If you dreamed up a place where you could get away from everything except glorious views, total peace and air so fresh it shocks city lungs, it might look like this.
Only this isn't a dream. It's the bar at Cuatrocuatros, a hotel, winery, real estate venture and event venue at El Tigre, near Ensenada.
Every seat is spectacular. Looking in this direction, Ensenada would be down the coast at the left.
A landlubber? Then perch on tall wooden bar stools and look toward hills inhabited by bobcats, coyotes and wild deer.
The bar is accessible only by a dirt road so rough and winding that no one who's had a drink or two could handle it. Therefore, Cuatrocuatros provides transportation.
Another spot even more isolated is on top of a hill lined with grape vines. This is the place for presenting engagement rings. The groom-to-be could hardly stage the presentation as a surprise. Everyone involved has to be driven to the top in an off-road vehicle.
If you have a cool few million, you could buy land from Cuatrocuatros and build a house, which will entitle you to a share in the winery. Wine production is only 700 cases, and the wines are sold only at Cuatrocuatros.
The first release was in 2009. Current releases include an appealing semi-sweet Grenache made from old vine grapes. It was blended from the 2013 and 2014 vintages, one year with oak age and one without.
Although not far from the Guadalupe Valley, this area is a different microclimate, two miles from the ocean and cooler, says Andrés Blanco, who overseas the bar and other hospitality facilities.
Whereas harvest has already started at some vineyards in the valley, the harvest at Cuatrocuatros won't start until the end of August or early September.
Blanco himself is a winemaker. Above, he's pouring a blend of Tempranillo, Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, a handsome red from 2011.
The 2013 Sauvignon Blanc, which spent some time in French oak, is typically peppery and vegetative. It's a stunning wine from a vineyard close to the ocean.
Cuatrocuatros wines have no labels. Instead, their identity is sandblasted onto the bottle (above). It's another elite aspect of this development, where you can rough it in glamorous cabanas rigged up like tents--unless, that is, you prefer to build your own luxury ocean-view hideaway.
Meanwhile, you can stop buy and pick up a bottle of wine. The address is Carretera Libre (the free road from Tijuana to Ensenada), km. 89, in El Tigre. Call first if you want to buy wine or go to the bar, which is open only on weekends. The phone is (52) 646-174-6789.
Comments