It was precisely yesterday when I was anxiously waiting to be picked up by a white van belonging to Five Star Tours at the San Ysidro border, which divides the United States and Mexico between the county of San Diego and the city of Tijuana. The reason why? Well, it was to go on a small road trip to get to know the internationally known "Ruta del Vino" (wine route).

Never before had I ever taken a trip through this route in such an entertaining way, like I did with the people of Five Star Tours, who made it seem as if I was taking a road trip with my family on a weekend. As we crossed through Otay in Tijuana, the tour bus driver Atala started to tell me about her experiences that she has had at work, and also about how tourists who come to visit Baja California, change their perception about the region after visiting many places and seeing all of the good things that the state has to offer.

After stopping by and picking up one of our partners in the "20 de Noviembre" "(November 20th) neighborhood, Cesar Sayago, joined the tour and promised to make this an unforgettable experience. And after a pleasant journey full of talk and laughter, and even some pictures that we took along side of the road of a few places of interest, we finally arrived at our first stop at the L.A. Cetto wine house.

Upon arriving to this vineyard, I was impressed. The view was so stunning that it made me think of a Tuscany, Italy type of setting. According to our tour guide, L.A. Cetto is one of the largest vineyards in Baja California, and it shows. It took us a while to get to the front door, where once parked, we headed straight to a courtyard where there were some white rustic metal tables with many tourists already sipping on some fine wines. All around us the trees seemed to move to the rhythm of bossa nova music accompanied by the singing of a few peacocks that inhabit the vineyards in the area.

Upon arriving to this vineyard, I was impressed. The view was so stunning that it made me think of a Tuscany, Italy type of setting. According to our tour guide, L.A. Cetto is one of the largest vineyards in Baja California, and it shows. It took us a while to get to the front door, where onceparked, we headed straight to a courtyard where there were some white rustic metal tables with many tourists already sipping on some fine wines. All around us the trees seemed to move to the rhythm of bossa nova music accompanied by the singing of a few peacocks that inhabit the vineyards in the area.

After a brief introduction to one of the managers, we then joined the tour through L.A. Cetto, where our guide Iker, in a very unique tone of voice, explained in detail the process of how the grapes go from the ground into the bottle in such detail that no doubt showed his expertise on the subject. He took us to where the large barrels of grape is fermented, and left no details out in regards to the entire production process. We finally ended up in the cellar, where large French oak and American barrels preserved the wine until its perfect age.

After the explanation of the wine production process, Iker then led us to a small room with two bars on the sides. It was that time that I had been waiting for, the tasting. The first round of wine was traditional wines which you can basically find in grocery stores like Merlot, Chardonnay, Sauvignon and Chenin Blanc Cabernett to start with. All rich and generous wines, but they were not the strong cards. That was yet to come and it was a pleasant surprise. The private reserve which was offered to a much smaller group of people, had a quality and taste of wine that was simply awesome. The private reserve is just something exquisite, especially the Cabarnet Sauvignon, full of flavors of wood and red fruit.

L.A. Cetto is one of the oldest wine houses in the region and the years of experience is noticeable in their wines. And although the number of people visiting the vineyards every day is impressive, personalized attention never ceases to be present, providing exceptional service and quality to anyone who would like to take a tour of L.A. Cetto.

To book your trip with Five Star Tours, click here.

You can also visit their offices at 1050 Kettner Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101

Phone: 619 232 5040 * Fax: 619 232 7035 *

Email: info@fivestartours.com

jorge.guevara@sandiegored.com

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