L.A. Cetto Winery By Steve Dryden In 1924 Don Angelo Cetto came to Mexico from Italy, establishing a small winemaking business in Tijuana by 1926. Using skills and knowledge gained as a young man back in the Alps of northern Italy near Selva di Levico, Trento, he produced fortified wines such as sherry and port in traditional Italian style Don Angelo created quality wines from low quality grapes allowing him to supply locals and Americans seeking refreshment during the days of prohibition in the United States. The business flourished, enabling Don Angelo to expand his grape growing operation and purchase his first ranch, El Escondido, between Tecate and Tijuana. The winery now owns about 2,000 prime acres throughout Mexico’s wine growing region between Tecate and Santo Tomas. The Cetto family continued to produce red wines in Tijuana and white wines in Tecate during the sixties and seventies. In 1965 Don Angelo invited Camillo Magoni to join the Cetto winemaking operation. Camillo was twenty-five years old at the time, already an experienced and skilled young winemaker from Morbegno, Italy. This unique blend of Italian personalities produced a wonderful friendship and business relationship that enhanced the operation through consolidation and long term planning eventually leading to international award winning wines. Camillo Magoni is still with the Cetto family today. Don Luis Agustin Cetto, the son of Don Angelo, grew up in the family business and built a working relationship with Camillo Magoni. Together their shared love of wine and a vision of making quality wines at affordable prices for the regional, national and international markets. Their wisdom led them to buy land to grow their own grapes, building “a pyramid” and solid foundation for international award-winning wines. The Cetto/Magoni partnership grew rapidly during the seventies due to a partnership with Domecq wines, exports to Los Angeles, and a ban on importing wine into Mexico that created a demand for national wines. Hard work, vision and timing created a winning formula for the family. The first Cetto varietal wines appeared on the market in the early eighties with the introduction of Nebbiolo, Petite Sirah, Fume Blanc and others. Cetto began to export wines in 1985 to Europe and the United States. About this time, Luis Alberto Cetto, son of Don Luis Agustin, began a more active role in the future of the winery. Luis Alberto grew up working in the vineyards of Guadalupe and has worked his way through and trained in every department of the business to including production, quality control and administration. He is the general director of the company managing the growth of the business and guiding the development of international markets for their Baja wines. Seventy-eight years of hard work and dedication by the Cetto family and Camillo Magoni (forty years) has resulted in over a hundred awards for quality and excellence in both regional and international markets. L.A. Cetto makes an outstanding Petite Sirah which has received eight gold medals and many other awards throughout the world. Their Cabernet Sauvignon has won nearly twenty international awards, Cabernet Sauvignon Private Reserve gained thirteen awards, and Zinfandel six awards. They also produce an award-winning classic Bordeaux style red wine, Terra, blended with 50% Cabernet Sauvignon, 30% Merlot, 10% Malbec and 10% Petite Verdot. This wine is from their Don Luis Cetto line of premium wines made from very select grapes grown with the highest possible standards and daily management. L.A. Cetto is the largest producer of Nebbiolo wines in the world outside of Italy. The red Nebbiolo grape is often found in Piedmont, Italy, and is known to produce some of the finest Italian wines such as Barolo and Barbaresco. L.A. Cetto Nebbiolo has won twenty-one international medals including a recent gold medal from the Winemakers Association of France and their trophy for “the best red wine of the year.” This private reserve wine is aged in french oak for 14 months and bottle aged two years, with an alcohol content of 13-14%. It has an intense ruby red color with flashes of garnet, concentrated red and black fruits with undertones of prune, vanilla, spices and wood, mature tannins, velvety, dry and well rounded. This wonderful Baja wine compliments red meat dishes, tomato sauce based entries, strong cheeses and is a “Baja Best Value Wine” with a retail price of about $10.U.S. Guadalupe Valley on the Ensenada-Tecate Highway 3 at Km. 73.5 is home to Cetto’s largest wine facility producing over 900,000 of premium cases per year of pr. Their tasting room is open daily 11am-5pm allowing visitors to taste wine and tour the winery. Adriana Cetto Salazar manages the Tijuana wine boutique where visitors sample Cetto products, purchase event tickets, attend concerts, dinners and art shows. The newest addition to the operation is La Cava Boutique located just before Ensenada on the main road one half mile before you reach the city. La Cava is a fun and exciting venue filled with a mixture of good wines, snacks and interesting, sophisticated wine lovers and romantics! Open daily 10-10 and 10-12 on Friday and Saturday. The L.A. Cetto family hosts special events and
concerts throughout the year and is looking for
international wine lovers to join their family,
fans and guests. Look for concert and event information
in The Baja Times calendar of events. More
information about L.A Cetto wines can be obtained
by calling from U.S. 011-52-664-685-3031. Web:www.lacetto.com.mx ,
email:cavatijuana@gpocetto.com |
L.A.
Cetto winery is Mexico’s largest producer
of wine with three wine tasting rooms all within
easy driving from San Diego, Tijuana, Rosarito
and Ensenada. This Italian family provides regional
and global markets with affordable quality wines.
In fact, their winemaker, Camillo Magoni, was recently
selected as “the top winemaker in the world” by
the Dutch magazine, Vinbladet. Wine lovers
should visit their state of the art facilities!
