The spirit of Mexico: Tastings spotlight complexity of tequila

Perhaps Mexico's most famous export, tequila has come a long way from its onetime frat-party niche where fortitude was measured by the number of shots, buffered by licks of salt and lime, you could down. Not so long ago, travelers were often surprised to encounter the wide variety and high quality of tequila they encountered in Mexico. In the right hands, the nectar of the blue agave actually is as refined and complex as any fine whiskey or wine.

Though Mexico strictly regulates tequila exports, more and more previously unknown brands have been making it north of the border — so many, in fact, that it's hard to know what to choose. There are a couple of constants: Always look for 100 percent blue agave (the name "tequila" can be applied to anything above 50 percent), and the older the spirit, the smoother and richer it will be. Beyond that, it's mostly personal preference.

Tasting festival

The Spirits of Mexico event, coming to San Diego Sept. 17-21, is one easy way to sample a wide variety of tequila brands, as well as a few mezcal and other spirits made in Mexico. Now celebrating its 10th year, the festival offers seminars led by professionals who cover the history and culture of each spirit, teach proper tasting techniques and impart wisdom about current trends. And of course, there are tastings. Lots of tastings.

The tasting competition (by invitation only) that precedes the festival determines the awards and trophies are announced during a dinner and live auction at Barra Barra Saloon in Old Town San Diego Friday night. Top winners in 2012 were Cava de Oro, best of show, and Jose Cuervo Platino/Pura Vida Silver (tie), Muerto Reposado, El Jimador Añejo and Scorpion Añejo Tobala varietal (mezcal), best in their respective categories.

The Spirits of Mexico is a touring event, starting in New York in May, moving to Chicago in June, and winding up in San Diego. The final San Diego leg, which draws about 2,500 aficionados, claims to be the oldest, largest and most comprehensive such event in North America. A panoply of master distillers, blenders, mixologists, distributors and retailers present both world-renowned and emerging brands, and visitors will be able to tap the knowledge of prominent historians and authors. This year's festival promises more "meet, greet and taste" opportunities than ever, and is adding events that spotlight the spirit, as well as the spirits, of Mexico's history and culture.

Tequila 101

The kickoff event is the brand-new "Contemporary Cocktails/Ancient Cuisine" Cocktail Challenge at the Blind Burro in Downtown San Diego. Chefs will re-create dishes that the ancient Aztecs ate, as well as each dish's contemporary version, offering insight into how the Spanish influenced Mexico's ancient cuisine. At the same time, guests will taste mixologists' best efforts to create the festival's Cocktail of the Year.

A free "Art of Tequila" exhibition opens Wednesday, detailing the artistic passion lavished upon the hand-crafted bottles that distinguish Mexico's spirits from any other in the world. The exhibition focuses on the distinctly Mexican cultural themes that inspire the innovative, often whimsical and sometimes outlandish designs.

Thursday brings the traditional Tequila Trail in Old Town San Diego, presenting signature dishes from local restaurants, along with selections of tequila, mezcal and other Mexican spirits.

The main tasting event on Saturday, at the Information Center Plaza in Old Town San Diego, puts hundreds of styles of agave and other spirits produced in Mexico at visitors' disposal, with food created especially for the event.

Extra credit

Though The Spirits of Mexico will have enough tequila to keep any sane person fully occupied, the festival also offers a rare opportunity to sample Mexican wine, as well as some of the other spirits produced in Mexico that are rarely found in the United States, including:

Bacanora — Distilled for 400 years from agaves that grow in Sonora's Sierra Madres, bacanora was inexplicably outlawed at the onset of the Mexican revolution in 1915. That law was only repealed in 1992, and the state established standards and regulations for its production. The agaves are slowly roasted in underground pits, imparting mineral nuances to the liquor.

Mezcal — Though a generic name for all spirits distilled from the agave, it's more often associated with the maguey agave spirit produced primarily in Oaxaca and to a lesser extent in the states of San Luis Potosi, Michoacan, Jalisco, Durango, Morelos, Nuevo Leon, Tamaulipas and Zacatecas. It is usually produced in smaller batches, and the agave heart, or piña, is cooked in an underground pit lined with volcanic rock. The smoky flavor that results does not lend itself to mixing, so it is usually drunk in straight shots.

Raicilla — A fermented pre-Hispanic drink that has been prepared by traditional methods for 500 years, raicilla is based on wild agave plants, though agave is now cultivated for the purpose in the state of Jalisco. Long regarded as "moonshine," it is now regulated and produced legally in Jalisco. 

Sotol — Produced in northern Mexico from the Desert Spoon cactus (sotol in Spanish), sotol is distilled in much the same way mezcal is. Though common in Sonora, Chihuahua, Durango and Coahuila, commercial versions are extremely rare.

The Spirits of Mexico, Sept. 17-21, downtown and Old Town San Diego. Events $35-$95; combo tickets $88-$265. www.thespiritsofmexico.com, (619) 709-0555.

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Good reasons to visit Mexico's less-traveled destinations

To anyone who was wondering whether President Enrique Peña Nieto would be as staunch an advocate of Mexico's tourism industry as his predecessor had been didn't have to wait long for an answer. Presenting his national tourism policy in February, he said he intended to turn Mexico into a world-class destination, and his new Secretary of Tourism, Claudia Ruiz Massieu, said tourism will be the "engine to drive development for all Mexicans."

Though the presentation was laced through with government-speak and obviously aimed less at tourists than at economic policy-makers concerned with an industry that generates nearly 9 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product, tourists could already see some of the results by the time Mexico's annual Tianguis Turistico, Latin America's biggest tourism trade event, took place in March. Mexico Mix previously covered some of the announcements  affecting visitors to some of the country's most popular destinations in March.

In some ways, Peña Nieto is simply furthering what the previous administration set in motion, including a focus on less visited destinations (basically, any destination that doesn't revolve around a beach). Ruiz Massieu said the plan is to highlight these repositories of culture, adventure, sustainable tourism and gastronomy with specific promotions rather than rely on one big umbrella for all of Mexico. Here are some of the changes coming to a few of these destinations.

Queretaro: High-speed rail link

Mexico's tourism ministry and the state of Queretaro have signed a cooperation agreement to develop a high-speed passenger train service between Mexico City and Queretaro, fulfilling one of Peña Nieto's campaign promises. Still at the technical and environmental study stage, the train will travel at 120 to 140 miles per hour, covering the 160 miles between the two cities in less than two hours. Mexico's old train network, which crisscrossed the country and was by far the cheapest way to travel, was shut down in the 1990s, leaving the country without passenger trains except for "El Chepe" in the Copper Canyon and the short-run Tequila Express in Jalisco state.

Queretaro is a handsome colonial city, surrounded by mountains, whose downtown is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the state is home to a burgeoning wine and cheese region that has been largely overlooked by foreign visitors.

Also under consideration are rail passenger rail service between the states of Yucatan and Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula and between Mexico City and Toluca. Urban rail projects in Monterrey, Guadalajara and Chalco (Mexico state) are also receiving government support.

Mahahual-Chetumal Bridge

The Caribbean coast south of Riviera Maya and the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, christened the Costa Maya by the cruise industry, has grown steadily in the past 10 years as the cruise terminal in Mahahual has become increasingly popular and is only expected to become more so in the future. Cruise passengers—and independent travelers who like the small, minimally developed town as it is—must make a long jog inland and then south to reach shopping and services in Chetumal, the state capital.

The state government is planning to build a 20-mile bridge across Chetumal Bay, 13½ miles of which would be over water, to link the two destinations. The benefit would be even greater to residents and travelers in tiny Xcalak, Mexico's southernmost Caribbean outpost about 45 minutes from Mahahual.

Veracruz: Adventure travel

The under-the-radar state of Veracruz on the southern Gulf of Mexico coast, endowed with mountains, jungle, a major bird migratory route, rivers and offshore coral reefs, is carving out an adventure tourism niche for itself. Little developed outside of its few cities, the state's abundance of open space has given rise to diving and snorkeling, dune-boarding, whitewater rafting, ocean and whitewater kayaking, mountain biking and climbing, horseback riding, rappelling and zip lines.

After participating in the international World Travel Adventure Summit in Chiapas in 2011, when then-President Felipe Calderon outlined plans to develop adventure tourism in Mexico, Veracruz inaugurated ATMEX, Mexico's first adventure travel trade show, last September. This year's ATMEX will be in Boca del Rio, Aug. 14-17.

Zacatecas: Cultural destination

Known best as one of the cluster of old silver mining cities that includes San Miguel de Allende, Queretaro, Guanajuato, San Luis Potosi and Alamos, Zacatecas aims to become "the cultural destination of Mexico." It has plenty to build on, with its famous Holy Week Cultural Festival involving 25 of the state's 58 municipalities (analogous to our counties). More than 500 dancers and other performers participate, and upwards of 50,000 tourists stream in from all corners of the country and beyond. The state is also proud of its renowned poets and its cache of museums, the largest number of any Mexican City except the capital.

Note: The U.S. State Department travel warning for Mexico is currently warning against travel outside the city of Zacatecas, especially the regions bordering Durango and Coahuila states because of drug cartel violence.

Colima: Golf and nature

This Pacific Coast state's major tourist destination is the luxury resort city of Manzanillo, but its tourism ministry is trying to get the word out about its other attractions while still taking advantage of Manzanillo's popularity. The toll road from Guadalajara, the nearest international airport, to Manzanillo has cut the trip to 2½ hours and reduced the number of accidents. The government is beefing up wheelchair-accessible ramps, parking, shuttle vans, emergency communications and other services. Colima touts its unofficial title as the national marlin fishing capital—it even has a marlin tournament for children—and especially its golf courses, which are receiving the highest priority for tourism development. Covering all the bases, it boasts of its safe, well-maintained highway system, which makes it easy to visit the state's small towns and natural areas, particularly its spectacular volcanoes.

Note: The State Department travel warning advises avoiding areas of the state bordering Michoacan.

Former Chronicle travel editor Christine Delsol is the author of "Pauline Frommer's Cancún & the Yucatán" and a regular contributor to "Frommer's Mexico" and "Frommer's Cancún & the Yucatán."

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Cancun and the Riviera Maya in the fall

Cancun and the Riviera Maya account for the lion's share of U.S. tourism to Mexico, and most of those travelers set their compasses south in winter, beginning around the Christmas holidays. Most northerners don't think of the Caribbean coast as a fall destination, but that's when some of the region's best events — aimed primarily at locals, since that's who is around — take place.

This is also the time of year when prices are lowest – right up until the week before Christmas, when they soar to the highest levels of the year. Yes, it's humid early in the season, but November is comfortable and December weather often approaches perfection. If you haven't considered the Mexican Caribbean for a fall vacation before, here are some reasons to try it this year.

Day of the Dead

Roughly analogous to, yet profoundly different from, our Halloween, the annual Day of the Dead celebration (Nov. 1-2) produces some of Mexico's most joyous pageantry, and the Caribbean coast is no exception — the Maya version here is called Hanal Pixán. The Xcaret theme park extends the celebration to five days with its annual Festival of Life and Death Traditions, Oct. 30-Nov. 3. program. Music, dance, visual arts and a patchwork of traditions from cuisine to spiritual rituals to altars and offerings combine to provide the pageantry, and visitors can participate in children's activities and cemetery tours. The central theme for this year's Day of the Dead festival is Ix'tabay, a beautiful woman of Maya myth who appears to men and takes them with her as she walks through the night.

Playa del Carmen's Yaxche restaurant hosts a reservations-only fiesta with traditional Maya food on Nov. 2, attended by a local shaman and a dance troupe that performs a farewell to departed souls. Playa del Carmen hosts a parade down Fifth Avenue, with some altar displays and decorations on the pretty little side street called Calle Corazon. Alltournative, the local ecotourism company, offers a tour to the Tres Reyes Maya community for Day of the Dead observations, including a traditional meal and a ceremony led by a community shaman. 

Food, glorious food

With its famous whale sharks departed for the season, Isla Holbox's tourism slows to a trickle. But visitors savvy enough to visit this fall will reap the benefits when the tiny island shows off a culinary might wholly out of proportion to its size during the Second Annual Holbox Gastronomic Festival, Oct. 16-20. A pantheon of visiting chefs and local restaurants (CasaSandra, Paraiso, El Chapulin, Mandarina ...) will showcase Caribbean flavors, fresh seafood and international dishes prepared in unique island style. In honor of the occasion, the carless town's famous golf carts will stage a parade through the sandy streets.

Playa del Carmen started its annual Taste of Playa food festival five years ago to honor the creativity and diverse cultural influences of the Riviera Maya's cadre of chefs. This year's event, Nov. 24 in the Parque Fundadores, will have more than 30 participating restaurants, from traditional and contemporary Mexican to European meats and cheeses, French pastry, Mexican-Asian fusion, Cuban seafood, Thai, vegetarian, sushi and an array of cocktails and tequila. 

Cancun's Underwater Museum

Cancun's Underwater Museum (Spanish acronym MUSA), which sank its first set of sculptures to the bottom of a national marine park in the waters between Cancun and Isla Mujeres in 2010, has installed 11 new sculptures, designed to be altered by the fish, coral and other marine life that colonize them. Even bigger news is the opening of a visitor center in the Kukulcan Plaza luxury shopping center. Featuring 26 replicas of the most popular submerged sculptures, it also offers exhibits showing sculptor Jason deCaires Taylor's process, step-by-step, for creating internationally recognized art installations that become part of the marine environment. Another center, which will emphasize the Underwater Museum's role in marine conservation, is planned for Isla Mujeres.

See more photos on the Get Lost travel blog

We got culture

Cozumel's Fall Cultural Week, Oct. 19-27, takes place at venues all over the island. Culture meets ecology through various events such as a Mother Earth ceremony, a water drum/fire-dancing performance, an organic market, a puppet theater, films and videos, an organic agriculture conference, contemporary dance and ballet, an organic gardening workshop and concerts.

The Riviera Maya Jazz Festival, Nov. 28-30 at the Mamitas Beach club (end of Av. 28 Norte), is ranked as one of the world's top 10 jazz festivals. Among the jazz legends and Grammy winners who have appeared in its 11 years are George Duke, Four Play, Sergio Mendes and Herbie Hancock. This year's festival will bring Grammy-winning guitarist Frank Gambale, pianist/composer Jim Beard and ground-breakers Earth, Wind & Fire to the Mamitas Beach club.

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Highways from Cabo expand tourists’ Baja horizons

Despite predating Los Cabos by about 400 years, and serving as Baja California Sur's capital for the past 183, La Paz has been overshadowed by the glitzy upstart to the south. Instead of the likes of John Wayne and Bing Crosby escaping the Hollywood hustle to trek dirt tracks to some of the world's best sport fishing, you have Jennifer Aniston and George Clooney jetting to Los Cabos for a weekend of golf or partying.

The bright side to Los Cabos' dominance of Baja (and Mexico) tourism is that the rest of the cape region has changed very little over the years. Cabo vacationers have tended not to venture far from their cocoons of all-inclusive resorts, pricey restaurants and nonstop nightclubs. A day trip to Todos Santos, maybe, but not much more. The rest of the cape remained remote, not in distance but in time and fortitude required to get there. And La Paz? Why make the more than three-hour trip when you've got all the comforts in Cabo?

With the completion last year of a fast, new four-lane stretch of Highway 1 north from Cabo, and a four-lane expansion of Highway 19 up the West Cape, drive times have been cut by more than half to La Paz (now 1.5 hours) and Todos Santos (45 minutes). More tourists are expanding their Baja horizons, but the cape beyond Los Cabos is still far from overrun. There is more development pressure, but so far it's been kept to a minimum, and local activists have so far managed to block a Cancun-sized resort with two golf courses from going up within the marine national park off Cabo Pulmo's pristine shores. Several luxury developments are breaking ground to take advantage of the increased tourism ... in Los Cabos.

It seems that tourists who choose Los Cabos for a vacation are still going to spend most of their time in Cabo even if they find it easier to venture farther out to explore more often. Which is kind of ideal, really; the rest of the cape should continue to offer a glimpse into the Baja of old, while locals who depend on tourism for a living enjoy a boost. Here are some of the places enjoying the benefits.

La Paz: The unassuming but lovely and very Mexican capital — one of Mexico's safest cities, with a homicide rate lower than San Francisco's and comparable to Tacoma, Wash. — is seeing the most benefit, as it becomes a reasonable alternative to Cabo for people coming to the area. Peaceful as its name, La Paz remains focused on day-to-day work rather than tourism yet provides everything a traveler needs: a beguiling malecon (seafront walk), pleasant and affordable lodging, seaside restaurants, movie theaters, abundant festivals and white-sand beaches with incomparable sunsets. While the abundance of marlin and sailfish in La Paz' waters are still a major draw, the city's offerings have morphed into ecotourism, much of it centered on uninhabited Isla Espiritu Santo, about 20 miles off the coast.

This doesn't mean there have been no changes. Golf, for one thing. La Paz' first remotely Cabo-class resort, CostaBaja is 5 minutes north of town and includes the city's largest public marina, an 18-hole golf course with panoramic sea views, a spa, three pools and three restaurants plus a pool bar. The resort includes residential condos and is about to announce a major addition to the property. Also removed from the core of the city is a residential golf resort, Paraiso del Mar, on the Peninsula El Mogote, which faces La Paz's malecon across a short stretch of water. All units are privately owned, but guests can rent condos and homes much as they would a hotel room.

Todos Santos: Los Cabos' sprawl abruptly gives way to rolling hills and a string of surfing beaches along Highway 19. The highway passes through tiny El Pescadero, home of a large organic farm that supplies local restaurants and more distant importers, before reaching Todos Santos. No, its legendary Hotel California was not the place in the Eagles' hit song (that wasn't a real place, folks). This 18th century mission town lies 2 miles from a string of beguiling beaches, in a fertile valley lush with farm fields, palm groves and mango and avocado orchards.

Changes here did not happen suddenly. The town's colonial buildings and ethereal light have beguiled artists and intellectuals since the 1980s, and artists drew other expatriates, and the art drew tourists. Restaurants, a bookstore and other niceties. Slowly, the graceful old buildings found guardian angels who renovated them, and new hotels opened, each a little more luxurious than the last (including the current incarnation of the Hotel California). One of the latest, Casa La Tota, is a new downtown building that blends seamlessly into the old colonial structures. Despite its rustic elegance, rooms start at $100 in high season.

Los Barriles and the East Cape: With about 5,000 locals and expats, Los Barriles, is the East Cape's metropolis by default. Despite a fringe of palatial homes, the town center is classic Baja, where chickens scratch in the streets and tortillas and cement blocks are both made by hand. The town is a sports fishing hub that has been adopted by windsurfers, hikers, divers, bikers and eco-tourists. No big new resorts on the horizon, but Los Barriles has accumulated a respectable collection of comfortable, reasonably priced lodging, restaurants and services. If you're looking for more of a resort, the Punta Pescadero Paradise Hotel, about 8.5 miles (but nearly an hour) north on a dirt road tracing the cliff's edge, is an old-time lodge for fly-in fishermen that has been renovated into a sleek, modern resort hotel.

About 25 miles south of Los Barriles on a mostly dirt road, Cabo Pulmo remains literally off the grid, running on solar power and the occasional generator. The town consists of roughly 100 residents around a few restaurants, a dive resort, a general store, and several dive shops that mine the riches of the only living coral reef on North America's west coast. You don't even have to snorkel, let alone dive, to view a kaleidoscope of tropical fish, rays and sometimes a nurse shark. All you have to do is wade into the crystal-clear water. The marine trove is protected as a national marine park, and you might be asked to pay a small use fee if you go into the water.

Following the rutted dirt road south will take you past the enclave of Los Frailes, especially good for fishing, and all the way back to Los Cabos. It's a beautiful drive, but it might shake your fillings loose.

Santiago and the Sierra de la Laguna: Drivers might pay no notice to the small mountain towns of Santiago and El Triunfo as they whiz along Highway 1, but they are worth a day of exploring. These neighboring towns were the heart of Baja California's gold- and silver-mining boom. Santiago was originally founded as a mission, but its mission today is agriculture; after you pull off the highway you enter town through fairytale vistas of colorful farm fields and orchards that scramble to keep up with the demand for organic produce from Los Cabos restaurants, hotels and markets.

Besides the well-maintained mission church and the traditional plaza with its produce market, the venerable Palomar restaurant, bar and hotel was a favorite of Hollywood elite. Santiago is also the gateway to the Sierra La Laguna Biosphere reserve, source of the Baja peninsula's water. About an hour's hike will take you to the Sol de Mayo waterfall.

Former Chronicle travel editor Christine Delsol is the author of "Pauline Frommer's Cancún & the Yucatán" and a regular contributor to "Frommer's Mexico" and "Frommer's Cancún & the Yucatán."

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