This is the latest in our twice-a-month series on underrated destinations, It’s Still a Big World. César Fernando Aguayo Juárez, the town historian of Dolores Hidalgo, Mexico, tells a story from the heady final days of his country’s colonial period that has the preternatural weight of history about to be repeated then the parish priest of the rural outpost known at the time as just Dolores served wine made from his own crop of grapes You already have the character of gunpowder.” “These wines that Father Hidalgo makes in Dolores are just as good as the French ones.” the testimony to the quality of the wine made in the region is beginning to echo as a resurgence of viniculture led by a new mold-breaking crew gains acclaim and attention wines from the state of Guanajuato have gone toe to toe with their European counterparts in international competition have celebrated the “revolution” afoot there Aguayo Juárez calls it a “a retrospective reclaiming of history and the detonation of a new industry.” leader of the Mexican War of Independence and recognized as the Father of the Nation Set in the country’s central highlands a few hours’ drive from Mexico City the area’s exceptional altitude averaging 6,500 feet above sea level ensures a unique growing climate Strong evening suns are tough on the grapes driving up the concentration of sugar for fermentation A rainy summer season balances their maturation “They’re wines with a brutality and a unique aroma,” said Erika Diaz a sommelier who coordinates a regional festival and guides tours through her Club de Vino “When you open a bottle of wine from Guanajuato you know it’s from Guanajuato because it’s a wine with its own personality.” More than 40 wine producers now dot the state sommelier Gael Velazquez notes white truffle and white peppers in the vineyard’s premium label the Concours Mondial de Bruxelles gold medal-winning red blend Pago de Vega In this first vineyard in the area’s new wave 27 varieties now wrap around wires and wooden trestles that stretch over the nearly 300-acre ranch a sprawling green campus crossed by dirt paths reddened with clay Adobe from the soil there is mixed with concrete to form adocreto modern Pueblo buildings that house the winery’s production facilities and restaurant the adocreto provides a natural insulation allowing for an unusual above-ground cellar lined with rows of impressive oak barrels—a highlight of a tour that’s attracting greater numbers of Mexicans and Americans each year with many near the historic town of Dolores Hidalgo and San Miguel de Allende a neighboring colonial gem and haven for expats offers tastings and tours of a program led by a Mendoza-trained enologist Lavender bushes mingle with rows of grapevines at Viñedo los Arcangeles farther to the north cabanas for rent and touches of hospitality offer a rustic respite after a day of touring While wine is far from a favorite for Mexican drinkers a coastal wine region by the California border the Guanajuato offerings are becoming more popular boosted in part by a tourism campaign launched this summer that highlights winemaking’s ties to the country’s history a chauffeured day of wine tasting comes with stops to take in local handicrafts and a visit to the Museum of Wine in Dolores Hidalgo a dazzlingly tiled center that details the little known role played by the grape in the Mexican fight for independence Museo del Vino de Guanajuato in Dolores Hidalgo a “humanist priest,” first introduced wine production in the region after taking over the Dolores parish in 1803 The loamy and sandy soil was ideal for grape growing could be an effective commercial opportunity for the indigenous communities which had been left sickened and enslaved by the colonial leadership in place to protect the Spanish crown’s exports barred most production of wine in the colony among the mounting examples of Spanish oppression with his conspiracy said to have been uncovered Hidalgo rang the bell of his church on the town’s main plaza to summon his parishioners is remembered as the call to arms that would lead Political leaders across the country reenact the speech each September in dramatic fashion to mark Mexico’s Independence Day the president of Mexico doing so from the balcony of the National Palace and with Hidalgo’s same bell has the highest concentration of natural winemakers in the country.”A no-frills pueblo for most of the year Dolores Hidalgo transforms into the site of a patriotic pilgrimage with thousands gathered to celebrate in the town where the break from Spain first began Lights and bunting are strung from the roofs of the low-rise buildings and oversized neon signs with nationalistic imagery glow in the tricolor of the Mexican flag on the main plaza street vendors have extended their stalls into the streets themselves popping up plastic tables and griddles with basins for frying quesadillas The drinks of choice here are decidedly unpretentious: tamarind and hibiscus waters and domestic beers If Dolores Hidalgo itself is still more of a Modelo town an early collaborator of Hidalgo’s and his eventual successor at the helm of the revolutionary army San Miguel de Allende’s independent streak has propelled it to global renown Travel + Leisure readers named it the world’s best city Reimagined as an artist colony a century ago San Miguel de Allende’s worn cobblestones and color-blocked buildings have provided inspiration for greats like David Alfaro Siqueiros the Mexican muralist who taught in the city’s art academy in his later years building their bohemian tastes into the city’s famous hills Marcelo Castro Vera serves up radical pours in his Tenerías 2 tasting room like a winemaking insurgent though with his curly mop and signature Birkenstocks he says he’s more often mistaken for a shaman the wines are produced by carefully avoiding any industrial technique Grapes are crushed by foot and never filtered or treated with sulfites buried in the ancient style of eastern European winemakers The result: a shocking set of natural wines that escape the bounds and profile of traditional vineyards “That’s kind of what we’re trying to break,” Castro said “the cellar with a ton of barrels that people go to to pose.” more than a dozen bottles amassed on a large shared table alongside an unorthodox spread that included kimchi and grasshoppers There’s a white with milky notes meant to evoke pulque fermented with the grape skin left on for up to eight months Celebration of the first harvest at Viñedos San Miguel on Aug has the highest concentration of natural winemakers in the country elevated on a special Independence Day menu with spherified onions and slow roasted pork the standard steak and red is flipped for salpicon and a natural Syrah-Cabernet Franc blend the shredded beef’s sauce finding its match in the tartness of the wine “We really like to combine natural wines with Mexican food,” said Agustin Solórzano an especially good match for dishes heavy on chiles “They’re a little dry but they have aromas and they work marvelously with spicy food like a ceviche or a mole,” he said Back in Dolores Hidalgo on the night of the “Grito,” as national hymns rouse a swelling crowd a select few are toasting with local reds at Damonica restaurant perhaps an unwitting tribute to the nation’s birth Damonica has a wide selection of Guanajuato wines showcasing the newest and the finest from the burgeoning scene who owned a restaurant in her native Italy before opening Damonica five years ago is in the early stages of a coup of her own “I want to change a bit the culture of tequila and everything,” she said “and have people get a little closer to wine.” Got a tip? Send it to The Daily Beast here David Shortell is a reporter based in Mexico City whose work has appeared in publications including The New York Times He previously covered the Justice Department and federal law enforcement issues on air and online out of CNN’s Washington bureau where he won an Emmy for his reporting on the FBI’s arrest of Roger Stone