I felt the earth move when Mexico won the Olympic gold medal in fútbol last Saturday.
Okay, so there was a tiny earthquake near Los Angeles Saturday morning, but still, I like to think that Mexicans around the world took a collective leap of unbridled ¡QUE VIVA MEXICO! when the final whistle blew and the Mexican men’s soccer team beat Brazil, 2-1.
Exactly one week before the Olympic history of England lesson opening ceremony, I bore witness to a different kind of Mexican-American pride. East LA Meets Napa, an annual food and wine tasting fund raiser for Southern California nonprofit AltaMed Health Services, featured wines from Mexican-American winemakers in Napa Valley and Sonoma.
On a balmy evening I strolled through L.A.’s Union Station to the charanga beat of José Rizo’s all-star jazz band, Monograma, a wine glass in one hand, a plate of food from the area’s finest Latin American restaurants in the other. This, chicas y chicos, is living.
About 30 wineries were represented at this year’s event, some of them Latina-owned and operated. Ladies, if you’ve ever dreamed of getting into the wine business, there’s no better place to get a little inspiración. Vanessa Robledo started working in her family’s vineyard when she was 8 years old. Today, she’s president and managing partner of Black Coyote Wines.
Speaking of inspiration, Gustavo Brambila of GustavoThrace attended this year’s event. Brambila is one of the first Latinos to earn a degree from the prestigious viticulture and enology program at UC Davis. In 1976, the winery where he worked put California wines on the map when its Chardonnay scored higher than a French wine at an international competition in Paris. Brambila was not directly involved in the competition, but actor Freddy Rodriguez played him in the 2008 film, Bottle Shock, based on the historic event.
To come full circle, this year’s tasting held one more reason to be proud of things hecho en México. A certain winery from Coahuila, Mexico made the journey to L.A. Established in 1597, Casa Madero is the oldest winery in the Americas. Still going strong after 415 years, the winery gives Mexico a significant place in the history of wine.
And so, mis amigas mexicanas, I congratulate you on your nation’s Olympian victory in London, and I raise a glass to you for your patria’s landmark contributions to el mundo de vino. ¡Salud!
Thank you for bringing these awesome Latino vinos to our attention! I don’t think I would have heard of the Latino owned/operated wines that you mentioned here if not for this post. I will be on the look out the next time we are out shopping for fantastic vino!
Chica, I’ve always heard my husband talk about Casa Madero. I shared this link with you…his abuelita is a Madero and he always tells me about the winery!
Gracias, Helena. ¡Pero qué pequeño es el mundo! Un abrazo…
Hola! I m Helena’s husband and I know Casa Madero, as well as its history quite well. My abuela is Manuela Madero (father’s side) and I visited Casa Madero in Parras (Coahuila, Mexico) every summer. I m really proud of it since it has been producing wine since 1597 🙂
I recommend you to try the varietals from Casa Madero it is an awesome wine. 😉
Thank you so much for reading the post and I am so thrilled to have a Madero in the house! How wonderful that you were able to visit Casa Madero throughout your lifetime. I’ve never been there but I understand it’s beautiful. I did have a chance to try three wines at the event last month–they were fantastic. ¡Salud!
Thanks so much for the info! That’s awesome that you’re featuring Latino wines. A visit to Casa Medero is in order 🙂
I want to go!!! Looks fabulous!
Chica! What a great and insightful piece. I recommend we organize a trip to Valle de Guadalupe near Ensenada. Apparently they’re making some fine wine there. Anywho, I’ve been wanting to leave a comment. Love your blog!
Hola Marco! Mil gracias for reading! Love the idea of getting a group together for Valle de Guadalupe–let’s do it!