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
2025 Sauvignon Blanc - Mina Penélope
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
If 2024 was about precision, 2025 sharpens the picture even further. An exceptionally dry season in Valle de Guadalupe—just 96 mm of rain—combined with a frigid winter and warm, fast-moving summer led to lower yields, pristine fruit, and an earlier harvest that locked in freshness and energy.
At Mina Penelope, this Sauvignon Blanc continues its rise as a regional reference. Still firmly old-world in style, it delivers taut acidity and a sleek, angular frame, now with an extra jolt of vibrancy. Veronica Santiago’s signature is clear: focused, expressive, and increasingly compelling.
155 cases made
Drinking window: upon release - 7 yearsVintage:
2025
Blend:
100% Sauvignon Blanc
Producer:
Mina Penélope
Winemaker:
Veronica Santiago - Mexican
Vineyards:
- Valle de Guadalupe, ejido of San Antonio de Las Minas (60%) - Estate vineyards planted in 2016 at 1,100 - 950 ft elevation, 2 miles from the Pacific. Decomposed granite and clay soils. 450 plants. Semi-dryfarmed.
- Valle de Guadalupe, ejido of Francisco Zarco (22%) - Nathan’s family’s vineyard, 1,100 ft elevation, 10 miles from the Pacific, planted in 2000.
- Valle de Guadalupe, Pasini Vineyard (18%) - Planted in 2004 at an elevation 985 ft in soils of sand and clay. .25 hectares.Winemaking:
Harvest was mid August (Mina and Malagon vineyards Aug 15th, Pasini Aug 18th) slightly ahead of a “normal” vintage. The wine was destemmed by hand and then pressed in their wonderful old, (if challenging) basket press, before being racked of the gross lees and fermented in stainless steel tanks for 26 days. No malolactic. After fermentation the wine was racked and aged in stainless steel for 4 months. Sulfites: 26 ppm
Farming:
organic, sustainable
Alcohol:
12.5%
