Retire Early
Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler
In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age
of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this
financially independent lifestyle, they invite you
to take advantage of their wisdom and experience. |
|
Cava L.A. Cetto
Ensenada, Baja California,
Mexico
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Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
Billy and I went to
Ensenada
and specifically to the Valley of Guadalupe to taste the wines available in this
region. Over and over we were told that this was the "Napa Valley of Mexico."
Having owned a famous
boutique restaurant in
Santa Cruz,
California for a decade, our wine list had over 100 selections - more
than any other restaurant in town.
So, naturally, tasting the
wines
in this region was a great interest of ours.
Map showing Cava L.A.
Cettto
From
our
hotel we called an Uber driver to take us to Cava L.A. Cetto. The price of the Uber was about $3.50USD.
Somehow, we thought that we
were going directly to the winery for a tasting and was a bit confused when we
arrived.
Inside Cava L.A. Cetto
Our plan was to taste some
wines pared with food.
Arriving just before 11am,
the place was deserted.
A man walked up to us and
we spoke to him about tasting some wine and having some food.
He said "No."
First of all, he said, this
wasn't the winery, there are no tastings here, and the restaurant wouldn't open
until about 2pm. This location was the outlet for the winery and we could
purchase anything we wanted - basically - at cost plus a skinny.
A closer view of the kinds of wines L.A.
Cetto offers
Well, THAT was a fine How-do-you-do...!
Not being Newbies to wines, to restaurants,
to the local Mexicans or to vendors... We kinda hung around, chatting in our
best Spanish about L.A. Cetto and asking substantial questions.
Oscar explained that the winery makes 9
different lines of wines, each with their own character and reasons to drink
them and showed them to us in the storage bins you see above.
We paid respectable attention to what he said
and to the bottles of wine themselves.
Then I had a question for Oscar, which seemed
to open him up. "Why," I asked "was this place called La Cetto
instead of El Cetto. The Spanish articles did not match the gender
of the name."
Aaaaaah.... he said. "That's because it's not
La Cetto, its L.A. Cetto and that's the name of the
founder."
An imperceptible door had been opened.
We were making progress.
L.A. Cetto has won more
than 700 International Medals
Don Angelo Cetto came from
Trento, Italy (near the capitol of Trentino) as an immigrant looking to make a
new life for himself. He founded L.A. Cetto in 1928, and the first wines he sold
were fortified because the grape quality was so bad.
But to the locals and to
Prohibition America, these quality sherries and port style wines were a hit.
Following Angelo's lead,
his sons, Luis Augustine Cetto and Luis Alberto Cetto (hence the L.A. Cetto
label) have also been dedicated to the art of producing wine.
Exporting wine to 27
countries around the world, L.A. Cetto is the main wine producer in Mexico.
Wines under different labels made by L.A.
Cetto:
Classic Line, Stations, Sierra Blanca,
Private Reserve, Don Luis, Boutique, Memorial, Special, Peninsula
Well, it was at this point I batted my
eyelashes and demurely asked if we could possibly taste some wine there at the
Cava.
Oscar softened and offered - as a way of
meeting us half way - the idea that we could purchase any wine and he'd allow us
to drink it there on the premises.
If we'd like.
It was still a bit early in the day, and Billy and I
discussed it together. We thought we could have a glass or so here, then go to
lunch at the dock, bringing our bottle with us and we could finish it there.
Bingo!
That was it.
Private Reserve Chardonnay
So Oscar moved us to another room to taste
our bottle.
The Private Reserve wines have the highest
export from L.A. Cetto with sales in 19 countries. This line has gathered 200
medals and international recognition.
We ended up drinking a glass which we very
much enjoyed! Then we called another Uber driver and for another $3.50USD he
took us to the
malecon where we had lunch.
While we didn't get to the winery itself, we
would recommend this experience (come in after 2pm) and would certainly
recommend this Chardonnay.
______
Cava L.A. Cetto
Address: Km. 73.5 Highway 3
Tecate-Ensenada City, Valle de Guadalupe
Hours: Mon-Sun 9am - 5pm Groups need to call
ahead
Website:
https://web.lacetto.mx/wp/
For more information, photos and stories
about Ensenada, Baja California,
Click
Here
For more information, photos and stories
about Mexico,
Click Here
VIDEOS, VIDEOS, VIDEOS! See Mexico
for yourself! Beaches, Bars, Babes, Great Food, Live Music.
About the Authors
Retire
Early Lifestyle appeals to a different
kind of person – the person who prizes their
independence, values their time, and who doesn’t
want to mindlessly follow the crowd.
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