Wine Notes: Local Wines Just Around The Corner, At Cava Sautto

By Randolph Rogers

Just below the Rosewood Hotel and at the corner of Ancha de San Antonio and Nemesio Díaz is perhaps the best liquor store in the state of Guanajuato. The supermarkets have impressive wine sections, but I choose Cava Sautto for the good selection of vinos locales. When talking to local winemakers and winery owners, the question of distribution comes up.

Local wineries depend on the retail sales at their locations. Only a few large wineries like Tres Raíces and Viñedos San Miguel gain access to the supermarkets. They can’t compete with the pricing of wines from Chile, Argentina, and the large growing area of Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California, México.

Guanajuato, with approximately 485 hectares planted (1200 acres), is the fourth largest wine-growing region in México. While growing rapidly, the region is a mere fraction of plantings in the established wine regions in South America, Europe, California, and Baja.

I asked the helpful wine associates at Cava Sautto which wines sell the best. It was not the pricier local wines but the wines priced under two hundred pesos. I will reluctantly make them the wines of the month because I want you, the consumer, to compare them with the quality of local white wines, which I find superior.

Local brands that you can find at Cava Sautto are:

Tres Raíces, Viñedos Los Arcángeles and Cuna de Tierra, all from Dolores Hidalgo; Vinos Guaname from San Felipe, Dos Búhos, La Santísima Trinidad,  Viñedo Toyan, and Viñedo San Miguel from San Miguel de Allende, and Vinaltura, located in Valle de Colón, Querétaro.

Right up the Ancha de San Antonio #21, Caval Co., another good liquor store with a smattering of local wines, mostly priced under $400 pesos.

Wines Of The Month, Available At Cava Sautto

Isla Negra, Sauvignon Blanc. Chile, $104 pesos. The equivalent of Two Buck Chuck at Trader Joes’. If you’re on a budget, it can’t be that bad, or could it? It is drinkable.

La Cetto, Chardonnay. Valle de Guadalupe, México. $172 pesos. For that person in your life who drinks a bottle or two of Chardonnay a day. This wine is a fruity version of most Chardonnays. It is very drinkable. This is a definite option, given that this region is too hot and dry for Burgundian Chardonnay grapes to prosper.

Randolph Rogers is an author, a food writer, and the owner/grower of Woodpecker Ranch Winery in Paso Robles, California.