Harvest Festivities not to be missed

Published July 9th, 2021

Summer is here and with it the joy of the harvest festivities, the time to harvest one of the most revered fruits by man: the grape.

After 2020, these festivities were canceled throughout Mexico, for 2021, vineyards are already preparing to welcome visitors with a healthy distance option and all the safety measures that the pandemic has taught us.

“The grape harvest festivities will be one more proof that during all this time we have already learned how to do things as that we can get together for bubbles, traveling only with our friends and family in groups of 6 to 8 people and enjoying this kind of events that always surprise us,” highlighted Jorge Cabrejos, in charge of the Undersecretary of Tourism Promotion of the Ministry of Tourism of the state of Guanajuato.

In Mexico, the most traditional places to experience the Grape Harvest Festival are Baja California, Querétaro, Guanajuato, Coahuila, and Chihuahua, lands where there are wine regions.

In these areas, from July through October, the grape harvest festivals are held, which include tastings, wine tastings, food and wine pairing dinners, and concerts, among many other activities.

Here are some of the festivals not to be missed:

Baja California

The Valle de Guadalupe is undoubtedly one of the most important places where grape harvest festivals are held. To celebrate the harvest, more than 60 wineries in Baja California participate in various wine-related events.

The festivities and tours in the so-called Wine Route will begin on August 2nd and will last until the beginning of September. During these celebrations, there will be cultural activities, verbenas, concerts, wine contests, and gastronomic samples of outstanding chefs.

Wineries such as Adobe Guadalupe, Vitivinícola Vinisterra, Lomita, Bodegas F Rubio and Bodegas de Santo Tomás, who have confirmed events so far, will participate.

Querétaro

Although some vineyards will resume the harvest festivities until 2022 so that people feel more confident to travel and enjoy the events, some places like Viñedos Donato will hold a Vendimia Petite on July 10 and 17, where groups of a maximum of 10 people can enjoy a four-hour food and wine experience.

“Donato is very important in the Art, Cheese and Wine Route, this allows us to take a product to the new conditions of the pandemic, so I want to congratulate the family because with their help Querétaro becomes an option for national tourism,” said Hugo Burgos Garcia, head of the Ministry of Tourism of the State of Querétaro.

Another vineyard that has confirmed the event is Hacienda Atongo, in the Municipality of El Marqués, which will offer wine tasting, a commemorative glass, and a grape treading show for small groups.

Other vineyards have already opened their doors but instead of parties, they decided to attend to small groups with tours and tastings during the summer, until further notice.

Guanajuato

Guanajuato through its program “Guanajuato, Land of Wines” aims to promote and publicize wine, vineyards, routes, grape harvests, and ecotourism products and thus reactivate the activity of Guanajuato destinations that today “places us nationally as the 4th largest wine producer, with a production of more than 1,000,000 tons of wine per year, with a production of more than 1,000,000 tons per year, and production of more than 1,000,000 tons per year. Wine producer, with an annual production of 700 thousand bottles” said Jorge Cabrejos, in charge of the Undersecretary of Tourism Promotion of the Ministry of Tourism of the state of Guanajuato.

Starting on July 10, the state will host 12 Grape Harvest Festivals that will take place until the beginning of September.

The Festival will begin in Dolores Hidalgo at the Wine Museum and will take place in the municipalities of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, San Miguel de Allende, San Felipe, and Leon.

In addition to offering wine tastings and dinners, these festivities offer the opportunity to vacation in the destination and visit archaeological sites, heritage cities, museums, magical towns, and also have adventure tourism or visit archaeological sites.

The full program of Las Vendimias Guanajuato can be found at www.guanajuato.mx.

These festivities are expected to have around 4 thousand visitors and economic revenue of 7 million pesos.

Some of the vineyards that will hold the Grape Harvest Festival are Camino de Vinos, Toyán, Los Arcángeles, Bernat, San José La Vista, Octágono, San Bernardino, Tierra de luz and Cuna de Tierra.

Coahuila

The Grape and Wine Fair in Parras de la Fuente that would take place next August, is again suspended as a measure to prevent a possible resurgence of Covid-19.

“Therefore, and considering that our vineyards involve and cause, as already mentioned, massive agglomerations of citizens, it is our duty to prevent and abide by the aforementioned measures in order to avoid a new wave of contagions that affect the health and welfare of Parras families,” says the Mayor of Parras, Ramiro Perez Arciniega.

Even so, vineyards such as Casa Madero offers this season guided tours and tastings to small groups who wish to learn more about the history and harvest of the oldest vineyard in Latin America.