The Valle Seco Estate
The Valle Seco Estate was founded in 2009 by Federico Lencioni & Francisco Sarabia who decided in that year to plant a vineyard in their vast highland ranch. They had noted for years that this parcel was consistently covered in fog and breezy throughout the morning, two traits that made it ideally suited for a vineyard site.
Since then it has been a bit of a fairytale success story for these ranchers turned winemakers whose grapes have been sold and used in wines that have consistently won top awards in every competition they entered. Selling grapes was never their plan A, and in 2018, when the vineyards had reached a level of maturity that they felt confident in, they started making their own wine.
In 18 they teamed up with the well-known winemaker/enologist Sergio Heras, who has been making wine Northern Baja for a decade and is one of its most well-respected winemakers, and stage two of the dream began.
Today they make 4 wines: A natural Cabernet Sauvignon, a traditional red blend, a rosé of Mourvedre and another blend called K3 that is not exported. They use certified organic yeast to make the Rosé and Tinto and the MI prima Vera is fermented on ambient yeast. Here are some of the details about their estate and vineyards:
- Their southeastern facing vineyard site is located 18 miles from the Pacific in Valle Seco at an elevation of 1,800 ft. Soil is composed of decomposed granite, sand, and some clay.
- Vineyards are completely isolated from any other wineries and farmed organically and sustainably.
- The vast highland plain where the winery is located has better water reserves that most of the viticultural regions of Northern Baja, and it is accessed by a pump powered by the wind. That’s right, the windmill that appears on their logo is an image of the windmill that was erected nearly 100 years ago and still serves to pump up the water from the underground aquifer for use in the winery.
Total production: 29 acres under vine, 4 wines, 1,200 cases
2024 Valle Seco Blanco - Valle Seco
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
Grapes were picked by hand on the 30th of August from high elevation vineyards in Valle Seco. The first harvest for this plot, the intention was to wed the body of the Sauvignon with the floral notes of the Muscatel, but at a point in the development of the Muscatel that it delivers a crisp and bright vein of acidity without getting too “perfumy” as the grape can sometimes be guilty of. If this reads as a combination you haven’t tried before, you’re in good company because it’s rare to say the least and yet it works here like a song. The backbone of this winery is a family of farmers, and they brought all of their agronomist hats to the table when deciding what to plant for white grapes in this wayward site high in the hills of Baja. Impressive right out of the gate and wetting the palate for what’s to come.
only 145 cases made
Drinking window: upon release - 5 years
Vintage:
2024
Blend:
75% Sauvignon Blanc, 25% Moscatel
Producer:
Valle Seco
Winemaker:
Sergio Heras - Argentina (lives in Valle de Guadalupe)
Vineyards:
Valle Seco – From the only vineyard in a high elevation valley which lies up above Valle de Guadalupe where the Guadalupe river originates. Elevation is 1,800 ft, and the soil is largely granite with some clay. Vines for this wine were planted in 2020. All estate owned. 20 hectares in total.
Winemaking:
Grapes were picked by hand in the middle of the night on the 30th of August maintain acidity, and then cold soaked before pressing. The grapes were pressed and left to ferment in a stainless steel tank at low temperature for a period of 2 weeks. After fermentation, the wine was racked off the sediments and held for an additional 4 months in stainless tanks before bottling.
Sulfites: 12 PPM at bottling
Farming:
Organic, sustainable
Alcohol:
12%
