Ensenada

 

Another beautiful sunny day, it will be about 25C by midday. It's been many years since I've been to Ensenada and it's certainly has grown. We had a shore excursion booked for this morning, the Califita Valley wine tour. Cost was about $55.00 and it's one that I would highly recommend! It's about a 45 minute drive to get there, and our excellent guide Elsay gave us information on Ensenada, Baja California and Mexico in general as we drove. Very dry countryside with rolling hills covered in boulders. As we get to the Guadalupe Valley there are lots of vineyards. Some have small hotels or inns situated in the vineyards. One had cabins in the shape of wine barrels! 

Our first stop is at Casa de Dona Lupe  It's a small family run organic winery that also sells jams, hot sauce and olive oil etc. This is an informal stop. There are tables set out in the shade with a musisan playing. We are given a tasting flight with 4 wines, along with pizza and crackers with a variety of spreads. We both like the Cab/Sav wine, the others not as much. A lovely property, and a great way to do wine tasting! They have a good sized store selling their products, prices quite reasonable and they take US dollars and credit cards.

Our next stop is just up the road at L.A. Cetto. I had no idea that this winery produces 90% of the wine in Mexico! We have a more formal tour here showing the process of wine making before heading in to the tasting room. Again 4 wines. 1 white, 2 red and 1 rose. Here the Blanc de Blanc was my favorite, though the Rose was very good as well! There was lovely fresh bread with local olive oil as well. The store has a huge selection of wine, it would be interesting to come back with more time and try some more wines. I bought a bottle of the Blanc de Blanc, then as we got back on the bus they gave everyone a bottle of red wine.

Back to the ship about 2pm. I have a late lunch at the Dutch Cafe (apple and bacon pannenkoek -delicious!) We have a lazy afternoon around the pool deck enjoying the sun and the view of the bay. 

Then a last dinner in the Dining room, and packing to go home.

Note - This morning we had our PCR Covid test in the Medical centre onboard. They had phoned us several days in advance to arrange the time. It only took a few minutes, and the results were in our cabin by the time we got back from our Shore Excursion.)