shoestring gringa

In honor of the festive season, here is some info on the world of affordable spirits (drinkable variety)  south of the border.

Table Wines

For the devoted drinker of red wine, the biggest drawback of living in Mexico is that it is not a wine-drinking country.  I really should have moved to the Mediterranean.

Wine is not everywhere in Mexico.  It’s rarely to be found in little corner tienditas or even midsize markets, and many liquor stores don’t bother with it either.  The best source for wine is the really large supermarkets like Soriana, Comerical Mexicana, and Walmart, which carry selections of imported wine in a range of prices.  Good buys can be had on bottles from Chile, Argentina and Spain.  (Of course, this being Mexico, you’ll probably never find the same thing twice, so don’t get too attached to anything.)  Our biggest find to date has been five bottles of really decent champenoise from Argentina for ~$2 a bottle at a Walmart closeout.

For everyday use, I’ve found two sources of acceptable plonk in Mexico that I can recommend.  One is the  California label, produced by Valle Redondo in Aguascalientes.  It comes in red and white (both are good) and is sold in 1-liter tetrapaks in the aforementioned large grocery markets.  It can also be found at Sam’s Club in gallon jugs at a comparable price.  The regular red and white are still hanging in there under ~$3 a liter as of this writing.  Valle Redondo also offers tetrapaks of a Cabernet Sauvignon (north of ~$4) which I haven’t tried.

Equally drinkable and even a few pesos cheaper is Don Simón, a Spanish brand, in a choice of red or white in 1-liter tetrapaks.

In the same vein and price range, Costco sells gallon jugs of a brand called F. Chauvenet, made in Baja California where something of a Mexican wine industry is developing.  I haven’t tried the white but the red is acceptable although I prefer the other two.

In the ~$7 range, another Baja winery, L.A. Cetto, makes some really decent white wines, although I don’t care for their reds.

The most widely available Mexican wine is Padre Kino, which I find totally undrinkable.  The red is SWEET (horrors!).  I’ve used the white to cook mussels in with okay results.  It comes in cute reusable carafes and the last time I noticed the price it was over ~$4 a liter.

Sherry

Mexico only produces sweet sherry (vino tipo Jerez) that I know of.  I’ve gotten quite fond of it.  Mexican Jerez is dark and syrupy with distinct raisny overtones.  The two brands I’ve found are Valle Redondo and Tres Coronas.  Both are cheap.  It’s really too sweet for most cooking purposes, so I substitute white wine for that.  For dry or medium sherries, Spanish brands can be had for a price.

Liqueurs

Indigenous varieties of sweet stuff are plentiful.  My favorite is Mexico’s version of Cointreau, Controy, which is fabulous (actually tastes closer to Grand Marnier) and a mere ~$8 a bottle.   Also try Rompope (many different brands available), a delicious eggnog-type liqueur, and Don Pancho, an excellent coffee liqueur a fraction of the price of the famous brand.  In addition to the big national brands, there are many small producers of licores made from locally grown items such as quince (membrillo), almonds, etc., whose products can be found in tourist shops, street markets, and local liquor stores.

Beer

If you’re a beer drinker, this is a good place.  Mexico produces dozens of great beers.  Not the cheapest thrill on the block, but good value.

Hard Stuff

If it’s tequila you’re looking for, we are in Valhalla here.  I personally never got into the tequila mystique, it’s all gasolina to me, so I only buy the cheapest, in big plastic jugs.  Rum (destilado de caña) is similarly available at dirt-cheap prices.  I’ve been experimenting with homemade liqueurs using it as a base.  Several brands of Mexican brandy are produced in varying price ranges and quality.

Other types of hard liquor, such as vodka, bourbon, etc. are mostly imported and therefore relatively costly.

Moonshine

A tradition of self-sufficiency persists in Mexico, as evidenced by a wealth of home- and locally-produced drinkables ranging from Sonoran bacanora (a tequila variant) to fizzing batches of tepache (a kind of pineapple wine) ladled from five-gallon buckets by roadside vendors (highly recommended).

¡Salud y felices fiestas!