Jesus Ibarra of Vinart Winery

Mexico’s Top Winemakers

Ten Top Mexican Winemakers

1. Dr. Camillo Magoni 2. Dr. Enrique Ferro 3. Dr. Victor Torres Alegre 4. Christoph Gartner 5. Joaquin Priento 6. Jose Luis Durand 7. Sebastian Suarez 8. Renaldo Rodriquez 9. Jesus Ibarra 10. J.C Bravo

Hans Backoff is the most dynamic winemaker, industry leader and visionary who started the artisan revolution back in the mid 1980’s. His understanding of Mexico’s quality fruit sparked a “silent revolution” among smaller producers intent on creating premium wine in Baja California.

Following behind Hans was Hugo D’Acosta, teaching a few generations of aspiring winemakers in the techniques or art of handcrafted wines.

Fastest Rising Stars: Veronica Santiago, Alvaro Alvarez Parrilla, Victor Segura.

Best Growers and Vineyard Mangers: Jose Manuel Fernandez and David Bibayoff

This survey is based on seven years of living in Mexico’s premier wine country via tasting wine, blind tasting, pairing wine with cuisine and embracing artisans directly with winemaker interviews. In addition, I’ve poured Mexican wines in three countries and six regions of the US, among top wine industry leaders and master sommeliers, thus gaining a diverse range of feedback and non-biased evaluation.

Beyond all the marketing hype and propaganda: the truth lies in the bottle. In my humble opinion, these are top Mexican winemakers in the approximate order as listed. However, there are about 300 excellent winemakers in this country, and the dynamics change all the time, For example, one winemaker is great one year and mediocre the next, often times depending on the fruit quality of the specific vintage. My palate may be tainted due to many years of experience in the California wine industry prior to moving to Mexico in 2004. Of course, serious or casual wine drinkers now realize that “the best wine in the world is the one you personally love the best." Thus, this is a general guide for serious wine lovers who want to explore the many possibilities with Mexico’s amazing wine portfolio.

Mexican Nebbiolo Wins Double Gold in Italy

Mexican Wine Conquers Europe Italy hosted one of the most respected international wine competition in April with 4,000 individual bottles of wine judged during that process. Only sixteen wines from around the globe were awarded with gold medals. Despite the fierce competition, a dynamic 2006 Private Reserve Nebbiolo from L.A. Cetto winery won a “double gold” award. This firmly makes the statement that Mexico is making wines of world-class quality, and It’s hard to argue with top wine judges, connoisseurs, sommeliers and the most serious wine lovers in the world. I’ve often said, “forget the hype, and let the wine speak for itself.” For those that are still unaware that Mexico is crafting a handful of world-class wines, why not explore this 2006 Nebbiolo from L.A. Cetto? And, this world-class wine sells for under $15 usd. 

Skeptics should note: Italian Nebbiolo wines of this quality sell for more than $100. Mexico produces under two million cases of wine per year, thus most of our wines are consumed in this country. Fortunately for global wine lovers, L.A. Cetto is one of the few Mexican wineries that exports their wine into most of the international wine markets.