2023 Monte Xanic Calixa Cabernet Sauvignon Syrah Valle de Guadalupe 6pk 6x750ml

Monte Xanic is Mexico's first boutique winery — established in 1988 in Valle de Guadalupe and credited with putting the region on the international map. The five founding partners set out to make the best wine possible in the country, and their success sparked a movement: grape farmers across the valley started making wine from their own fruit instead of selling it off.

Today Monte Xanic farms sustainably across 100 hectares in six vineyard sites and operates one of the most ecofriendly wineries in the region.

Calixa is the estate's more accessible line, launched cautiously in the late '90s and now the engine of the winery's growth. Under winemaker Oscar Gaona — a Valle de Guadalupe native — the 2023 shows Monte Xanic's renewed commitment to quality even at the entry tier.

This vintage is an 80/20 Cabernet-Syrah blend, harvested in late September and early October, fermented in stainless, and aged eight months in second- and third-use French oak. The light oak treatment keeps the wine fruit-forward and honest to the grapes — no overwrought extraction, just 35 PPM sulfites at bottling.

Valle de Guadalupe sits 70 miles south of San Diego in Baja California, where Pacific influence and high-desert diurnals give the fruit clean acidity and expressive aromatics. Cabernet here drinks more like Napa's cooler sites — structured but not heavy, built for the table.

The 2023 is violet-edged with a crisp red-fruit nose — raspberry, plum, blackcurrant — plus soft wood, vanilla, white pepper, and a hint of eucalyptus.

Round tannins, fresh acidity, warm but not hot alcohol. The kind of red that makes sense with grilled lamb, mole, or a Wednesday night.