Pre-COVID, my friend Patti and I made semi-regular gals’ trips to Valle de Guadalupe. We resurrected that tradition earlier this year, booking a cabin at Casa Mayoral, with one bed on the ground floor, another in the loft. We’ve stayed at CM twice before, but never in this casita/cabin.
Cabin #1 at Casa Mayoral.
We love the ambiance and staff at CM. It’s south of the Ensenada-Tecate highway, far enough away to feel secluded and enjoy the nature, but with relatively quick access to the main highway.
View from our little balcony at Casa Mayoral.
After checking in, our first stop was one of our favorites – Vinos Lechuza, which has added food options since my last visit. Fantastic to see Armando, who has become a highly valued employee at Lechuza; I first met Armando more than four years ago. Patti and I enjoyed a great wine tasting and shared a fabulous plate of almejas ahumadas (grilled clams smothered in cheese, veggies and herbs).
Yummy almejas (clams) at Lechuza!
Then it was off to our reservation at the Bruma Wine Garden. I’ve been to Bruma’s Fauna for their tasting menu, maybe four years ago; it was fantastic, and I really admire Chef David Castro Hussong.
Bruma’s Wine Garden is down below and north of Fauna, Bruma’s signature restaurant, and as you might expect, is outdoors, but under a lovely canopy of trees. I had heard positive reviews of their pizzas, so Patti and I shared one, along with a bottle of wine, and a very chocolaty dessert. It was a fine meal, but with so many Valle options, would I return? Not sure.
Bruma wine and fluffy pizza.
Ambiance at Bruma Wine Garden.
After finding our way back to CM on a dark, drizzly night with lots of traffic on the highway, we settled in for the night. I insisted on taking the loft bed, and it was a bit of a challenge negotiating the ladder/staircase to get up and down. But somehow I managed not to fall off. Whew!
I considered the access to our cabin’s loft the stairway to heaven.
Saturday morning we enjoyed an included breakfast at CM and received some helpful updates about the Valle from staff. We were saddened to learn that the long-standing Farmers’ Market at Mogor Badan went by the wayside during the pandemic and has not been revived since.
We heeded a recommendation to visit the Misiones de California winery, which involved taking an unmarked road north of the highway in San Antonio de Las Minas. Once we finally found and proceeded up that dirt road, we did spot helpful signage. And, we found it! A rather hidden gem.
We did not have reservations (heck, we didn’t even know if we could find the place!) but our host Addie set us up for a great tasting even though she was awaiting a reservation that was running late. Once they – another pair of gal pals with a driver – arrived, happily we all merged together. This is not a place where you would expect wine tour buses to show up; it’s off the beaten Valle track. Patti and I especially enjoyed their Nebbiolo, and we promptly bought a bottle for our cabin.
Entering the unassuming but wonderful Vinicola Misiones de California.
With our host and fellow wine fans at Misiones de Californias.
We stopped at Los Globos in San Antonio de las Minas for rosemary cheese and a bunch of other local products. On the way back to CM, I introduced Patti to Vinedos Don Tomas for another wine tasting. Don Tomas provides a very nice cheese/tomato/olive tray with their tasting, a super nice touch. Then it was back to CM to get ready for the highlight of our wine and culinary journey: a tasting menu dinner at Lunario.
Stay tuned for Part 2 with detailed info about our tasting experience, and our other rather crazy recent Valle adventures, coming soon!
Market at Mogor Badan went by the wayside during the pandemic.