We woke next morning, made coffee and tea and fed the dogs. While waiting for for our friends to arrive we watched the Global BC TV News, tidied up a bit and struggled with the painfully slow internet.
Time passed and still they did not show. Eventually they arrived about an hour after we had expected them but we eventually realised what had happened: While Texas ( in the same time zone as central and eastern Mexico) would not revert to Standard Time until this coming Sunday, Mexico put the clocks back last week.
Art rode with Jesus and Marta with Gillian followed in the jeep. We had been to this French restaurant with them before but could not remember exactly where it was. We will now be able to find it on our own as it it right on the periferico and next to a large supermarket.
After a wonder breakfast--Art and Jesus went with a typical regional dish of scrambled eggs and dried beef which was wonderful. Gillian went with scrambled egg and croisant combination. We had a great time visiting but it was soon time to part: us for some grocery shopping and Jesus had some reports to finish for work. Art teased that he had to fake his expense account but Jesus assured us that they check every peso claimed!
They led us to the supermarket which though almost next door had divided highways in our path. It would have been tricky to describe how to drive there. We said our good byes, decided to stay another day and Jesus said he would call in the morning when he knew what the day would bring him. He did suggest that we visit a "near by" winery--the oldest in the new world, opened in 1597.
Back to the Trailer Park we put the groceries away, spent some frustrating time trying to work on the blog and eventually gave up and turned the satellite system on.
Next morning during breakfast Jesus called to say that he had just received word from his office that they had another project and would be unable to see us today but recommended again the winery and had actually telephoned the manager, whom he knew, and asked him to expect us! We invited Marta to join us, she was able to get some free time and arrived an hour or so later.
We all piled into the jeep and off we went. We hadn't actually checked to see how far away it was, Jesus said maybe an hour, Marta an hour and a half. It was actually closer to two hours on a good highway, much of it a toll road.
Early explorers in the Sierra Madre Occidental, instead of finding the gold, silver or gems they were searching for, found water--at an elevation of 5000 feet--in a large shallow valley fed with underground rivers and springs and a native grape variety. Here a winery was established using these native grapes, and these vines we later spread through out the Americas.
Casa Madera is located on this historical site where wine has been produced for over 400 years.
When we arrived we were met by Maximiliano, the manager, who hailed from Argentina. We didn't have to be told--his accent gave him away! A friendly, smiling man he took on a tour of the grounds and around the vineyards.
We were then handed over to Joe, or Jose, a fluently bilingual young man who took us on most interesting tour of the winery. The tall tanks are 100,000 litre fermentation tanks, there are 11 of them. These are the older ones but still in use when required.There is even some older stuff here--that is no longer used, and of course, much more modern equipment.
Here are some more pics, in no particular order.
We did get a tiny taste of a couple of their brandies, a few drops from a dip stick. One recently put in the barrel was a bit rough, another about six years older was much smoother.
After a couple of hours we left for lunch, though not without stopping at the shop for some wine and bottle of brandy. Maximilliano had recommended a place in Parras (Vineyard) for lunch which we found by following his directions. We had our lunch in a beautiful courtyard then left for home.
Unfortunately, we didn't have directions as to how to get out of town, and even with the GPS's assistance it was a bit round about!
Eventually we were back on the road to Saltillo. We arrived back at the trailer park well after dark and very tired.
We didn't bother with dinner, tried to watch some TV then went bed before 9:00 PM.
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