The Drive into Wine Country (continued)

If you read our last post, we left off entering the ‘Ruto de Vino’ (wine route) to get to our 2 day destination of Valle de Guadelupe. This was where we had arranged to break and relax before our long 1,560 mile drive down the entire Baja. The next leg of the trip would be a 10-hour day drive to Guerrero Negro. It would take us halfway down somewhat “complicated” roads (described as ‘white knuckle’), where we were not sure what to expect, so this felt like a great opportunity to explore the booming Mexican wine country before the next feat.

After the stress of the border was over, our afternoon was on the up & up. The short one hour drive into the hills were beautiful, covered with greenery with miles of vineyards. It was a somewhat cloudy day with low fog looming through the hills. We slowly rolled into the countryside of Valle de Guadalupe and updated the GPS to take us to our first vineyard to celebrate making it to Mexico.

The first winery: Decantos Vinacola

Decantos Vinacola was our first stop to unwind and relax before checking into our hotel. It was a dog friendly, breathtaking winery with views for days. We had never been to a winery together, let alone one in Mexico, so we were very excited.

The wine? Delicious! The chilled Chardonnay blend tasted perfect as the afternoon sun toasted our backs. The food? So tasty. We ordered shrimp ceviche for an appetizer and finished with a pepperoni pizza (weird combo, we know).

The music? It’s like they knew we were coming and put on one of our own playlists. All My Friends by LCD Soundsystem ironically started playing, taking us back to just over a year ago in San Jose del Cabo for our wedding, dancing and singing along with our friends and family. Sipping our wine and soaking up the moment of relief, this was the first time we felt stress-free in months. Happy tears fell from our eyes.

We met a nice man named Randy who was there with his wife Mary Ann, also on a drive down the Baja. He stopped to chat with us for a few minutes. We didn’t meet Mary Ann but funny enough, she’ll pop up later in our story.

luxury in the Valle

After a fun afternoon, we were ready to relax. The boutique hotel, Contemplacion, had appeared in a few Google searches a few weeks back when planning our trip. At first we were only going to do one night but then decided to live it up and take advantage of the beautiful area. When we decided to stay for two nights, we wanted to find a great spot in Valle. Contemplacion was new, dog-friendly and was in a great location. They were also throwing an Oktoberfest event one of the nights we would be there, which sounded fun, so we booked our stay.

As we drove down a few dirt roads, we pulled up to check in. They took us back to the loft we would be staying in. These were brand new, never stayed in before and really beautiful. Floor to ceiling windows with a view of their growing vineyard, a full kitchen, giant bathroom with a tub - what more could we ask for?

Kennedy was loving the grounds. Lots of space to run and lots of things to sniff and explore! Especially the sage bushes growing everywhere. The hotel incorporated it into everything. Fresh sage was left on our beds, towels and even muddled into their delicious craft cocktails at dinner.

We watched the sunset and toasted to a great first day at the hotel’s restaurant. It was a quiet evening dining al fresco, where we got to enjoy fresh garden salads and smoked short rib with local veggies. Chef Ishmael was so nice and came out to explain everything on our plates, even watching us take our first bites so we could describe what we thought of the taste. It was a really fun (and delicious) experience.

After dinner, we grabbed a few blankets (it was cold at night!) and sat by the fire pit to enjoy the rest of our cocktails. Kennedy decided to cuddle up with us too!

Before bed, Leigh was scrolling the “Talk Baja” Facebook group which we had used for advice while prepping for our road trip. She noticed a post from a lady named Mary Ann which talked about a fake traffic stop run-in with the federales in Tecate. But more importantly, remembered the conversation we had the day before at our first winery with Randy, and put the pieces together that it was the same Mary Ann! Small world. She mentioned they were also driving to Guerrero Negro and staying at the Halfway Inn, so we told them we would make sure to catch them there. Stay tuned…

A Day of Tastings

The next morning we slept in and enjoyed coffee in our loft, before we walked down to our complimentary breakfast. We had a delicious omelette and the fluffiest pancakes. Meal #2 at Contemplacion was a big win in our book, and a great base for our wine tasting day ahead.

VINOS XECUE

We spent the day exploring other fun wineries in the area. The first stop being Vinos Xecue, a short drive from our hotel. It was a smaller vineyard, but quaint and cozy. They had a huge patio overlooking the mountains, so we posted up in two Adirondack chairs while Kennedy sunbathed. We tried sangria and bacon jam sliders before venturing into a fun tasting. We loved the white and ended up purchasing a bottle to take with us to Cabo. They let us keep our glasses, too (which have been used in our Cabo home since we arrived).

DON TOMÁS VIÑEDO

Not ready for our wine country day to end, we stumbled upon another great winery called Done Tomas Vindeo. It was super crowded when we arrived, so we posted up inside the tasting room until a patio spot opened. Another beautiful view with two strong pours of wine (see red wine in photo below, ha). We ordered a beet and fruit salad to share which was so fresh and delicious. The flowers surrounding the vineyard were beautiful, bright and bold.

OKTOBERFEST AT CONTEMPLACION

After our day of decadent tastings, we went back to our hotel to switch gears, to none other than… beer. Our hotel was hosting an Oktoberfest event which we had been invited to upon our arrival. They decked the place out in German decor and had a full on party with beer chugging, a live band, brats, pretzels and more. They even had a sage-infused beer which ended up being our favorite. We enjoyed the festivities for awhile before turning in for the night.

While this was our favorite stop along the drive, we did deal with a little heartache in Valle. Unfortunately due to the large amount of people on site for the event, our car was broken into while we enjoyed the band and fun up at the restaurant. We had a few (thankfully replaceable) items stolen but we were okay, the car was not badly damaged and it would not affect the rest of our time on the road.

Things are just things at the end of the day and the most important part was we were there for each other. If anything good could come from the situation, it was a great learning experience for us. No matter how comfortable you can feel somewhere, you should never let your guard fully down.

After a LONG day, it was time for a good night’s sleep before our long, adventurous ten hour drive into Baja Norte mañana!