About a decade ago while I was managing the legendary Corazón de Tierra (in Guadalupe Valley), I also had the chance to visit some of the top producers in Baja California on a regular basis.
While the story of fine wine is Mexico is relatively short, the country has a long history of producing wine. Spanish missionaries established vineyards for liturgical purposes. In Baja California some vineyards are well over 50 years old, with some reaching over a century.
Juan Carlos Bravo is one of the few who didn’t arrive to Guadalupe Valley, he’s a local who has spent his whole life in valle, as locals call it. He works with just two varieties, Carignan and Palomino. A graduate of La Escuelita, the winemaking school that Hugo d’Acosta ran in the early 2000’s.
He makes three wines, his white wine from Palomino and two wines from Carignan, a rosé and a red. All of the wines are worth seeking out and tasting, specially the red, a wine of great intensity and complexity very unique to Baja California. The Palomino is fresh with herbs, flowers with citrus notes. While the rosé has fresh berries and peach with wild herbs.
Availability in the US can be tricky, but with a little effort on wine-searcher you can find it.
The wines
JC Bravo Palomino 2023
Aromas of fresh herbs and white flowers lead to citrus and grainy smith apple. Fresh with a creamy texture the flavor profile has white flowers, eureka lemon and bitter herbs that finishes with a saline note. Very well done. 90
Varietals: 100% Palomino
Drink: 2026 – 2032
JC Bravo Carignan Rosé 2022
This rosé opens with red berries and peach with just a touch of flowers. With great energy and purity con wild herbs giving a little complexity to the fruit, this is a very well done and easy to drink. Highly versatile with food. 90
Variedades: 100% Carignan
Consumir: 2026 – 2029
JC Bravo Carignan 2020
Here we clearly step into another level. There’s greater complexity and depth. Baking spices, fresh herbs and a touch of cocoa give way to blackberry, red plums and black raspberry. Medium bodied with a beautiful texture and excellent freshness, it coats the palate with a mixed of red and blue fruits, fennel and bitter chocolate. There’s also a floral undertone. Beautiful now. 94
Variedades: 100% Carignan
Consumir: 2026 – 2040
