Mexico

Mexico's wine sector is represented nationally by the Consejo Mexicano Vitivinicola (CMV), A.C., which describes itself as working for the growth of the national wine industry and the recognition of its quality worldwide. The CMV brings together producers, state associations, and companies across 14 winegrowing states, and represents growers of table grapes, raisins, wine grapes, brandy grapes, and grapes for juices and concentrates. According to the CMV, more than 37 thousand hectares of Mexican territory are planted to grapes across these five vocations combined. Decanter's 2023 country guide put area specifically planted to wine grapes at 6,474 hectares, with over 200 wineries producing an annual 2.5 million cases, citing Consejo Mexicano Vitivinicola 2018 and Gobierno de Mexico 2015 figures.

• CMV, A.C. represents producers, state associations, and companies across 14 winegrowing states (uvayvino.org.mx)
• More than 37 thousand hectares of Mexican territory are planted to grapes across all five vocations: raisin, table grape, wine grape, juice and concentrate grape, and brandy grape (uvayvino.org.mx)
• Area planted specifically to wine grapes was 6,474 hectares, with over 200 wineries and annual production of 2.5 million cases (Decanter, citing CMV 2018 and Gobierno de Mexico 2015)
• The CMV cites 1,500 medals won in international competitions as evidence of the diversity and quality of Mexican wine styles (uvayvino.org.mx)

According to Decanter, Mexico is the birthplace of winemaking in the Americas: vinifera vines arrived on Spanish ships in the 16th century, and in Coahuila's Valle de Parras the vines flourished while Jesuit missionaries spread cultivation from California to Chile. The CMV's own timeline records that conquerors and missionaries brought vines to Mexico in 1520, with planting and wine production beginning by 1522. In 1683, the Jesuit Eusebio Francisco Quino arrived in Baja California, and the friars planted the mission grape there, with the first harvest believed to have taken place in 1707. Decanter notes that King Charles II of Spain later outlawed colonial winemaking to protect wine production back home, restricting the small quantity produced during that period largely to the Church; production rose again after Mexican independence in 1821 before being set back by phylloxera and the Mexican Revolution of roughly 1910 to 1920, and did not recover until the 1980s, when wineries such as Monte Xanic began attracting international attention. On the institutional side, the CMV's timeline records that the National Winegrowers Association (Asociacion Nacional de Vitivinicultores, ANV) was founded in Aguascalientes in 1948 at the initiative of Don Nazario Ortiz Garza, and that the Consejo Mexicano Vitivinicola was created in 2009 by merging the ANV with the CNSPU. Casa Madero, founded in 1597 in Coahuila's Valle de Parras, is described by Decanter as the oldest winery still operating in the New World.

• Vines arrived in Mexico with conquerors and missionaries in 1520, with planting and wine production underway by 1522 (uvayvino.org.mx Time Line)
• Jesuit missionary Eusebio Francisco Quino reached Baja California in 1683; the mission grape was planted there, with the first harvest believed to date to 1707 (uvayvino.org.mx Time Line)
• Colonial winemaking was restricted under Spanish rule; production revived after 1821 independence, then was set back by phylloxera and the Mexican Revolution (roughly 1910-1920), not recovering until the 1980s (Decanter)
• The National Winegrowers Association (ANV) was founded in Aguascalientes in 1948 by Don Nazario Ortiz Garza; the CMV formed in 2009 from the ANV and CNSPU merger (uvayvino.org.mx Time Line)
• Casa Madero, founded 1597 in Coahuila's Valle de Parras, is the oldest winery still operating in the New World (Decanter)

Mexico's wine sector operates under the Ley de Fomento a la Industria Vitivinicola, a federal law published in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion on 23 May 2018 under President Enrique Pena Nieto, according to the official text maintained by the Camara de Diputados. The law states its purpose in Article 1 as promoting, encouraging, developing, and disseminating activities related to the wine sector, in coordination with Mexico's laws on productivity and competitiveness, metrology and standardization, and sustainable rural development. Article 2 applies the law to all actors involved in the chain from planting, cultivation, harvest, fermentation, aging, and bottling through to the commercialization of wine, including producers and their organizations at the national, state, regional, district, and municipal levels. Article 9 creates the Comision Intersecretarial de Fomento a la Industria Vitivinicola, an inter-secretariat body, and Article 10 charges this Commission with guiding, promoting, supporting, and proposing public policy for the development of the sector. Article 11 places the presidency of the Commission with the Secretaria de Economia. Decanter notes that, unlike Europe, Mexico has no formal appellation system for its wine regions, which it describes as giving winemakers carte blanche in grape choices and blending styles. The CMV's own timeline records that the law promoting the wine industry was promulgated on 23 May 2018, coinciding with the 70th anniversary celebrations of the Council.

• Ley de Fomento a la Industria Vitivinicola published in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion on 23 May 2018 (Camara de Diputados)
• Article 1 sets the law's purpose as promoting productivity, competitiveness, and development of the national wine sector
• Article 9 creates the Comision Intersecretarial de Fomento a la Industria Vitivinicola; Article 11 places its presidency with the Secretaria de Economia
• Decanter notes Mexico has no formal wine appellation system, giving winemakers freedom in grape choice and blending

Baja California, in Mexico's far northwest, accounts for between 80 and 90 percent of the country's total wine production, according to Decanter, making it the heartland of the Mexican wine industry. The cool California Current runs along the coast, generating morning fogs that funnel marine air into inland valleys, while vineyards further inland benefit from elevations around 800 meters. Valle de Guadalupe is described by Decanter as the epicentre of Mexican wine's modern renaissance, a former seabed whose soils range from sand and loam near the coast to clay and granite near the mountains; other developing Baja valleys include Calafia, Puerta Norte, Ojos Negros, Santo Tomas, San Vicente, and San Antonio de las Minas. In Coahuila, the Valle de Parras remains the state's most promising region, home to Casa Madero; vineyard altitudes there exceed 1,500 meters, producing a significant diurnal shift that tempers daytime heat despite the region's location along the Tropic of Cancer. Queretaro, described by Decanter as Mexico's most southerly wine-producing state, has vineyards sitting at 1,500 to 2,000 meters above sea level, where cool nights preserve acidity; Bordeaux grapes, Syrah, and Chardonnay are grown alongside sparkling wine made from Cava varieties such as Macabeo, Xarel-lo, and Parellada, with Ezequiel Montes and Tequisquiapan named as notable areas. Zacatecas is landlocked and mountainous, with vineyards such as those of Tierra Adentro reaching close to 2,300 meters, according to Decanter.

• Baja California produces 80 to 90 percent of Mexico's total wine, cooled by fog from the California Current (Decanter)
• Valle de Guadalupe is Decanter's named epicentre of Mexico's modern wine renaissance, a former seabed with sand, loam, clay, and granite soils
• Coahuila's Valle de Parras, home to Casa Madero, sits above 1,500 meters, giving a significant diurnal shift despite lying along the Tropic of Cancer (Decanter)
• Queretaro's vineyards sit at 1,500 to 2,000 meters, Mexico's most southerly wine-producing state, known for Bordeaux varieties, Syrah, Chardonnay, and Cava-style sparkling wine (Decanter)
• Zacatecas vineyards, including Tierra Adentro, reach close to 2,300 meters in altitude (Decanter)

Decanter's 2023 country guide lists Mexico's major red grapes as Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Mission (Listan Prieto), Nebbiolo, Petite Sirah, Tempranillo, and Zinfandel, and its major white grapes as Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Colombard, Sauvignon Blanc, and Semillon, citing Consejo Mexicano Vitivinicola 2018 and Gobierno de Mexico 2015 data. In Baja California specifically, Decanter names Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc as the major varieties planted, noting that Nebbiolo also performs well there. Because Mexico has no formal appellation system, Decanter reports that winemakers blend Iberian, Italian, and French grape varieties together outside classical European styles. Listan Prieto, the original Spanish variety today known in Mexico as the Mission grape, remains planted around the country and is being revived by producers such as Bichi.

• Major red grapes: Barbera, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Merlot, Mission (Listan Prieto), Nebbiolo, Petite Sirah, Tempranillo, Zinfandel (Decanter, citing CMV 2018 and Gobierno de Mexico 2015)
• Major white grapes: Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, Colombard, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon (Decanter, citing CMV 2018 and Gobierno de Mexico 2015)
• Baja California's leading varieties are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Tempranillo, Chenin Blanc, Chardonnay, and Sauvignon Blanc, with Nebbiolo also performing well (Decanter)
• Listan Prieto, called the Mission grape in Mexico, is the original Spanish variety still grown and being revived by producers such as Bichi (Decanter)

The Consejo Mexicano Vitivinicola describes itself as the voice of the industry for more than 72 years, representing 65 associates that include producers of table grapes, raisins, wine, brandy, juices, and concentrates, as well as state winemaker associations. The CMV states it represents the interests of the industry before public and private authorities, defends its associates' interests, and promotes the creation of oenological stations and other technical organizations, while sharing with its associates a commitment to production sustainability and economic and social development in Mexico's wine-producing regions. Mexico joined the International Office of Vine and Wine, now the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), in 1970, hosted the OIV's 70th General Assembly in Mexico in 1980, stepped out of the OIV in 2009 when the CMV was created, and re-entered the OIV in 2016, according to the CMV's own timeline; Mexico also hosted an OIV congress in 2022. In 2020, the CMV received the official Collective Brand of Mexican Wine document from Mexico's Instituto Mexicano de la Propiedad Industrial (IMPI). In 2023, the federal government published a decree in the Diario Oficial de la Federacion establishing 7 October as the National Day of Mexican Wine, which the CMV describes as recognition of the wine industry as the second-largest source of employment in the agricultural sector.

• CMV represents 65 associates across table grapes, raisins, wine, brandy, juices, and concentrates, plus state winemaker associations (uvayvino.org.mx Who We Are)
• Mexico joined the OIV in 1970, left when the CMV was created in 2009, and re-entered the OIV in 2016 (uvayvino.org.mx Time Line)
• CMV received the official Collective Brand of Mexican Wine document from IMPI in 2020 (uvayvino.org.mx Time Line)
• A 2023 federal decree established 7 October as the National Day of Mexican Wine, recognizing the industry as the second-largest source of employment in the agricultural sector, per the CMV (uvayvino.org.mx Time Line)

Primary sources: https://uvayvino.org.mx/home/, https://uvayvino.org.mx/who-we-are/, https://uvayvino.org.mx/time-line/, https://uvayvino.org.mx/producers/, https://www.diputados.gob.mx/LeyesBiblio/pdf/LFIV_230518.pdf. Secondary source: https://www.decanter.com/premium/mexican-wine-introductory-guide-plus-12-top-bottles-to-try-505045/. Last verified 2026-09-17