521 Cortes requested grapevines from Spain to plant in producing wine, yet it is only recently that this special region of Mexico has begun to advertise and market its wines. nCorresponding author. Today there are approximately 60 wineries in Baja (Laube, E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J. Covarrubias), 2014), and over 2790 ha (6900 acre) of planted grapes (Trejo-Pech [email protected] (L. Thach). et al., 2010). Vineyard operations are headquartered in the Valle de Peer review under responsibility of UniCeSV, University of Florence. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wep.2015.11.001 2212-9774/& 2015 UniCeSV, University of Florence. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. J. Covarrubias, L. Thach / Wine Economics and Policy 4 (2015) 110–115 111 Table 1 Table 2 Ten Mexican wineries in study. Major wine players in Valle de Guadalupe. Winery name Year Approx. annual case Vineyard Winery name Average annual case production established production hectares L.A. Ceto 500,000 Monte Xanic 1987 50,000 120 Domecq 194,000 Chateau Camou 1994 15,000 100 Monte Xanic 50,000 Casa de Piedra 1997 3000 30 Chateau Camou 15,000 Adobe 1999 7000 20 Paralelo 15,000 Guadalupe Vinos Fuentes 2000 2000 70 Vinos Laja 2001 1000 Not available Major players in the Valle de Guadalupe Vinos Garza 2003 5000 14 Paralelo 2005 15,000 250 Modern day winemaking began in the Valle de Guadalupe Encuentro 2006 500 Not available Guadalupe in 1972 when Casa Pedro Domecq established operations in Las Nubess 2008 3700 30 the valley. Soon they became the major producer and most of the local growers sold their crop to Domeq. This situation continued for some years until two new players arrived-Hugo “ ” Guadalupe, which some call the Napa Valley of Baja .Itis D'acosta and Dr. Backoff. Recognizing the potential of the located approximately two hours south of San Diego, California area, these two newcomers began an educational program for between the cities of Ensenada and Tecate, Mexico. The Valle de the local growers. Hugo D’Acosta created “La Escuelita” a – Guadualupe accounts for 80 95% of all of Mexican wine place where growers could come together and learn how to production (Vino Mex, 2012). process their own grapes into wine. The school also provided Despite its long history, very little is known about the Baja growers with the necessary equipment and tools to make their wine region from an academic perspective (Olsen et al., 2002; own wine without the financial burden of requiring each to buy Trejo-Pech et al., 2012). Therefore, a qualitative study was their own fermenters, barrels, and other tools and equipment. designed to investigate viticulture, enology, and marketing Dr. Backhoff, who founded Monte Xanic Winery, also practices for Baja wines. This involved in depth interviews focused on educating the local population on how to make with ten wineries in the region which took place during the better business decisions. He negotiated contracts that were spring of 2013 during two visits to the Valle de Guadualupe. more equitable for growers, and encouraged them to focus on The interview data was sorted and coded to identify emerging growing quality grapes. His main objective was empowering themes. The wineries included Monte Xanic, Casa de Piedra, the growers. Adobe Guadalupe, Vinos Fuentes, Vinos Laja, Vinos Garza, Today there are more than 60 wineries in the Valle de Paralelo, Encuentro Guadalupe, Las Nubess, and Chateau Guadalupe, ranging from very small players producing only Camou. Table 1 describes year established, approximate 500 cases per year to much larger enterprises. The names of annual case production, and number of vineyard hectares for the current five largest wineries by production are given in these 10 wineries. Table 2 (Discover Baja, 2014). Despite its ancient heritage, the Mexican wine industry is Overview of Mexican wine still quite young and is trying to establish its identity on a global stage. Perhaps this is why it has attracted several players Due to its hot climate, the Valle de Guadalupe focuses on from other countries. For example, Tru Miller of Adobe producing red Bordeaux varietals, such as Cabernet Sau- Guadalupe came from Holland originally, and Thomas Egli vignon, Merlot, and Malbec. Other common varietals include who established Casa de Piedra Winery came from Switzer- Tempranillo, Barbera, Zinfandel, Nebiolo, Petite Syrah and the land. Hugo D’Acosta of La Escuelita and Co founder of Casa original Mission grape brought from Spain, where it is still de Piedra Winery has a French background, while Dr. Backh- known as Listan Prieto (Alley, 2007). A few wineries also off of Monte Xanic is from Germany decent. plant Chardonnay and Semillon grapes. The Mexican government is trying to encourage winery According to the Wine Institute (2014), Mexico ranked as expansion to some extent. According to one