Queretaro is home to one of the largest growing cities in Mexico, but just outside of the “big city” you’ll find the entrance to the Sierra Gorda mountains, a growing wine region and farmland stretching over the green hillsides. Roads are lined with cornfields, hot houses, and dairy farms with grazing animals watched over by…
In the 1970s, Tom spent a few of his summer vacations visiting his grandmother in San Miguel de Allende. Back then the roads were not as convenient as they are today, nor was the bus transportation. Roads were not always paved and potholes could swallow a small car easily. The bus was what you…
Tequisquiapan is the perfect escape from city life. Surrounded by dairy farms and vineyards, Tequisquiapan is an oasis for relaxation with its spas, boutique hotels and countryside activities. Spend the morning hot-air ballooning over the agricultural fields, soak in the special mineral waters at numerous spas in the afternoon, shop at the Mercado de Artisanas…
Most people are familiar with French and California wines. Oenophiles will rave about Italian and Spanish wines. Chile is known for its cheap, but very delicious wines. And Mexico? Yes. Mexico makes great wines, too. The country of Mexico may not be in the top 10 (or even 20) for producing wine, but that doesn’t…
Queretaro’s landscape and climate might not seem like ideal growing conditions with its summer hail storms, but if you look around the world, some of the best wines come from semi-arid climates and high elevations. Queretaro wineries plant their vineyards between 6200-7000 ft elevation which leads to hot days and cool nights. This drastic swing…
San Miguel de Allende has been named the Best Small City in the World in 2017, 2018 and 2020 by Conde Naste Traveler readers, and rightly so. Its location in the heart of wine country probably had something to do it. You can’t beat a combination of colonial architecture, colorful festivals, fine dining and wine…
Buyer beware, you get what you pay for… During my thirty-five years in the wine business, I often came across instances where you didn’t get what you pay for. Fifteen-dollar wines were often just as good as twenty-five-dollar wines. Sometimes fifty-dollar wines were better than one hundred- and fifty-dollar wines. But there is one area…
Dia de los Muertos, or Day of the Dead, is a favorite holiday of the Mexican people. While death is a somber experience in many parts of the world, the Mexicans have created a 3-day celebration filled with music, laughter, and of course, food. If you are planning a trip to Mexico in the future,…
Vendimias have been celebrated for thousands of years marking the end of the grape harvest and all the dedication to the vines for the past year. These huge parties were a way to make work fun with food, laughter and music. Today, instead of grape stomping with our feet, we use machines to separate and…
Ever since we first visited the tiny pueblo magico of San Sebastian Bernal on a tour in 2017, we wanted to hike Peña de Bernal, supposedly the third largest monolith in the world. Little did we know, it would be more than a year after we moved here, and a few mishaps, that we would…
Jacques Cousteau once said the Sea of Cortez is a diver’s paradise with a biodiversity unmatched anywhere. I wholeheartedly agree. The Sea of Cortez is home to countless species of mammals, fish, and invertebrates. Some visit in the winter months to soak in the warm waters, others are permanent residents. On this trip, I visited…
For over 70 years, San Miguel de Allende has well been known as an artisan community and expat haven. Travel & Leisure has named it the Best City in the World in 2017 and 2018 and we can see why. Cobblestone streets, multi-colored buildings, a culinary scene that ranges from street food to fine dining,…