Wine country in Guadalupe?

Growing the grape is a burgeoning business in Mexico valley

Ask anyone with the slightest knowledge of wine where to find great reds and whites, and they’ll promptly tell you France, Italy and Napa and Sonoma valleys in California, and maybe even my favorite Marlborough Valley in New Zealand. Oregon and Washington vineyards might get a mention, too.

Let’s narrow it down and ask someone for a nearby wine center. California wineries in Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez would be included, and maybe a halfhearted salute to Primm on our border, with Temecula getting honorable mention.

Nowhere, though, do you hear about Mexico’s Guadalupe Valley. Where, you ask? Ninety minutes south of San Diego before Ensenada, there’s a burgeoning business in growing the grape in a 14-mile valley surrounded by mountains and sea.

I took a day trip to Guadalupe Valley while visiting La Jolla in August and discovered some 100 thriving vineyards, craft breweries, boutique hotels and gourmet restaurants making waves in the rustic area.

Tourists are making day trips there by busload, as it has become a new attraction. The San Diego

Union-Tribune reported: “This little pocket in Baja California is blossoming into ‘one of the most spectacular epicurean spots in the world.’ ”

The wine writer reported that one online reviewer blogged, ‘Blindfolded, I would not know this is not from Champagne, let alone guess it to be a Mexican sparkler. Bravo!’ ” ...

Deckman’s in Guadalupe Valley in Mexico. (TVT)