The Santo Tomás Estate
- Founded: 1888 by Francisco Adonegui and Miguel Olmart
- Region and grape source: The winery owns most of the land in Valle de Santo Tomàs, (including the 150+ year old vines of the Único vineyard) as well as 20 hectares of land in the hamlet of San Antonio de las Minas in Valle de Guadalupe.
- Vineyard elevations and grape origins:
- Valle de Guadalupe - Estate vineyards 900 ft (granite and clay soils)
- Valle de Santo Tomás - Estate vineyards 500 ft (variable. High on the slopes it’s mainly granite composed of large granite stones while down in the valley it's sandy soils high in iron and other minerals.
- Winemaker: Cristina Pino (Spanish born, now a Mexican citizen, lives in Valle de Guadalupe)
- Notes:
- Cristina Pino is one of the most highly respected winemakers in the region and a perfect example of the many strong women that are a primary driving force behind the quality and elegance dominating the wines coming out of the region.
- Santo Tomás is the oldest winery in the Baja region. Jesuit missionaries first established vineyards, (now privately held) in 1791 in this valley, just 5 years after the US signed its Constitution. Over a century later, in 1888 the land was purchased by Francisco Adonegui and Spaniard Miguel Olmart and became Mexico's first large scale commercial winery.
- The largest landowners in the 5 valleys of northern Baja, Santo Tomás has access to some of the best fruit available. The quality and balance of their wines is a signature of the estate.
- Since Christina took over in 2019 she has been covering to lower yields, increased quality, and working towards fully organic farming.
Total production: 22 wines, 130,000 cases
2023 Sauvignon Blanc - Santo Tomás
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
A small production wine within one of the larger estates in Mexico, this Sauvignon Blanc is a champion of the estate and a wine that ranks as winemaker Christina Pino's favorite. With four vintages under her belt as winemaker at this estate the 2023 shows she has mastered the options at her disposal, (no small task considering the vast holdings of this estate that are under vine) as it is a refinement of the 2022, and the 21 and 20 before it. A challenging year for whites if you didn’t play your cards just right, this wine shows demonstrates without question that Christina did.
250 cases made
Drinking window: Now - 5 years
Vintage:
2023
Blend:
100% Sauvignon Blanc
Producer:
Santo Tomás
Winemaker:
Christina Pino - Spanish, lives in Mexico
Vineyards:
Santo Tomas is the largest landowner in the region and while not all the land they own is under vine much of the best of it is. The range of soil types is vast but here they are mainly working with sandy soils that have some iron rich clay mixed in as well. When Christina took over the winemaking in 2019, she identified the estate’s Sauvignon Blanc vines as those with the potential to make one of the estate’s greatest wines, so she has put an enormous amount of focus on those lots, and the effort shines more brightly in each successive vintage.
Aging:
Fermented and aged in stainless steel tanks
Farming:
Sustainable
Alcohol:
12.2%
