Sometimes El Valle welcomes you with open arms, and sometimes it can be a little coy.
Last weekend we went to Valle de Guadalupe with our regular traveling compadres, Marc and Valarie and also brought some first timer's, Val's sister, brother and his wife.
The goal of the visit was to regale these Midwesterners with some our favorite places. However, El Valle had a different idea. It needed to remind us that occasionally you need to be patient and let the valley reveal its charms in its own way, in its own time.
We rolled into El Valle around noon on Friday and thought we would visit a winery before a lunch. The plan got off to a rough start. We discovered that our first two choices, Vinedos de Garza and Mogor Badan, were closed. Not to be we deterred, we continued down the road to Lechuza which also displayed a cerrado sign.
At this point there was nothing to do but park, pull some beers out of the cooler and enjoy the perfect weather.
Our patience was soon rewarded when Adam and Kristin who operate the winery drove up and asked how they could help. We told them about our predicament and they explained that Drew Deckman was getting married that weekend and that many people in the valley had closed up shop so that they could attend the festivities. Our conversation continued and before we knew it we were sitting around a table, sharing a bottle of Lechuza's wine, and gushing over the cuteness of Roy, the couple's two month old baby boy.
Kristin and Roy are incredibly nice and extremely gracious hosts. I highly recommend dropping an email to Kristen before your next trip to the valley and arrange a tasting at Lechuza.
Kristin@vinoslechuza.com
On Saturday our frustrations bubbled up once again.
After visiting a couple wineries we started craving the lechon at Troika. Our salivary glands were operating in overdrive when we approached the foodtruck and saw and smelled whole pigs roasting over coals. However, our excitement turned to extreme disappointment when we learned that Troika was hosting a private event and was closed to the public. Arrgh!
We then decided to return to the place we were staying (El Parral) and snack on some of the bread and cheese we had bought on their lovely patio.
Great idea but made difficult by the fact the shortest return route was closed due to the Rosarito to Valle de Guadalupe bicycle race. We backtracked and took the long route to El Parral only to be delayed even further by a crew filming a television show. Double Arrgh!
Nerves were a little frayed, but not for long.
After we finally arrived, I noticed that Albert the owner of El Parral was on the patio with some of his friends. They had just completed the 40 mile bike ride (the same one that blocked our quick return) and were enjoying a well earned beer and grilling something on the BBQ. Our group was immediately welcomed and invited to share in the festivities. We gladly accepted
The beer was cold and the tacos delicious.
Valle de Guadalupe, no hay otro.
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