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Tina and Brett
When wine drinkers think of historic wine regions around the world, one of the most overlooked regions sits in Mexico’s Baja Peninsula. The Cetto family has been growing grapes and making wine in this desert region for nearly one hundred years, starting with Don Angelo Cetto in 1928. When Angelo migrated to Mexico from Trentino, Italy, the first thing on his mind was how his homeland’s native grapes would take to the soil in Baja. It didn’t take long for him to begin planting and experimenting.
Luis Augustin Cetto, Angelo’s son, built upon what his father created and focused the family’s efforts on vineyards in the Valle de Guadalupe. With the help of Luis, and his son, Luis Alberto, LA Cetto released their first wines to the public in 1983. While his father has since retired, Luis Alberto continues to cultivate the family’s vines in Baja’s most prestigious growing region. He also introduced LA Cetto wines to the large international wine market.
To date, the Reserva Privada is LA Cetto’s most popular wine. This Nebbiolo is exported to 19 countries and has received over 200 awards since its release.
In addition to their renowned Nebbiolo, LA Cetto also works with Zinfandel, Tempranillo, Petite Sirah, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and Chenin Blanc.
Nebbiolo is an Italian red grape variety from Italy’s Piedmont region. These grapes produce wines that are full-bodied, assertive, and tannic. It’s the pronounced tannins in Nebbiolo wines that make them great candidates for prolonged cellaring. Letting a bottle of Nebbiolo rest for a few decades is quite common and mellows out the wine’s tight structure.
If you’re a fan of Piedmont’s famous Barolo and Barbaresco wines, then you already know that Nebbiolo is the only grape legally permitted in these wines.
Mexican Nebbiolo and Italian Nebbiolo are vastly different wines when it comes to color, palate, and tannic structure. Italian Nebbiolos are a pale garnet in the glass, and they are starkly tannic, particularly when they are young. Mexican Nebbiolos, on the other hand, have a dark ruby color and lighter tannins than the Italian variety.
Much speculation has been made about what causes these distinct differences. Some winemakers claim it comes down to the climate. As a wine region, Valle de Guadalupe is very, very dry. Farming anything in this unforgiving desert requires irrigation. The vineyards here must be planted at a high elevation; otherwise, the heat would be counterproductive to the vines.
Others question whether the grape is actually the same strain of Nebbiolo found in Italy.
In the Wine Bible, prominent wine critic Karen MacNeil says that enologists believe it’s unlikely that Mexican Nebbiolo isn’t, “…a single variety, but several varieties that were brought from Italy after the Second World War by the Italian winemaker Esteban Ferro, then at Santo Tomás winery. Ferro’s cuttings were apparently stalled at the port of Veracruz for a long period of time, and the identification tags, wet and disintegrating, were eventually lost. But the cuttings were planted and collectively called Nebbiolo.”
And, still, others take a more defined position, stating that Mexican Nebbiolo isn’t Nebbiolo at all but possibly Dolcetto or Lambrusco. With vineyard owners hesitant to test their grapes, the debate remains open.
Mexico
Baja | Valle de Guadalupe
Nebbiolo
13.8
62–68°F / 16–20°C
Large Bordeaux
1 Hour
Now to 2030
The grapes used in this bottle come from vines that are over 40 years old, which is the peak maturity for Nebbiolo.
The nose on the Reserva Privada is a bouquet of dark fruit and spice. Black currant and black cherry, black pepper, a little smoke, and faint eucalyptus. This bottle provides the perfect example of how Nebbiolo responds to different climates and soil. The tannins are nothing like the splintery grip of a young Italian Nebbiolo. We found the wine to be more approachable in its youth and overall very balanced. The palate was filled with lovely notes of fruit and spice. Notable black pepper and smoke and layers of ripe red and black fruits are also presented on the palate. Raspberry, pronounced cherry, and black currant were abundant.
LA Cetto’s Reserva Privada Nebbiolo is a fine example of the potential of what this famous Italian grape can do outside of its home country. This bottle is surprisingly good for the price and offers curious wine lovers the perfect entry point for exploring Mexico’s growing wine scene.
Mexican wines still do not enjoy the wide distribution of their American, European, and South American counterparts, and LA Cetto is one of the few wineries that have a foothold in markets outside of Baja, which makes purchasing bottles easy, even if you live outside of Mexico.
