Valle de Guadalupe
Casa Zilin, Cuatro Cuatros, Baja California
The Valle de Guadalupe in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico has become a hotspot for wine and cuisine for locals and tourists. It is located 20 kilometers north of the City of Ensenada and 113 kilometers southeast of the border crossing from San Diego to Tijuana. Here is our guide to Valle de Guadeloupe.
HOTELS
BRUMA Local architect Alejandro D’Acosta’s distinctive style—buildings that merge with the valley’s landscape, utilizing found materials—is on display at this resort. A garden, pool, and gourmet restaurant are on the property.
ENCUENTRO The guest suites—perfect rectangles made of glass, wood, and steel— are built into the craggy hillside, a modern resort that perfectly complements its surroundings. Each suite has a private deck that overlooks the rocky, mountainous valley. Tijuana architect Jorge Gracia, a creative known for impeccable spaces including LA’s Nightshade, created the property, which makes sense given its immaculate details.
ADOBE GUADALUPE A hacienda-style six-room bed-and-breakfast with a winery, ranch, Italian restaurant, and a family of Weimaraners that serve as unofficial tour guides. Don’t miss a trail ride through the vineyards. The owner is one of the main breeders of Azteca horses— a crossbreed between an Andalusian stallion and an American Quarter horse.
OJO AZUL A new boutique hotel with a pool and restaurant with casitas surrounding their vineyard.
AGUA DE VID A boutique hotel with 24 rustic-industrial rooms separated into two sections amongst the vineyards that fill the landscapes of Valle de Guadalupe.
EL CIELO Set on 71 acres of rolling Baja California vineyards, El Cielo Winery & Resort is situated in the heart of Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico's coveted wine region.
CUATRO CUATROS The glamping option at this seaside winery and resort offers spacious tent cabins with outdoor showers, perfect for a warm-weather visit. The dramatic cliffside bar overlooks the Pacific.
DRINK | DINE
FAUNA Fauna is the restaurant attached to Bruma with a long wood dining table that spans the dining room from front to back. The crowd comes from everywhere—Mexico City, Los Angeles, London, Paris, and down the street to eat chef David Castro’s fresh abalone with seaweed, cured lemon risotto, and cabbage blackened over the grill.
MONTE XANIC Monte Xanic is Mexico's first boutique winery. Enjoy a glass of their Sauvignon Blanc by the lake.
FINCA ALTOZANO & ANIMALÓN Chef Javier Plascencia’s live-fire cooking drives the menus at both Finca Altozano, his primary restaurant, and Animalón, a short walk away. Finca Altozano is open year-round; Animalón offers a tasting menu under an enormous 200-year-old tree and is open summer through fall.
DECKMANS EN EL MOGAR Dine on smoky Asado meats and farm-fresh vegetables by Michelin-starred chef Drew Deckman. The space is outfitted in sunflowers, haystacks, and picnic tables.
LAJA Valle de Guadalupe’s Laja is led by the “Thomas Keller of Mexico,” chef Jair Téllez, and boasts a refined menu in a bare-bones, bucolic setting.
CASA DE PIEDRA Rows of vineyards crawl up a hill, leading you to a terra-cotta-colored house done up in string lights and wildflowers. There you sit on Adirondack chairs sipping crisp Piedra de Sol, one of the current vintages, and feast on fresh, briny oysters. If you’re lucky, you’ll meet owner Hugo d’Acosta, an acclaimed winemaker, and his family. The d’Acostas are jovial, humble, and incredibly knowledgeable winemakers. se.
VENA CAVA Given foreigners’ love for the Guadalupe Valley, it’s no surprise that Vena Cava is owned by a British couple. Phil and Eileen Gregory moved to the valley nearly two decades ago and have since created a winery and restaurant. The small but mighty winery has full views of the valley. You can sip natural rosé on the giant outdoor daybeds or make new friends eating various tostadas at the communal tables. The property also has a yoga studio, a farm-to-table restaurant, and an art installation smack in the middle of a giant swath of rocky terrain.
FINCA DE CARODILLA It’s encouraging to see the valley’s inclination for sustainable practices and organic agriculture—and Finca de Carodilla is a perfect example. This vineyard and winery, just ten minutes north of Vena Cava, is the first vineyard in the region to obtain an organic certification for its wine. It follows strict biodynamic farming practices—recycling its water, avoiding any additives, and even burying crystals in the soil to generate good fortune and energy for future harvest
Text: Veronica H. Speck