Dominio de las Abejas Estate
Founded: 2015 by Mauricio Ruiz and family
Winemaker: Mauricio Ruiz (Mexican born, lives part time in Ensenada and part time in Australia where he runs two other organic biodynamic natural wineries
Winery location: Valle de Ojos Negros, Baja California
Region and grape source: Las Abejas is a concept winery that was started based on choosing the best possible piece of land for growing grapes in anticipation of climate change. Their search alighted on a piece of land in the high elevation Valle de Ojos Negros in Baja California, located just south and slightly inland from Valle de Guadalupe. Priority was placed on organic certification since the beginning, and the vineyards are certified organic by the CCOF. All grapes in their wines come from estate vineyards.
Vineyard location, elevation and grape varieties: The las Abejas vineyard is located in a very unique section of Valle de Ojos Negros that was once a marsh, (when the water table was much higher than it is now). The marsh was a resource for untold generations of migratory waterfowl all of which left deposits that enriched the soil. The marsh was gone long before they purchased the land, but the signature of this period is left in the rich and unique composition of the soil which has far more organic content than the surrounding area. At 2,200 ft in elevation, the main challenge of growing grapes here is the threat of frost during the growing season. They grow 10 grape varieties: Nebbiolo, Grenache, Nero D' Avola, Cinsault, Carignan, Chardonnay, Marsanne, Sauvignon Blanc, Colombard, and Zinfandel.
Notes:
- The wines of las Abejas are made naturally. Ambient yeast fermentation, no corrections or additions, no filtration or fining and only a 30 ppm sulfite addition at bottling. This absolute gem of an estate is one of only a handful of organic certified vineyards in Mexico making 100% natural wine that is clean and precise, showing no faults of any kind. Their creations are at the top level of natural wines worldwide.
Total Production: 5 wines 3,400 cases
2024 Saignée - Dominio de las Abejas
Tasting Notes and Drinking Window:
This has been one of the most singularly interesting rosés to come from Mexico since the estate made its debut in 2015, and up until this vintage it has been 100% Nebbiolo. After side experiments over the past few vintages, where they had played with small batches of various blends they alighted on a 50/50 blend of Grenache and Nebbiolo that they plan to work with going forward. The structure of the Nebbiolo combined with the mid-palate an delicate notes from the Grenache, result in a sublime blend that is certain to take those already in love with this wine to another level. Much lighter in color than the 2023, the 2024 seems to be smiling as it looks out at you from inside the bottle.
516 cases made
Drinking window: Upon release - 3 years
Vintage:
2024
Blend:
100% Nebbiolo
Producer:
Dominio de las Abejas
Winemaker:
Mauricio Ruiz - Mexican
Vineyards:
Valle de Ojos Negros - Estate vineyards planted in 2015 at an elevation of 2,200 ft in a unique section of the valley that was once a marsh. Vineyards are certified organic by the CCOF.
Winemaking:
After a low yielding but impeccable growing season, the Grenache was harvested on the 17th of September and Nebbiolo on October 15th (in both cases this was around 2 weeks ahead of their typical schedule). The Nebbiolo clone they use is so lightly pigmented that they actually leave it on the skins for 4 days before fermentation, whereas the Grenache had just 12 hours of skin contact before being separated for fermentation. Each variety is fermented and aged separately and not blended until just a month before bottling.
Like all the rest of the wines from Las Abejas, this wine was fermented on ambient yeasts without any corrections of any kind and was bottled without fining or filtration.
Sulfites: 50 ppmFarming:
Organic, sustainable
Alcohol:
12.4%
