Changes in Latitude

Visiting Monte Xanic is a treat. No wine enthusiast visiting Baja California should miss this 200 acre vineyard in the Guadalupe Valley located 1300 feet above Ensenada, 10 miles from the Pacific coast. It is located near the town of Francisco Zarco. Here you will find amazing cabernet sauvignon, merlot, cabernet franc, malbec, petite verdot, and syrah blends and varietals. There are also white wines. The sauvignon blanc is good, but the reds are world class.

This peninsula’s soil is dry. The sea breeze provides the moisture grapes seek. Such a stark contrast creates rugged and versatile reds with a character unique to the region. Here the growing conditions require that volume be sacrificed for quality. “Each vine is pruned to yield a limited number of grapes, but each one of these has a high concentration of flavors and aromas which will be revealed in the wine”, states Monte Xanic’s Karola Saenger.

The valleys of Baja California produce the vast majority of Mexico’s wines. Baja’s first vines were planted in 1701 by a Jesuit missionary assigned to the Loreto mission. In 1834 Dominican friars founded the Mission of Our Lady of Guadalupe of the North, which gave the valley its name.

Monte Xanic’s first vines were planted after 1904 by a Russian religious sect called “molokans” when 100 pacifist families settled here to avoid being drafted into the Czar’s armies. They produced wine in the Guadalupe Valley for eight decades before five wine enthusiasts founded Monte Xanic in 1987. The name Monte Xanic arose while contemplating the vineyards from the peak of the property during springtime. Monte is the Spanish word for hill and Xanic is a Cora Indian word describing “the flower that blooms after the first rains”.

The current winemaker and a co-partner is Hans Backhoff. Monte Xanic produces low volume and high quality, 50,000 cases of wine annually under four labels: Monte Xanic , Calixa Gran Ricardo, Vina Kristel and Calixa. There are other vineyards in Guadalupe Valley but Monte Xanic is the heart of Mexico’s Napa Valley. Prices typically range around US$30 but these are unforgettable wines.

This winery’s philosophy is to spare no expense in applying the best technology to the vineyards to obtain the highest quality possible in their wines. Monte Xanic does not seek to imitate wines from other regions; it seeks to express the personality of the vineyard, its “terra noir” – the characteristics imparted by the soil and climate of the region. These wines are excellent with Mexican food.

Gran Ricardo de Monte Xanic is one of the vineyard’s best, priced from $50. It is an earthy Bordeaux-style blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, petit verdot, and malbec aged in new French oak for twenty-four months and another two-to- four years in the bottle. This blend is produced in honor of Richard Hojel, founder and partner of Monte Xanic.

Worldwide, 77 million acres of land are certified organic. In Italy and many northern European countries, organic land represents roughly one-quarter of total farm land. (Source: IFOAM) On Feb. 20 Helga Willer of FiBL will present the latest figures on organic farming worldwide at the BioFach Congress 2009 in Germany.

In Latin America, Uruguay has the highest percentage of organic farm land – much of it in urban areas. Even their wool is certified organic. But Uruguay is not close enough to the USA to maintain a low carbon footprint for agricultural exports. Organic consumers are very interested in regionally produced foods.

This week I am visiting organic farmers in Mexico to discuss organizing a program to lift awareness among U.S. retailers regarding “Organic in Mexico”. Many organic exporters are close to large population centers in the USA. Climate, soil, and affordable farm labor are factors favorable to organic farmers south of the border. Virtually all of Mexico’s certified organics are exported.

In many areas of northern Mexico, certification is a fast track process because inspectors find zero residual fertilizer and insecticide levels in the soil. The reason is simple – farmers haven’t the money to spend on chemicals for their crops.

In 2000 Mexico placed 16th in the world and fifth in Latin America for organic land under production. Unfortunately, Argentina’s 3 million hectares certified organic includes unmanaged range land, so the statistic is misleading. “The value of organic production in 2000 was $150 million from Mexico, five times greater than Argentina’s, which puts Mexico second only to Brazil in total value of organic production in Latin America”, according to agriculture researcher Don Lotter from Davis, California.

Mexico’s domestic demand is still small; however, the value of organic production in Mexico is expanding at twice the rate of the USA’s. Coffee is Mexico’s largest organic crop. For organic coffee from Mexico, fresh roasted the day you order it, visit www.uniquecoffee.com – Seth Appell has been importing organic coffee for decades. Buying organic coffee from Latin America helps small rural growers more than most foods you can buy. “Over 50,000 small farmers, with an average holding of 2 hectares produce over two-thirds of organic production value in Mexico. Since it is far beyond the abilities of a producer of that size to seek individual certification, certification is done by farmer groups and cooperatives”, states Lotter.

I’ll be following in Mr. Lotter’s footsteps as I travel to Baja California to meet with growers this week. I’ll post field notes next week. I highly recommend Don’s field notes from 2004 focused on Del Cabo Cooperative, a 300-family project from our neighbor’s organic gardens to our community markets.