Baja California

Monte Xanic, the new generation of wine in Baja

Hans Backhoff continues the legend started by his father 25 years ago

There are a lot of other things changing in the wine industry besides the cultural aspects of it. Evidently, there are technological innovations in grapevine cultivation, but there are also other phenomena inconceivable until very recently. "Two weeks ago we had a tasting through Twitter and we involved 7,000 people; it is the biggest tasting event ever held in Mexico and Latin America. It was open to public, anyone who wanted to join in, could; the only thing they had to do was buy the three wines to be tasted, they could do so in groups or by themselves. We went to Paris, Netherlands, Argentina, USA… in Mexico we were in Ensenada, Mérida, Cancún, Monterrey, Guadalajara, DF… and at every location people would group and film themselves using their computers. The host site in DF would talk to another place: "How is everybody at Cancún?" and they would be displayed along with their wines. It was like that all through the world. It was really cool, something that had never been done before, we unveiled something very important in the industry, we will see more stuff like that. Guys from rival wineries -who are also my friends- would call me and ask "hey, how did you do that?". The important thing is that we were able to communicate everything we wanted to 7,000 people in less than two hours. It was impressive. There are political movements and a ton of things being done through social media, just imagine if the same is done for an industry so low in resources".

The wine and culture that surrounds wine is one of those cultural phenomena that seems like once it's out there's no way back. "Every day there are more people claiming they know… sometimes people may get a little angry because there's the idea of the "snob", badly so, where people say they know but actually don't… but they love the cult, the fuss … that's inevitable but, it's good, it's good that it exists. Why? Because it becomes something so day-to-day and relevant at the same time: everybody wants to know, everybody wants to pretend they do… They will discover by themselves that they don't know what they're talking about and maybe they'll screw up, but in the end it's great that that "snob" attitude exists, the "I do know about wines, what about you?" That's the point of everything we are doing, it's something that will change little by little. We should be patient."

This Sunday, August 5th, Monte Xanic will host its traditional Concierto del Crepúsculo. In previous years it was Baja California's Orchestra the one livening up the concert, but this year Hans has stepped forward bringing Raven String Quartet, a very talented all-female band that plays from classical music to contemporary pop. "It is part of the generational transformation we are witnessing. Wine has always been an "elitist product, a luxury"… You know what? It isn't like that. We are interested in popularizing it, in having people know it's not for the old folks, it's for the young people too. Who will transmit the culture? The younger generations. But you have to start by educating them. That's where these changes come from, like that Twitter event… But now with the concert it's the same. I don't want my concert to be full of old people, which is the widest sector of classical music aficionados; but it isn't about presenting somebody like Gloria Trevi (a popular Mexican pop singer), either. This kind of concerts unites people who like classical music with young people and people who like wine. It's like a "pairing of cultures". These girls play marvelously from traditional contemporary music to classical; it could be Beethoven or Coldplay.

"Our concert is for people to learn. Tickets start at $100, that's the cost of bringing bands like that. It is my investment as well as the one from assistants going to promote wine culture, not just Monte Xanic, but the entire Guadalupe Valley. Sometimes I'll post a photo of the Valley on Twitter and people would go "Hey, Napa is amazing!" … It's not possible! It's your own country, it's Mexico! Now there are people visiting us like Anthony Bourdain, Rick Bayless, magazines like Wine Enthusiast… They feel like Christopher Columbus, like they are discovering something!

Our generation will talk to our children and say "I remember back when there were about 100 wineries in the Valley", but that is going to change, not only there but throughout the region including Tijuana. It's part of a bigger movement that is growing every day and we are living it.

info@b1mas4.com

http://b1mas4.com

Original Text: César Faz/ Binomio 1+4 Magazine

Translation: Karen B. Licea

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