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 Simbiosis Pet Nat - Mina Penélope
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
Pleasure seekers, round two—and this time it’s on another level. A cool, well-watered growing season delivered near-perfect conditions, but what truly sets this vintage apart is how much Veronica learned from the year before. The result is a pet-nat that is brighter, more precise, and even more irresistible than its predecessor. Elegant yet hedonistic, it confirms what the Mina Penelope vineyards have been quietly saying all along: in this place, these red grapes have a natural gift for sparkling wine. Still early in the life of the project, this bottling feels like a major leap forward—effortless, joyful, and completely off the charts.
Only 110 cases made
Drinking window: Upon release - 4 years
Vintage:
2024
Blend:
40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 35% Merlot, 25% Carménère
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 are naturally low fertility and high minerality helping to give distinctive character to their wines.
Winemaking:
Hand-harvested at night on October 1st, at the end of what was a cool, moderate-to-high rainfall vintage (15 inches) that allowed for slow, even ripening just before conditions shifted. The fruit was pressed and co-fermented to 2.3 Brix, then bottled to retain natural CO₂, with primary fermentation finishing in bottle. Each bottle was disgorged to remove heavy sediments and recapped. Fermented on native yeasts, with no corrections, fining, filtration, or added sulfites.
Farming:
Organic, sustainable
Alcohol:
12.1%
