In late 2021, my husband, Eduardo, and I were on a road trip to Cuatro Ciénegas, Coahuila, where I had my very first Mexican wine. The four-grape blend from Anakoba wines named Cuatro 2 remains one of my favorite wines of all time. Since that trip, Eduardo and I have explored various wine routes in Mexico, acquiring wine knowledge along the way. This knowledge prepared me to run my own wine shop, Casa Guipzot.
When we opened Casa Guipzot in September 2022, we were intentional about rooting ourselves in the very barrio my father grew up in and my abuela worked so hard to survive. It is also the same neighborhood my suegro lived in when working to build the Tower of the Americas. So here we are on San Antonio’s West Side, a year later, the first and only shop in the country to exclusively sell Mexican wine.
From my first job at Kiddie Park to working at Cool Arrows on the South Side in my late teens, then to personal banking, preparing taxes for VITA, working in social services and then at top succession firms in Oregon, the cumulation of my life and work experiences prepared me to run Casa Guipzot. Throughout the years, I acquired skills in technology, marketing, contracts, negotiations and finance. My work allowed me to speak and connect with people from all walks of life, something I now do every day over good wine.
Like most entrepreneurs, there is no such thing as a typical day. It seems I’ve become a cultural curator of sorts, so some days I’m working on creating the next event that ties together the beauty, culture and history of Mexican wine. On other days, I’m tasting new wines to add to our portfolio and building out wine lists.
And, on the occasion my husband and I can get away, we travel to the many wine festivals throughout Mexico to add to our knowledge base and understanding of Mexican wine. However, most days are just spent stocking wine, updating our online shop and discussing the history of Mexican wine with whoever walks through our door.
When we started down this journey, it wasn’t just about starting a new business, it was about establishing a new market. Most wine enthusiasts have no idea that Mexico is producing world-renowned wines and have been for quite some time. There are 15 states in Mexico producing wine. In Coahuila, a state bordering Texas, Parras de la Fuente alone houses 35 full-production vineyards. Among them is the oldest vineyard in all of the Americas, Casa Madero, which was founded in 1597 and now has over 1,000 medals to its name.
We love hosting team-building exercises for corporations, birthday parties, bridal showers and private wine tastings either at our wine shop or at our client’s place of residence or business. Currently, we are also working on our mobile wine bar for private events. Most importantly, we love educating San Antonians and hearing how much they enjoyed their wine-tasting experience with us.
Casa Guipzot has hosted some amazing events to date with wine owners and sommeliers from Mexico. We’re especially excited about our upcoming Vinos & Tacos Festival on Oct. 7. The festival celebrating Día del Vino Mexicano takes place at Mitchell Lake from 2-6 p.m. and will allow us to educate and expose San Antonio to the amazing wines Mexico has to offer.
We also cannot wait for the Christmas season when we plan to bring in a phenomenal opera singer (en español) and a gourmet chef for an incredible holiday evening. We feel like the best is yet to come at Casa Guipzot.
