Lisa Kaplowitz
Chef Luis Mota
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By Ed Avis
There is a feeling in the wine world that something big is happening regarding Mexican wines. Suddenly in the past few years wine lovers have recognized that wines from Mexico can be excellent, even exceptional.
“The wines from Mexico are definitely better than they were five years ago,” says Chef Luis Arce Mota, owner of La Contenta and La Contenta Oeste in New York City. Mota’s wine list at La Contenta Oeste is entirely Mexican wines. “The experience of the people making the wines, the technology they are using, and also the appreciation of the roots of Mexican wine are all up.”
Tom Bracamontes, owner of La Competencia Imports, a major importer of Mexican wine, backs up what Chef Mota is saying: “Wine distributors are starting to realize, ‘Hey, wait a second, Mexican wines are a real thing,’” Bracamontes says. “I think now we’re at an inflection point.”
Even consumer publications are taking note. Imbibe, a magazine for liquor aficionados, ran an article in their March/April 2023 edition titled “Tipping Point: Mexican Wine is Slowly Shifting from Novelty to Mainstay.”
There are lots of reasons Mexican wine is becoming fashionable, but the bottom line is that distributors, restaurant owners and consumers are realizing that Mexican wine can compete on the world stage with the very best.
What does that mean for Mexican restaurants? It means that more and more of your customers, at least those who enjoy wine with dinner, will start asking for wine, and specifically Mexican wine.
But there’s another point here. Mexican restaurants may seem like the logical place to get Mexican wine, but your competition is not sitting still. Many non-Latin restaurants are starting to put great Mexican wine on their menus.
“There are Greek, French and Italian restaurants where people go to drink wine, specifically,” says Max Strygler, owner of Primos Imports in New York City, which imports Monte Xanic, Bodegas Santo Tomás, and other wines from Mexico. “To my surprise, I started approaching these restaurants and getting really good response. So now I’m selling Mexican wines to Greek restaurants.”
Having Mexican wines on wine lists in non-Latin restaurants is not necessarily a bad thing – it definitely grows the overall familiarity of Mexican wines – but if you want your Mexican restaurant to be on the cutting edge of this trend, you probably should put some Mexican wines on your menu sooner rather than later.
Why Are Mexican Wines Good?
Mexico has some key fundamentals of good wine – interesting, rich terroir; moderate climate; and a range of grape-growing regions, from mountainous to oceanside. Some wineries, such as 400-year-old Casa Madero, have long made quality wines. But in recent decades, a new generation of winemakers has taken advantage of Mexico’s fundamentals to create some remarkable wines.
What has tied all of this together is something not found in many other wine-growing regions: A general lack of rules on how to make wine, which has led to experimentation that has created blends not found anywhere else.
“If you go back 10 years, you started seeing what I would call the next generation of young winemakers coming from all over the world, France, United States, Chilé, Argentina,” says Bracamontes. “And they all came to Mexico because there was just this freedom to explore. So you had this convergence of young wine makers that were all excited and willing to help one another. You started to see a different style of Mexican wine. You saw them fresher, more vibrant, higher in acid, lower in alcohol, minimize the wood."
Delilah Snell, owner of Alta Baja Market, a restaurant and retail store in Santa Ana, California with a broad selection of Mexican wines, observes the effect of this new generation of winemakers on her customers.
“You see a lot of interesting blends and interesting techniques,” she says “For example, I always try and push the Bruma Plan B Chardonnay because a lot of people are like, ‘I don't like Chardonnay, it's too oaky and heavy.’ I'm like, ‘No, no, no, no. Lulu [Martinez Ojeda, the winemaker at Bruma] ages this in stainless. It's actually super light and refreshing.’ And so they see that these are just different blends, unique blends, and they know it's something that is going to be the conversation-maker.”
Mexican wines also have succeeded at international competitions. Eighty-five Mexican wines brought home medals from the Concours Mondiale de Bruxelles, an international wine contest held in May. Among the winners was Cenzontle Blanco 2019, a Mexican white wine that ranked the highest among 7,504 entries from 50 countries. This wine, a blend of Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Palomino, was produced in Mexico’s Valle de Guadalupe by enologist Jesús Rivera for Finca El Empecinado.
One Challenge: Price
One hurdle for putting Mexican wine on the menu is price – Mexican wines often cost a couple of dollars more per bottle wholesale than wines from Argentina, California or Italy.
“It’s a battle for the consumer who says, ‘Well I can have this Mexican wine for $22 or $20, where I can get another Cabernet or Chardonnay, whatever, for $4 cheaper,’" says Mike Glazer, executive vice president of vintner relations at Southern Glazer's, a distributor that carries Mexican wines from Casa Madero and Monte Xanic. “It's easier to downgrade in your beverage spend than it is your food spend.”
Why is Mexican wine more expensive? A combination of reasons.
First, the volume being produced is much lower than in many other countries, so the wineries lack the economies of scale. That factor may change as some wineries expand. Another reason is that in many areas, good water is in low supply, so wineries have to pay more for it than wineries in countries with a healthy water supply. And finally, high Mexican taxes play a role.
The Consejo Mexicano Vitivinícola (CMV), an organization representing the Mexican wine industry, is working on improving the government’s recognition of wine as a valuable industry, and that may improve the taxation situation and lead to infrastructure programs to improve water availability.
Higher prices notwithstanding, Mexican wines are rapidly becoming an essential element of Mexican restaurant menus.
“Even in Mexico City, 10 years ago, if you went into a restaurant, they primarily carried Spanish, French, Italian, Argentinian, Chiléan, just about anything, but not Mexican wine,” Bracamontes says. “And now it's the complete opposite. The quality has gotten better, Mexican pride has kicked in, and now you see entire wine lists of Mexican wines, both in Mexico and in the United States.”
Sidebar: Tips for Selling Mexican Wine
At Alta Baja Market in Santa Ana, employee Sheila Anderzunas suggests food pairings for the Mexican wines the restaurant/retailer carries.
The restaurants that have succeeded in selling Mexican wine have several characteristics in common. First, they highlight the wines on the menu so that customers see them immediately. A good wine menu includes the type of grapes the wine is made from and the country and region, explains Max Strygler, owner of Primos Imports in New York City.
Next, training is important. Chef Luis Arce Mota, owner of La Contenta and La Contenta Oeste in New York City, hired a Mexican sommelier to help servers understand the characteristics of the Mexican wines on his menu and how to properly express those to customers.
“We have to put into the hearts of the staff how high quality these wines are, and they have to love them,” he says. “Then we need the language to transmit that to the customers. They need to be able to tell the customers that a Mexican restaurant is not just about beer and tequila, it’s also about wine. I don’t have a problem selling margaritas or tequila or mezcal, but I believe food tastes better with wine.”
Making suggestions of how to pair wine with food is also a good selling technique, Mota says. Customers appreciate seeing suggested wines next to menu items, especially if they are not familiar with Mexican wines. At Alta Baja Market in San Diego, employee Sheila Anderzunas suggests pairings on little cards taped to the wine racks.
Finally, selling Mexican wine by the glass, rather than just by the bottle, is a great way to help diners see if it is right for them, says Ivy Stark, owner of Mexology Taqueria in New York and former chef at Dos Caminos, a Mexican restaurant known for its Mexican wines.
“I think the biggest key is to offer it as a glass wine,” Stark says. “And then you just have to get the servers behind it, and when people ask for a glass of wine, they can say, ‘Listen, I know you probably have not ever had a Mexican wine, but this particular Nebbiolo, Cabernet, whatever, is really special. And it goes really well with the food.’”
Click here to read the next article, Chipilo: Where Mexican and Italian Cuisines Collide