Salud! 10 Interesting Facts About Mexican Wines

In 2021 Mexican wines won 369 awards from various competitions around the world. In order to celebrate, we’d like to share some facts about Mexican wine. Pour yourself a glass and read on…

1. 1. Mexico is the oldest wine-growing region in the Americas (450 years).
2. 2. There are three major wine producing areas in Mexico, with Baja California producing 90% of Mexico’s wine in the Valle de Guadalupe, the “Napa Valley” of the Mexican wine industry.
3. 3. Mexico is not considered a wine-drinking country, but interest in Mexican wine has grown along with Mexican wines’ reputation throughout the world.
4. 4. Casa Madero is the oldest winery in the Americas. It was founded in 1597 by Lorenzo García in the town of Santa María de las Parras (which actually means grapevine) in the state of Coahuila.
5. 5. Valle de Guadalupe—in Baja California—is one of the few places in the world, along with others such as the Napa Valley and the Rhone Valley, in which premium wine grapes can be grown.
6. 6. Average wine consumption per capita in Mexico is about one liter per year (2017).
7. 7. Wine making in Mexico began with the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th Century, when Spaniards brought vines from Europe to modern day Mexico.
8. 8. Legend says that Hernán Cortés and his men exhausted their wine supply in celebrating the conquest of the Aztecs, so he ordered the new colonists to plant 1000 grapevines for every 100 “natives” in their service.
9. 9. The grapes from Spain did so well in the New World that they threatened Spain’s wine exports, prompting Phillip II to prohibit the production of wine in New Spain except for wine for church purposes.
10. 10. Wine production and consumption in Mexico has been on the rise in both quantity and quality since the 1980’s despite competition from foreign wines and a 40% tax on the product.