Jill Gubesch
Jill Gubesch, wine director at Rick Bayless' restaurants in Chicago
Editor’s Note: Jill Gubesch, the wine director for Frontera Grill/Topolobampo in Chicago, was named Best Sommelier in the 2019 Jean Banchet Awards for Culinary Excellence in January. We asked her a few questions about Mexican wines.
el Restaurante: Tell us about your strategy for deciding which wines to carry.
Jill Gubesch: I select wines that I think will taste great with our food. I also try to focus on wineries that utilize sustainable practices in the vineyard. We carry many small producers who are making handcrafted wines.
How do the Mexican wines you carry fit into that strategy?
The sommelier mantra, “what grows together goes together.” The Mexican wines match beautifully with our cuisine. Most of our Mexican wines are from smaller producers.
Did the fact that they are Mexican play a role in that decision, or was it based solely on quality/taste?
I choose wines based on quality and food pairing ability.
While wine from Mexico is getting some attention now in the U.S., it's still not widely available in Mexican restaurants here. Why do you think that is?
I think it’s due mostly to the lack of availability coupled with lack of knowledge about Mexican wine.
What are your favorite Mexican wines?
This is a tough question…. it’s the equivalent of asking someone to pick their favorite child. I’ve developed close relationships with many wineries and winemakers in Baja. One of the biggest influencers early on was Hugo D’Acosta. He has a small winemaking school in the Valle named Escuelita where he’s helped raise the bar of quality of winemaking in the Valle. Camillo Magoni has been making wine in Baja for over 50 years. He now has his own label Casa Magoni. He has been experimenting with over 150 different grape varieties, and does some really cool blends. Paolo Paoloni at Villa Montefiori has been making amazing wine from Italian red varieties since the late 90s.
The upcoming generation of winemakers whose work I enjoy include Daniel Lonnberg, Lourdes Martínez Ojeda (we call her “Lulú”) and Alberto Rubio. Also Phil Gregory.
These winemakers make wine for several different wineries/labels—
Daniel Lonnberg: Adobe Guadalupe, Emevé, VinSur
Alberto Rubio: Fluxus, Viñedos Malagón, F. Rubio
Lulú: Bodegas Henri Lurton, Bruma, Palafox
Phil Gregory: owner/winemaker at Vena Cava
What do your customers think about Mexican wines?
We are fortunate to have guests that seek the full Mexican dining experience. If they are in one of our restaurants, they’re usually excited to try the Mexican wines.
How do they sell compared to wines from other countries?
Our staff does a great job of selling wine from Mexico as it’s unique to our program, and difficult to find elsewhere.
Do you do something to encourage diners to try Mexican wines?
We offer wine pairings in Topolo and always try to include one or more Mexican wines in the lineup. In addition to this, we offer two Mexican wines by the glass in Frontera and Topolo, as well as four by the glass in Bar Sótanto and five by the glass at Leña Brava.
What do you think needs to happen for Mexican wines to become as widely served as wines from other Latin American countries, such as Chile and Argentina?
I’m not sure the production levels will ever increase to the level of volume they’re making in South America. Most of the Mexican wineries we utilize only produce a few thousand cases of wine per year.