The Mina Penélope Estate
Founded: 2014 by Verónica Santiago and Nathaniel Malagón
Region and grape source: Wines are primarily made from organically grown estate vineyards tucked into a tight fold on the valley wall of Valle de Guadalupe. They source from additional select vineyards as needed from vintage to vintage. All are organically maintained.
Winemaker: Verónica Santiago (Mexican born, studied agriculture at University of Monterrey)
Vineyard elevations and grape origins:
- Valle de Guadalupe - 1,000 ft - (Nebbiolo, Mourvedre, Montepulciano, Aglianico, Syrah, Grenache, and Sauvignon Blanc). Decomposed granite and clay soils.
Notes:
- Production is minuscule; everything is done by hand by a husband and wife team who are the definition of the passion one finds in the small growers of the region.
- Vineyard site is 15 years old and Nathaniel Malagon who tends the vineyards comes from one of the oldest grape growing families in Valle de Guadalupe.
- Winemaker Veronica Santiago is one of the most well-respected winemakers in the valley and her pallet has shown itself in blind tastings to be one of the best. The wines she and Nathaniel are making are at once elegant, informed, and remarkably rustic old world in style. These wines follow closely the natural wine making style championed in the Loire and Saone valleys and emulate closely the body compositions and flavor profiles of the wines made in this area with minimal intervention.
Total production: 9 wines, 1,300 cases
2024 Amber - Mina Penélope
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
In this vintage, we finally see a pure expression of the Mina Penélope estate, as the wine was made exclusively from estate-grown fruit with no additional parcels blended in. The season brought moderate to high rainfall (15 inches), and the fruit reached perfect ripeness just ahead of an unexpected storm, resulting in a level of complexity and concentration that is rarely achieved. Experiencing a skin-contact wine of this caliber can redefine one’s perception of the category—the composition is simply too compelling to ignore. This is the wine that has evolved the most since the estate’s inception, and winemaker Verónica Santiago notes that it is also the one that teaches her the most, demanding the highest level of precision and attentive care.
109 cases made
Drinking Window: upon release – 4 years
Vintage:
2024
Blend:
100% Sauvignon Blanc
Producer:
Mina Penélope
Winemaker:
Veronica Santiago - Mexican
Vineyards:
Estate vineyards at the base of Valle de Guadalupe on the border of the village of San Antonio de las Minas and the last ridge separating the valley from the Pacific. The vineyards are planted on the slopes of a tight fold of the valley that creates a very unique microclimate that is much cooler and wet than anywhere else in the region. The land itself is at an elevation of around 950 ft and contains clay–granite soils, which naturally low fertility and high minerality help create a distinctive expression of Sauvignon Blanc with tension, structure, and aromatic depth.
Winemaking:
Grapes were hand-harvested on August 15th, pressed and fermented with skins and seeds for 12 days in a stainless steel tank. After fermentation was complete, the wine was racked off the lees and aged for an additional 12 months in stainless with occasional gentle battonage. Only native yeasts are used for fermentation and the wine is bottled without fining, without filtration and without corrections of any kind. Zero sulfites added at bottling.
Farming:
organic, sustainable
Alcohol:
12.2%
