Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/230154
n the early part of 2007, a tall, dark stranger showed up at Monticello Vineyards in Napa Valley asking for the winemaker, Chris Corley. The tasting room staff called upstairs to Corley's office and let him know someone was there to see him. Corley gave his standard, droll reply when faced with such an unknown: "Is he wearing a badge?" The inquiring stranger, Erik Baloyán, was not. But he did mean business. When he was allowed finally to make his way to Corley's paper-strewn office, Baloyán unrolled a set of bulky blueprints. They were plans for a winery – one to be built in downtown Tijuana, Mexico, a once violence-ridden home to 1.3 million people. It was to be the physical embodiment of Baloyán's desire to bring a sophisticated wine experience to the city's burgeoning, urban foodie scene. "I was at first a little skeptical, as Erik came into my office completely unannounced and I had never heard of him before," Corley said. "His enthusiasm was beaming and after speaking with him awhile, I intuited that he seemed like a genuine guy. We discussed the grapes that he had planted, and after talking with AT A GLANCE + The Valle de Guadalupe has lots to offer tourists interested in food and wine. + Casa Baloyán is an up-andcoming winery sourcing grapes from the Valle de Guadalupe and making its wines in Tijuana. + Winemakers from California are working with Mexican wineries to help raise quality in both winemaking and viticulture. + Many believe that Spanish, Italian and Portuguese varieties will do best in the region. w w w. v w m m e d i a.com Erik Baloyán (left) and Chris Corley are working together to produce premium wines at Casa Baloyán in Tijuana. him I was excited about the project, but remained on guard." At the time, Mexico was not a safe place for travelers and Corley's kids were only 3 and 4 years old. "Erik was adamant that I would not be able to say no to the project once I visited his ranch," he said. Corley agreed to fly down and once he visited the vineyard, agreed on the spot to take part in the project. "I was excited about the location of the vineyard within its own canyon to the south of the main Valle de Guadalupe," Corley explained. "The soils are rich and the care in planting the grapevines and laying out the vineyard was very apparent on first sight. I could see clearly there was a team committed to growing the best wine possible." Baloyán was born and raised in Tijuana, the bustling town that shares a border with California, the son of self-made businessman Sirak Baloyán, who built an astonishingly successful family legacy from nothing. He is considered one of the founders of Tijuana, having developed much of its infrastructure. His mother, Afife Baloyán, a Lebanese-born beauty now in her 90s, entertained the likes of Robert and Margrit Mondavi when her husband was alive, and the couple amassed an impressive wine cellar of bottles from Italy, France and California. Thus, Erik grew up with a European sensibility for food and wine. Baloyán, who serves as the Honorary Consulate for the United Kingdom in Tijuana, first ventured in 2003 to Valle de Guadalupe in Baja California, Mexico's major wineproducing region, in search of the right soils for growing wine grapes and a place where he, his wife, Lara, and three young children still to come, could have their own land. He found it, down a long stretch of unpaved, rocky road off Highway 3, known as La Ruta del Vino (wine route). The 5,000-acre estate, a former citrus ranch, lies in the shadows of the imposing Sierra Blanca to its east, a wedge of mountain appropriately named for its shocks of white granite. Only 30 acres are currently planted to grapevines on the estate, but the potential is there to plant more. J a n - Feb 2014 | V INE YA RD & W INE RY M A N A G EM EN T 81