All language subtitles for I.M.U.S01E02.Baja.California.A.Wine.Region.with.No.Rules.1080p.AMZN.WEB-DL.DDP2.0.H.264-iRMAS_track3_[eng]

[wind blowing]

[thud]

[Drew]
Wine is cultural.

And wine is art.

[water spraying]

There is such a human side to making wine.

It's not just a beverage.

It's being farmed.
It's the soil. It's the weather.

It's the terroir,
the heart of the winemaker.

[squelching]

That's what goes into every glass.

[serene music]

I've lived and worked all over the world.

In 2012, we opened Deckman's en el Mogor

in Valle de Guadalupe,

on the grounds
of an organic farm and vineyard

with the goal to be
as close to a sustainable

zero-kilometer restaurant as possible.

And I think I finally found my home.

[music intensifies]

I came here
because of the incredible ingredients

that come from both the Sea of Cortez
and the Pacific Ocean.

We have beautiful produce,
cheeses, meats, olive oils,

all within mere miles from the restaurant.

For me, it really is a chef's paradise.

After I became a Mexican citizen,

it was important
for me to travel the country…

…and meet like-minded chefs,
ranchers, producers, fishermen, artisans

who shared my commitment to responsible
and sustainable farming and fishing.

Join me as we explore and deep dive
into the magical landscape of Mexico

and discover its rich culinary tapestry.

INGREDIENT
MEXICO

[music continues]

[Drew] For a country
not known for its wine,

Mexico is making a name for itself
and getting noticed by wine aficionados.

[pensive music]

It's a region where there are no rules
that winemakers must follow,

where the vineyards grow
a blend of varietals from the world over.

[Lulu] The fact that there's no rules
and there's no legislation for the moment,

and we're discovering
different varietals, the region,

the potential,
just a new history being formed.

This is not happening
anywhere else in the world.

This is very special
because of the moment.

The momentum is now.

There's a great deal of creative activity
in this part of the world.

In many ways,
there isn't much history here

to hold us back or to guide us,

which is why things can develop
in an unusual way.

We're not a DOC yet.

So here you can grow any grape you like.

Here we are free,
and this is so typical of Mexico.

[Drew] In the mid-1980s,
a group of forward-thinking pioneers

began to change
the trajectory of Mexican wine

and began producing
high-quality boutique varietals.

[Hans] Mexico changed dramatically
after the decade of the 1980s…

WINERY

…and it definitely had different people
being part of that movement.

It was a team effort,
and it was a Mexican wine,

and it was quality that really lifted up

and is responsible
for this big boom that we have today.

[Drew]
As the wine industry flourishes,

world-class chefs
are coming to the valley,

pioneering Baja cuisine
and embracing gastronomy at its roots.

Valle de Guadalupe, in Baja California,
is one of the most exciting wine

and gastronomy regions in the world.

Well, wine and gastronomy go together.

Absolutely. You cannot think about one

without relating it to the other.

You cannot drink
a glass of wine just like that.

You need something nice to eat with it,

and you cannot eat a nice plate
without a glass of wine.

[classical violin music]

People don't expect anything
from Mexican wine

because probably 80%, 90% of people
never have tried a Mexican wine.

So it's surprising for everyone.

You know that chardonnay
has to be like this, right?

But how about a Mexican chardonnay
or a tempranillo-sauvignon blend?

So I think Mexico, or Baja,
is cool because of that,

because you don't expect
anything out of it.

So it just blows your mind instantly.

It's one of the nice things
about being here in Baja California

that you can really do
sort of whatever you want.

Exactly.

[violin music resumes]

[Eileen] Because of our gapes' quality
and our climate here,

as the years progressed,
a sentiment appeared

within the few people
that were here in the valley making wine

that this could actually be a place
that could be a very well-known

and very quality-oriented wine region.

And that was led largely by Hugo d'Acosta
and Hans Back off of Monte Xanic.

[soft music]

Really, when you think about Hugo d'Acosta

and what his legacy is on the valley,
essentially what…

He was the first person
that started to convince

grape growers to make wine.

Basically, what had happened
was there were three big buyers.

This is late '80s.

And those three big buyers
had gotten to a point

where they so controlled the market.

It was really oppression on these farmers,

and it was more expensive for the farmers

to raise the grapes, pick them,
and bring them to the buyer

than it was for them just to leave it.

The price had become so low
and the farmers were so pushed down

that there was no incentive
to continue growing good fruit.

And Hugo said, "Well, I'll buy your fruit.

Why don't I make some wine?
Why don't you make some wine?

You're growing great fruit.
Why not start a winery?

Why don't you make wine
from your own grapes?

We don't have to sell it."

And really convincing farmers
to take that step up

and now become winemakers.

I think that's Hugo d'Acosta's legacy.

I think, becoming the catalyst,

the fire starter…

…for grape growers to become winemakers.

At that moment, we needed
to develop a strong culture…

WINEMAKER

…in terms of winemaking,

but the land, the plants,
the vineyard was here.

So the only thing that we needed
was working together

to develop a Mexican personality.

If we help people to make better wine,

the region will have better quality
and better reputation.

If we are able to pass something good,

something strong to the new generation.

And that is probably
the most important work,

the most important subject
that we need to take care of.

Well, this is a momentum.

Now, we are a lot of people
with different ideas,

with different wine schools,

trying to show
what is possible to do here,

which will be the best grape
or the best wine to make here.

The valley said,

"Well, I give you
the best weather conditions possible,

and you can experiment
as much as you want."

And that's something
I really, really enjoy

about spending time with Hugo
and understanding his wines.

He's been somebody
that's facilitated the ability to learn,

giving people a platform
to learn about wine with Escuelita.

That philosophy and that point of view
of opening up and sharing,

as opposed to, "I'm really good at this.

I don't want anybody to see
over my shoulder what I'm doing,"

is such a progressive mindset.

And understanding that
if he wants the destination to excel,

and succeed, and reach its full potential,

he can't do it by himself.

He needs to give other people the tools,

and that's what's created
these very curvy,

beautiful avenues of wine in a valley, uh,

where it's just unbelievably sincere

and true expression of wine creativity

that I'm not sure is happening
anywhere else in the world right now.

[gentle music]

[muted]

[birds chirping]

To the south, well, or to the north,
any other part of Mexico, apart from here,

the traditions are very deep.

The culture is obvious.

Hundreds and thousands of years
of history behind it.

The people who've arrived more recently
don't have ties to the past so much.

Or if they do, their tie is
to where they came from,

but they arrive here
and realize that they can start again.

So we could do whatever we want,
and there's nothing to hold us back.

So, the rule is there are no rules,

except that we tend
to want to use local ingredients,

to have a philosophy about food,
which mirrors the philosophy about wine,

for things to be as natural as possible,
as local as possible,

and as sustainable as possible.

And so we've created
a whole new Mexican gastronomy,

which is Baja Cuisine,
which never existed anywhere.

And because there were no rules here,
because there was nothing here,

people have been able
to actually create something

that's now really
in the vanguard all over Mexico.

This is the prologue
of the book of Valle de Guadalupe,

and we are ending it.

The first chapter, I think,
is the second generation.

When you go to Tuscany,
when you go even to Napa, especially Napa,

they have at least 40 years
with the certainty

that cabernet sauvignon is the grape,

and that they have to construct
everything around that varietal…

MEXICAN WINERY

…the commercial aspect,

the agricultural aspect
and the aspect of the winemaking.

And us, as a first generation,
uh, we can get away with it.

Since we are the first generation,
we have the opportunity

and we have also the freedom to explore.

For example,
here we have one Spanish varietal

and the rest are French varietals.

All of them from the Mediterranean.

But you just travel one kilometer
or half a mile,

and you go to a winery
that only has Italian wines.

And then you travel
maybe two kilometers or four kilometers,

and you have a crazy guy
that has malbec or pinot noir.

So that, again, I think the diversity

translates to everything that we do here.

[gentle music]

[muted]

Natalia Badán
is the matriarch of the valley.

She was raised here.

Her family's owned this land
since the early '50s.

Her family was key
in the initial development of the valley.

Uh, her father planted Olivares,
the carob trade.

And has been an extreme force
in conservation efforts.

She's an activist.

She's key to the past and the future
for Guadalupe Valley.

[muted]

I think it's tough in a very small area
like Guadalupe Valley

to really… define one varietal

or a couple of varietals
that define the valley.

Just because it's so varied
from the upper part of the valley,

it's a totally different climate
than San Antonio de las Minas.

Uh, and then because there's
so many different people

from so many different places,

I think, with this wine,
you've defined the valley.

But the valley through the eyes
of the Badán family.

-Yes, sure.
-Right?

So, this is your heritage,

and you've treated French grapes
in a way that has become Mexican wine.

You're not attempting
to make a bordeaux replica,

but you're respecting
your heritage in the terroir,

the terruño, the context of your ranch.

Yes, but I think we're still very young.

You know, this boom began
about 30 years ago.

So that makes us very, very young.

And I think we'll have
to adapt to climate change.

We'll eventually have
to look for other varietals.

And with the time, I think,
we'll find some varieties that express.

You cannot force it.

You know, you really have
to adopt the rhythm of nature.

And every time you make a wine,

it takes you one year to begin to know
what is going to happen with it.

So that takes many, many years. I think--

-But nebbiolo does very well, right?
-Yeah.

Tempranillo does very well.

Anything that absorbs the heat
and takes the dryness,

-and the lack of water.
-Yes, yes.

And we're having trouble
with cabernet franc, for example,

which I like very much.

But we're still experimenting a lot,
and we're making very good wines.

I think every year they're better,

because people are
much more knowledgeable.

That's a hard one,
that's not an easy one to say.

-[laughing]
-That's a tough one for me--

So, the fascinating thing about it
is that you're always learning.

All the time.

And through this knowing and learning,

every year we can discover things.

Definitely.

There's no one style.

Again, coming back to history,
we all have a history.

And Hugo had his personal history

in Montpellier, where he lived,
and starting here.

I was in Bordeaux.
Víctor Torres Alegre was in Bordeaux.

There are young winemakers
who come from Australia now,

who are Mexican
but studied in Australia or in Spain.

And that just means that today
we have a lot of different styles,

a lot of diversity.

When you taste something like this,
a cab franc and petite sirah blend,

who would think of blending
petite sirah and cab franc, right?

It doesn't make sense at all.

Who has petite sirah
apart from California and us?

Not even in France.

It's a varietal that's disappearing.

So it's cool to find it again in Mexico.

All of these things
just make it so exciting and fun.

And people that are very--
I studied in Bordeaux so…

Snobbish, classical wine drinkers
see this and go, "Wow!"

How can they not fall in love?
Because they want that.

Step out of the golden cage
and do different stuff.

That's exactly what's happening.

I have one that's called El Bastardo.

That's montepulciano and mourvèdre.

Nobody would think--
Italians and French would kill us.

They would kill each other,
and they would kill us afterwards.

But it's amazing, it's great.
It makes us advance so much quicker.

You know? We are very young.

There's been winemaking in Mexico and Baja

for ages, centuries, literally.

As an industry, we're very young.

I could think of Monte Xanic in the 1980s,

that really started pushing us
as an industry.

So we're in the second generation
of winemakers,

and we're advancing
and doing co-fermentations,

and natural wines, and co-planting,
and orange wines.

And things that a lot of people
wouldn't dare to dream of elsewhere

because they can't,
because of an appellation.

And this just makes us
learn so much quicker.

[serene music]

[Drew]
As you travel around the world,

so many wine-growing places
have an appellation.

-Uh-huh.
-If it's from Mâcon, it's got to be…

If it says Mâcon,
it's got to be chardonnay, right?

If it's from Sancerre,
it's got to be sauvignon blanc.

And if it's not,
it has to say what the varietal is, right?

We don't have an appellation yet.
I think it's coming.

I think that, eventually,
we'll have something that identifies maybe

almost like the German way
of identifying favorable growing regions,

as opposed to saying
what grape has to be from a certain place.

How do you define Baja wines?

I think that
what makes it more attractive,

what makes it exciting and vibrant,
is this freedom that we have.

Most of us didn't have a grandparent
that taught us how to make wine,

-or even a parent.
-Right.

[Alberto]
We're first generation.

Which is really different
when you think about Europe or other--

-It's like--
-You inherit a--

Fifteenth generation.

Or… what is the Rothschild thing?

It's like, "How do you continue
to make such good wine?"

"Well, you do it for 100 years
and figure out all the errors,

and then you just repeat that
for the next 200."

They're like,
"Oh, okay. That sounds easy."

Well, it's very exciting
to be part of history,

of the discovery of what is Mexican wine.

[in English] Something you and I
have talked about a lot is

what is that magic point
when you decide to harvest?

Because that makes a huge difference.

And you can't just go,
"Okay, what has this number of Brix,

time to harvest."

Because it's not just the sugar,
it's so much more.

-Yes.
-And just playing that…

…sort of, moving scale of,

"Well, what do I want
the wine to be at the end?

How complex is this for a rosé?
Or is it for--"

There's so many options, but just that…

And I'm guessing,
it's probably for you guys…

Uh-huh.

…it's the biggest pressure point
of the year.

Once the fruit's in your winery,

I'm guessing you got it
more or less under control.

These gray hairs are precisely that.

Choosing the best day to pick,
because there's only one.

-There's one best day to pick.
-You can't staple them back on.

Yeah. One thing is your sugar,

which is your alcohol content,
and your acidity.

But what's more important in the wine
is the flavors you get out of it.

So the last analysis you do is,
walking through the vineyard,

trying the fruit,
because there isn't an instrument

but yourself to taste the flavors.

You can't have a lab analysis for flavors.

That's a good point.

And the day of harvest is
taking the picture,

and you have a composition,
you have your lighting.

That can't change. There's no going back.

[serene music]

[Drew]
So, this is tempranillo here?

Tempranillo to the left,
nebbiolo to the right.

-[Drew] This is nebbiolo?
-Yeah.

-[Drew] They're gorgeous clusters.
-Aren't they pretty?

That's why when we do
our testing for the Brix,

-we want to on do both sides, high, low.
-You test on both sides.

Um, because oftentimes
when people just pull a cluster,

it's not a true representative
of where we're at.

Hmm. Right. Because morning fruit--
morning sun, afternoon sun.

Well, and you saw the end caps
of the tempranillo,

-and then look at what we have here.
-You scatter all over the place.

Yeah. I mean,
this will never come to fruition.

So we're going to have
to go through and drop it.

-[Drew] Can we do that right now?
-Please.

One of the parts about being a winemaker,

once it's in the winery
to a certain extent,

you sort of have control.

You can control temperature,
you can control volume of the vessel,

you can control how much air--

-you control a lot of things.
-Okay.

But when the grape
is still hanging on the plant…

…your decision when to pick,

it's a… one-shot thing.

I mean, obviously,
you can do separate cuts.

-Right.
-You can do more cuts on the same rows.

You can do--

Well, that's why you also know
a true winemaker during harvest,

the dirt on their boots.

I walk the lines multiple times a day
because-- as a chef, you get it.

In the morning,
that fruit hanging has a different

impact than at the end of the day,
if it was a really hot day

or if you see something is evolving

and you can hit it with a bunch of water

and hope to plump it up
to give it a little more longevity, it's--

It is a dance in hoping
not to step on each other's toes

and trying to figure out the best time.

But once you cut it off the plant,
you can't put it back on.

-Right. It's done.
-Then you have-- your parameters are set.

Your acid is what it is,
your sugars are what it is.

And then, therefore,
that's when you have to maybe become

a little more creative
with your fermentations

by working with temperature,
working with yeast.

But, I mean, I guess,
just like raising children,

-you can't just set it and forget it…
-That's what I do.

…put it into a calculator
and have this awesome result.

I mean, you have to be just
as interactive with the growing process

as you do within the fermentation,
as you do within the aging.

And so there has to be
a great amount of respect

for the process in the field.

And I also think
that they respond well too

if you walk through
and show them a little love.

When I'm harvesting,
I'm always playing music, and…

-You're one of those.
-I am.

-Yeah.
-But I do it by myself.

[mockingly] Sure.

-I do.
-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I wake up at four o'clock in the morning
[chuckling] with my headlamp.

[Drew]
Oh, man.

I don't know how many times
and how many hours,

and days, and sunsets…

-And sunrises. [chuckling]
-Sometimes sunrises.

I sat here with your dad.

The first few years,
I think, were really special.

I think having my dad here,

who created this relationship
with the community…

I think that's something
that you also helped teach me.

I remember my third month here,

I was just so privileged.

And we were at our lunch at Laha.

"These people cannot respect my time."

And I was on one…

And you just let me go,

and then you said to me,
"Okay, cool, Kris. You have two options.

You can walk around
with this heavy backpack,

and you could just be angry at everyone.

Or you could realize that these people

are inviting you into their community,
and it's their culture.

So how about you change your priorities
and your expectations around

to fall in line more with what's
already going on here?"

And that kicked the pedestal out
from underneath me.

And I was like,
"There's a reason this gringo is existing

down here in goodness."

And then, between you and Dad,
I mean, my first four years here

were fun, full of good times.

-It's still fun.
-It is.

I miss your dad.
I miss your dad every day.

My dad always found an excuse
to show up at your restaurant,

and you also were a horrible influence.

It would be 6:30 in the evening.

-We were mutually horrible.
-[laughs] "All the reservations are in.

The grill is still hot.
You wanna come over?"

My dad's like, "Well,
we can't let that grill go to waste."

"He's burning a firewood.
Somebody's got to eat something."

Yeah, but I think that what I love
about the two of you guys together

was not only did you have
an adventurous spirit,

but also your high respect

for the idea of coming in

as an immigrant, if you will.

It's coming in and embracing
the culture and adapting.

And, you know…

I think that's also what we do
as chefs and winemakers alike.

The idea of coming in
and respectfully taking the ingredient

or the space or the community
for all of the beauty

and not trying to change it
in a personal way,

but trying to leave a positive impact.

So when you are gone,
people think fondly of your experience.

And that was something my dad did well.

[Drew] I've seen changes in you.
I've seen changes in Lechuza.

Where do you think this is going?

I mean, it's obvious
that we have some issues,

some growing pains right now
in the valley.

Where's this headed?

[Kristin]
The water thing is beyond.

We don't have nearly as much watering
because all of these new vineyards

are sucking up
all of the superficial top watering.

Um… not only that.
The tourism is different.

Ten years ago, when we opened,
we would blow up balloons

and stand on the side of the highway
and wave people down,

hoping that they would join
our family table's barbecue, you know.

And now we have to turn people away
because we can't fit it.

Where is it going to be in ten years?

Man, I hope it slows down,

and I hope that we can
invest in proper infrastructure

to keep our existing community safe.

The folks who work
every single day in these vineyards

and have for generations
should have running water in their houses

rather than a four-diamond resort

with a massive bathtub.

There has to be some sort of balance.

-Here's to Lechuza.
-Cheers. Thank you.

-Here's to Ray.
-Thank you.

Congratulations.

When we think of winemaking,
we think of a winery,

but actually it's agriculture.

It's down in the vineyard.

So, my most important job
is being in the vineyard.

I'm over there
three times a week tasting grapes,

and you have to have
a balance between acidity and sugar.

And that depends on your palate, right?

Like, Kristin, who I love,
can choose to harvest a certain date

because she likes--
It's like a chef, right?

She likes her chardonnay a certain way.
I like my chardonnay another way.

I always talk with examples,

and I like this example
because it talks to you.

Like tomatoes,
if you want to do a carpaccio tomato,

you have to choose
a certain type of tomato.

If you wait too long,
with an overripe tomato,

and you cut it, it'll be impossible.

That tomato is great for sauce,
but not for a carpaccio.

You have to think of a grape the same way.

If I want a crisp, bright,
non-malolactic, non-oaky chardonnay,

then I'm going to harvest it early

because I need that freshness,
that sharpness, that crispness.

It's all about just being in the vineyard,
tasting the grapes.

I hate numbers, I hate having Brix, or…

You know it's all about senses.

I'm always tasting the grape
just to see just to see

when I have the perfect balance
between that nice acidity,

brightness, and sugar,
density, creaminess,

and then I choose when to harvest,
and we have to do it immediately.

Cooking and making wine
is very personal and very intimate.

I had built my life in Bordeaux,
and I wanted to stay there.

But when I saw
that Eileen and Phil Gregory, who I love,

came to Bordeaux,

presented their wines,
and started to talk about the Valle,

I'm like, "Oh, my God.
They're American and British.

They seem so in love
with the region, they…

I want that. I want to be in love."

I was in love with what I was doing,
but not maybe with the region as much.

Listening to them and seeing
their eyes light up, I was, "I want that."

So I came back to Ensenada
and started tasting.

And, God, it was amazing,
and I think that's the difference.

When you go to Vena Cava,
and you have Phil's wine, it's Phil.

It's him, first person being involved,

and personally and directly
being involved in it.

So that made the difference,
and that's when I chose to come back home.

And it's cool,
and I think Baja is amazing.

You actually get to see the people
who are behind each project.

We need to taste every week,
and then we adapt whatever we're doing.

So that's the fun part of it.

It's always… You know, wine is living.

So we always adapt to what we're tasting.

Tasting is a very, very important part
of what we do.

And I think, again, coming back to Baja…

…we still do it because we don't have
to do a certain type of product.

We can do whatever
nature gave us that year

and adapt to the terroir,
adapt to the grapes

without having to do
a protocol or a certain type of product.

This can change every year,
and nobody would hate us because of it.

So it's much more authentic.

[pensive music]

WINE ROUTE
PIJOAN WINERY

[Silvana]
I think, in the younger generation,

and even so much more in the younger ones,

we are now very much connected
into the problems

we're going to have
in terms of climate, droughts.

So staying separated from agriculture,
I think, is no longer possible.

Not just for me
that work directly in agriculture.

I think, as a generation,
we're so much more connected to,

"Where did this come from?

What is it doing
to the planet that I live on?

Is it helping? Is it part of the problem?"

Uh, you start to be a bit more conscious.

And maybe our parents
didn't have that connection to the land

as deeply as we have to.

Natural wine is initially
connected very much

to what happens in the field,
in the vineyard, in the agriculture.

So you can't really create
a good natural wine

or have a good conversation
with your wine,

with your grape and with your region

if it's so much more controlled
by many factors.

So, initially,
I like that it's very honest

and very sensible
in the way you approach it.

So, for me, it was
to really understand the region

and to understand the personality

that we're capable
of communicating and expressing.

-This first one is really nice.
-Thank you.

And so this is your wine, right, Tito?

Yeah, this is a blend
of chardonnay with chenin blanc.

The idea is a wine that pairs well
with all the ingredients from the--

-This is Fluxus.
-That's Fluxus. Yeah.

So we met, what, probably 2008 or '09.

At that time, it was still very…

Still pretty small. I mean,
there was only 25 or 30 wineries.

-Yeah.
-And now, how many are there?

-Closer to 200.
-Closer to 200?

Not all of them have wineries,
but they have a wine project.

Okay. This place has changed a lot.

[Daniel] It has changed a lot,
but for me, Baja is amazing.

-[Drew] What changes have you seen?
-In terms of the quality for me.

-For me, when-- Exactly.
-Go up--

The ten years
that I've been standing here,

-I've seen ten--
-Different-- [laughing]

-Very different…
-Very different.

-…seasons and very different results…
-Seasons, exactly.

…at the end of the year
when you're harvesting the grapes.

-Yeah.
-So as we get more time on the vineyards,

we're getting more complex fruit,

which is also allowing
you guys to produce better wines.

That and the know-how,
the years of experience,

getting to understand our site,

its limitations, which is scarce water…

…that makes you understand
that your only growth is

making the best and the most
out of what you have.

We're already at a point
where water is in everybody's mouth.

It's a big deal.

I mean, we've reduced
the size of our gardens

because of lack of water. We've…

A lot of things aren't producing
because of lack of water.

What's our future? Where are we going?

Where do we find that stop
so the wine culture can continue

and not the night club culture
or the cantina culture

that's going to end up taking
all the water that we need for the grapes?

That's a one million
dollar question. [laughing]

But you guys are young and smart.

[Drew in English]
Alberto, where are we going?

[Alberto]
Ideally, it would be to translate,

to communicate to the new players
that are making projects today.

They didn't live the initial days,
the glorious days when this started.

So we have to communicate this emotion.

But the important thing is not to forget
what gave identity to this site…

…what gave it a healthy growth.

It was all this camaraderie.

Well, I really respect both of you guys,

and I really enjoy all the wines
that both of you make.

-[laughter]
-[mumbles] Thanks, Drew.

-Thank you for your time.
-Thank you.

[pensive music]

[Drew in English] As the growth
has increased here in the valley…

…we're seeing non-passion-based
investors coming in.

And these non-passion-based investors
are building big wineries

um, with the idea of selling real estate,

um, with the idea of receiving tour buses,

um, and have really become
hostile buyers in the grape market.

And they've come in
and they've gone to these growers that…

I know Natalia's had
more than 20-year relationships

with these growers, and all of a sudden,

"Oh, no, our fruits aren't available."
"Why is that?"

"Oh, well, because
this new winery here came in

and it paid us three times
what the going rate is.

But to sign the contract
and to get prepaid,

we had to agree
not to sell to anybody else but them,

and they buy the entire parcel."

So very hostile,

very, uh, talk-to-the-hand,
kind of, mentality.

People who come to a new place
and then are not good neighbors…

…are not improving the overall…

…um…

…spirit or soul of the valley.

And you're taking people that live…
small wine producers that live

from what they're doing
and now can't get fruit because…

I mean, you could
look at it as capitalism, right?

I mean, it's supply and demand.

The supply just went up
to $4000 a metric ton.

If you can't pay it,
then it's a natural market cleanser.

[soft music]

You know, straight John Maynard Keynes
economy philosophy.

But then there's such a human side
to making wine,

and a cultural side that I think
supersedes the business side of it.

And, you know, wine is art.

It can be art.

Wine is cultural.

It's not just… a beverage.

It's… being farmed.

It's… the soil.

It's the weather. It's--
everything goes into that glass.

The main thing is not to forget
the vocation of the region.

And the vocation is agriculture,

growing grapes, growing olives

and growing Mediterranean cultivars.

And it is the only spot in all Mexico
where we can do that.

So I think that we really have to defend

that vocation for the future.

Because if we lose it,
if we become a city,

we won't get it back.

If we don't conserve
what created the tourism,

the tourism then disappears,
and we're left with nothing,

not the tourism or the agriculture,
which is then gone

because somebody felt like
it was more important to have a hotel.

I always like to say, if 50 chefs
decided to show up in some valley

and open 50 restaurants
in the middle of where there's nobody,

it probably wouldn't do anything,
or bring anybody.

Unfortunately, some of our neighbors

and some of our colleagues forget
that the wine was here first,

and the wine is what allows us
to do what we do.

[Natalia]
Absolutely, because we want it to last.

[melancholic music]

[music fades]