a taste of Baja, Mexico
Radar
A safari tent at Cuatro Cuatros.
weekender
A taste of baja, Mexico The Valle de Guadalupe’s wines have long lured oenophiles South of the Border. Now its inventive restaurants and eco-chic hotels are drawing a wider audience. Stay In Ensenada, along the Pacific coast, Cuatro Cuatros (cabanascuatrocuatros.com.mx; $$) has chic canvas tents with open-air showers and terraces overlooking 4,200 acres of vineyards and olive groves. + Inland, at the former Hotel Endémico, now called Encuentro Guadalupe (encuentro-guadalupe.com; $$), the 20 minimal, loftlike bungalows are scattered on a hillside above a striking glass-and-steel winery.
Eat Two pioneering restaurants put northern Baja on the food map: Jair Téllez’s rustic valley farmstead Laja (lajamexico. com, $$$), the area’s answer to Napa’s French Laundry,
Open Ocean Aquarium.
and Benito Molina’s funky-chic Manzanilla (rmanzanilla.com, $TK), set on the wharf in Ensenada. Other standouts: Corazón de Tierra (corazondetierra. com, $$$), which serves deliciously complex dishes like black cod in onion embers with onion-verbena purée, and Javier Plascencia’s alfresco Finca Altozano (52-646/156-8045, $TK), where the focus is on impeccably grilled meats. Do Three essential stops on any Valle wine tour? Viñas de Garza (vinosdegarza. com), Hacienda La Lomita (haciendalalomita.com.mx), and, not least, Casa de Piedra (vinoscasadepiedra. com, reservations essential). The latter is run by esteemed, Bordeaux-trained winemaker Hugo D’Acosta. At Adobe Guadalupe (adobeguadalupe.com), a Mission-style winery and
Corazón de Tierra; below, their TK dish.
inn, visitors can take guided horseback rides around the vineyards. Another must: Ensenada’s new Open Ocean Aquarium (open oceanaquarium.com), where as of February you can swim with a school of giant bluefin tuna offshore. —casey hatfield - chiotti
Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe, at a Glance Drive Time from San Diego Two hours
40
J A N U A R Y 2 014
People per Square Mile 250
t r a v e l+ l e i s u r e
Year Vines First Planted in Area 1791
Number of Wineries 70-plus
Unexpected Expats Russians, who have cultivated grapes there since 1905.
Natural Wonder La Bufadora, a 20-foot-high natural marine geyser.
t r av e l e s e Obli • cation (n.): A trip that sounds fun but—because it involves your in-laws, your officemates, or your third cousin’s third wedding—feels more like work.
c l o c k w i s e f r o m l e f t: l i v i a c o r o na ; c o ur t e s y o f e n c u e n t r o g ua d a l u p e ; c o ur t e s y o f c o ra z ó n d e t i e rra ( 2 ) ; c o ur t e s y o f o p e n o c e an a q uar i u m
Encuentro Guadalupe.
A safari tent at Cuatro Cuatros.
weekender
A taste of baja, Mexico The Valle de Guadalupe’s wines have long lured oenophiles South of the Border. Now its inventive restaurants and eco-chic hotels are drawing a wider audience. Stay In Ensenada, along the Pacific coast, Cuatro Cuatros (cabanascuatrocuatros.com.mx; $$) has chic canvas tents with open-air showers and terraces overlooking 4,200 acres of vineyards and olive groves. + Inland, at the former Hotel Endémico, now called Encuentro Guadalupe (encuentro-guadalupe.com; $$), the 20 minimal, loftlike bungalows are scattered on a hillside above a striking glass-and-steel winery.
Eat Two pioneering restaurants put northern Baja on the food map: Jair Téllez’s rustic valley farmstead Laja (lajamexico. com, $$$), the area’s answer to Napa’s French Laundry,
Open Ocean Aquarium.
and Benito Molina’s funky-chic Manzanilla (rmanzanilla.com, $TK), set on the wharf in Ensenada. Other standouts: Corazón de Tierra (corazondetierra. com, $$$), which serves deliciously complex dishes like black cod in onion embers with onion-verbena purée, and Javier Plascencia’s alfresco Finca Altozano (52-646/156-8045, $TK), where the focus is on impeccably grilled meats. Do Three essential stops on any Valle wine tour? Viñas de Garza (vinosdegarza. com), Hacienda La Lomita (haciendalalomita.com.mx), and, not least, Casa de Piedra (vinoscasadepiedra. com, reservations essential). The latter is run by esteemed, Bordeaux-trained winemaker Hugo D’Acosta. At Adobe Guadalupe (adobeguadalupe.com), a Mission-style winery and
Corazón de Tierra; below, their TK dish.
inn, visitors can take guided horseback rides around the vineyards. Another must: Ensenada’s new Open Ocean Aquarium (open oceanaquarium.com), where as of February you can swim with a school of giant bluefin tuna offshore. —casey hatfield - chiotti
Baja’s Valle de Guadalupe, at a Glance Drive Time from San Diego Two hours
40
J A N U A R Y 2 014
People per Square Mile 250
t r a v e l+ l e i s u r e
Year Vines First Planted in Area 1791
Number of Wineries 70-plus
Unexpected Expats Russians, who have cultivated grapes there since 1905.
Natural Wonder La Bufadora, a 20-foot-high natural marine geyser.
t r av e l e s e Obli • cation (n.): A trip that sounds fun but—because it involves your in-laws, your officemates, or your third cousin’s third wedding—feels more like work.
c l o c k w i s e f r o m l e f t: l i v i a c o r o na ; c o ur t e s y o f e n c u e n t r o g ua d a l u p e ; c o ur t e s y o f c o ra z ó n d e t i e rra ( 2 ) ; c o ur t e s y o f o p e n o c e an a q uar i u m
Encuentro Guadalupe.
