I flew to Mexico City yesterday for the first time in 25 years: I'm spending a week here on vacation with friends and family. Walking around after the afternoon thundershowers, I thought I'd see if I could buy some Mexican wine. Thankfully, the locals were incredibly friendly and pointed me towards a small wines and spirits only shop two blocks from my apartment that was filled to the roof (literally) with the kind of international wine selection you'd expect in any world class city: Champagne, Chablis, Rioja, Brunello, all of the world's greatest hits. I was hoping to find some of Freixenet's Mexican wines, but all they had was their Spanish wines. I asked in terrible Spanish if they had any Mexican sparkling wines... and yes, they found two wines in stock. They fetched it from the top shelf, dusted it off, sold it to me, and here's what I remember about it from last night:
This appears to be traditionally vinified with second fermentation in the bottle. Beautifully packaged, with all of things you'd expect (perforated foil, custom printed cage, etc.), it appears to have been produced by something called Wine Products of Tijuana, which to my American ears isn't appetizing. However, the wine itself is most definitely appetizing, with a fine, persistent bead and appealing yellow color. There's not too much by way of smells, here, alas, but that's no problem as the wine is eminently drinkable, full in the mouth, and (thankfully) no more residual sugar than any other wine in this class. This is a well crafted wine and can definitely hold its own with any American wine in this price range; to me, this is even slightly preferable to Korbel thanks to its restraint with regard to sweetness levels. I'd buy it again.
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