ADVERTISING: Advertorial — Tricks from Mexico

Mary and I had the good fortune to travel this week to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, a good friend of ours has rented a home there for an extended stay and we went to visit. We have written several times on the challenges of finding wine when traveling away from your home market. San Miguel presents a unique set of challenges, while it is a destination for tourists from all over the world it doesn’t have the same draw as the oceanfront locations. The wine selections therefore have a different focus.

San Miguel is a lovely mountain town north of Mexico City known for its colonial feel, vibrant arts scene and stunning views. While we have been in the town before it was 14 years ago, and every place changes over that stretch of time. For all of us the challenge is, when you find yourself someplace that is less familiar how do you go about finding wine that we will enjoy?

You should always start with where the majority of wine is imported from in a foreign country. While Mexico has its own wine production industry, I am less familiar with their wines, and appellations. The industry is relatively small, so for us here in the States we don’t see much of their wines. Given the proximity though and their trading patterns the wineries of South America are well represented. So traveling to Mexico or any other country knowing where most of the wine is coming from is key. You will know the varietal selection that is the largest, and a bit about the winemaking style.

You should reflect too on wineries you have enjoyed from these areas in the past. We are very fond of Garzon winery from Uruguay, Casa la Postole, Trapiche, and Norton as well as others from Chile and Argentina. Whether you are checking out a restaurant wine list or searching in a wine shop or liquor store for a wine to enjoy having the names and labels in your mind will allow you to quickly search for not only something acceptable but wine you look forward to drinking.

Vintage knowledge helps too, at least the minimum of what years to avoid will give you an advantage in finding great wine to drink. If you are at a restaurant and either the language barrier or the lack of description of vintage and the like is an issue ask to see the bottle prior to purchasing, this will allow you to gather more intel on just what the wine is. We have never found a server anywhere resistant to bringing the bottle table side for a quick peek.

For by the glass selections in a restaurant it is best to just request a small sample to see if you are likely to enjoy the wine if the producer, varietal or region are completely unknown to you. In San Miguel like most any location we have found servers to be more than willing to allow us to taste before committing to a full glass.

The universal trick if the wine list or selection at the local wine shop is completely unknown on every level the best bet is to trust the local expert. Your server or wine specialist in a shop has a vested interest in providing you with the advice you need to find a wine you will like, no one who works in the wine industry has the goal of selling some bottle you are unlikely to find delicious.

Our visit to San Miguel was lovely on every front and we were thrilled to find many of our favorites from South America readily available.

• • •

George Balling is co-owner with his wife, Mary Lancaster, of the dinner party, a wine and gift shop in Coeur d’Alene by Costco. The dinner party has won the award for best wine shop in North Idaho twice, including for 2018.