Baja Travel Journal – Wine Country

By our third day of rather hard driving down from Vancouver, Bob and I were more than ready for the indulgent part of the trip. Ensenada is a large wine region just south of the U.S. border. We planned two days at a winery bed and breakfast with winery tours for Bob. Since the rest of our lodgings on the trip were going to cost very little, we felt comfortable with a little splurge.

A word of creative warning. While sitting in the car as Bob drove, I chose to amuse myself with a new photo editor on my Galaxy Tab. Then I couldn’t figure out how to remove my little experiments. That is why all but one photo has a “cool” frame around it.

We stayed at Ville de Valle which is a very new winery. This is also their first year as a bed and breakfast. The owners are committed to sustainable living. I didn’t take any photos but the wine caves have been built with old boats flipped upside down, sealed and covered with soil. They even use the grape skins in the organic garden.

The outbuilding that serves as the kitchen and dining room is all about recycling. The tall, vertical support beams are old wharf pillars from Ensenada. There are a lot more details but I forgot to take notes.

These ladies are stringing marigolds to decorate the altar celebrating the Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos).

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Did I mention the Bed and Breakfast element. I love breakfast so I’m a fan of any lodging that provides a delicious, morning treats. After we were fortified with coffee, scones, muffins, eggs, bacon, beans and tortillas, we decided that we really needed to go for a walk.

When we drove onto the property the day before, I thought this was a sweet little chapel. Given that each winery is pretty isolated, it made sense to me. Well, I was waaaay off.


It’s a chicken coop! No wonder those eggs tasted so good!

The second night we drove over to the Adobe Guadalupe winery which has Bob’s favorite wines. He was such a happy camper!

After two restorative days, we were ready to drive on down the peninsula.