Valle de Guadalupe Wine Tasting at El Cielo Resort and Winery

One of the first things one will notice stepping into the wine tasting estate at El Cielo Resort and Winery is the wines are named after constellations. There are bottles of Cassiopea, Capricornius, and Galileo lining a wall.

Located in Baja California, a few miles from Ensenada, Valley de Guadalupe is one of the fastest growing wine-making areas in the country. The region has been developed for just over 100 years, and is an ideal setting to cultivate grapes. With Fall being grape harvest season, the resort is offering their annual Harvest Festival with wine tasting opportunities, elegant multi-course dinners paired with their exceptional wines, wine classes to blend your own wine, and opportunities to visit the vineyards with a sommelier to learn about the regions soil, grapevines and grape clusters.

El Cielo provides guests an extraordinary time to learn about wines, food, and the culture in Valle de Guadalupe.

GRAPE HARVEST CELEBRATION EXPERIENCE

Guests looking to participate in harvest festivities will want to have a Grape Harvest Celebration Experience. Besides getting one’s hands and feet on grapes to crush, they will get to taste El Cielo’s wines  characterized by their fresh, fruity and elegant expression.

Take a tour of the underground cellar, and later enjoy a multi-course food and wine pairing at Latitud 32 for dinner. The evening I dined the menu items included an appealing Mayan ceviche with blackened spices and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc Cassiopea 2020.

Legend has it that Cassiopea, is a queen who boasted of being more beautiful than the nymphs of the sea, and the wine that bears her name also shines in gold. With citrus notes, this wine offers a great balance of guava, lime, lemon and grapefruit. It’s ideal with seafood, salads and ceviches.

Next arrived a bite-size tender Lamb Dzic with Andromeda 2019 Chenin Blanc. This legend is that when Andromeda died, the goddess Athena delicately placed her among the constellations of the northern sky. This wine offers a nice yellow color with a flash of green. On the nose there are citrus fruits that include lime and lemon, accompanied by guava and a hint of rosemary. This medium body wine is fresh, balanced and offers a long lasting finish.

When the Duck Yucatan-style Salute arrived, it was paired with a glass of Capricornius 2020 Chardonnay. According to Greek mythology and astrology, the figure of Capricorn is related to the good things in life. They can be toasted with a light golden color of intensely aromatic wine with notes of pineapple, lime, lemon, tropical fruits, guava, white flowers and lavender. There is a finish of melted butter and coffee on the finish. It’s elegant and provides a pleasant acidity.

The next course was a pork belly taco in Chilmole sauce paired with a Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot blend named Copernicus. This 2020 blend is a sophisticated wine dedicated to the Polish astronomer who during the Renaissance developed the theory that the Sun is the center of the Solar System. In the glass there is a beautiful ripe plum red color. The aroma offers cherry and blueberries with bright notes of earth, pepper, and flowers. The finish lingers with hints of chocolate, toffee, vanilla and nutmeg.

One last entrée arrived in a bowl with a sauce to pout on top. The grilled lamb Baja style was paired with Galileo 2019 made with Tempranillo grapes. Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer who perfected the telescope, allowing him to observe the validity of the Copernican heliocentric system. Its pretty red color offers a fruity aromatic cherry essence with hints of cinnamon, coconut and vanilla tasting notes. It’s a medium red wine with a balance of tannins and acidity with a long and pleasing finish.

We finished with a guava mousse and pour of G&G Sauvignon Blanc 2021. G&G wines is a project by Sommelier Gina Estrada and Gustavo Ortega of El Cielo. This Sauvignon Blanc has 80% of the wine fermented in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks and 20% was aged for 12 months in a French oak. This light golden wine has a touch of silver hue. The aroma offers an intense citrus essence of lime, tangerine and floral orange blossom. Each sip offers tropical notes of guava, passion fruit, pineapple and vanilla. It’s ideal as a light dessert wine.

Guests looking for this food and wine experience during the harvest process can book now through September 30, 2023. The boutique resort provides food, wine and enrichment experiences year round. Stay in one of the suites and villas built around two lakes. There are two restaurants, a sun-heated pool, room service, chapel and gardens for weddings, family get togethers and company retreats.

El Cielo Resort offers Executive transportation service for guests arriving from the San Ysidro border, Tijuana airport and Ensenada.