Passport, Please: A Day in Valle de Guadalupe With Fernando Gaxiola

Some of the most exciting food and wine on the West Coast isn't in California at all. It's across the border, a couple of hours south of downtown San Diego, in a valley of vineyards, olive groves and boulders outside Ensenada.

Most people who try to visit Valle de Guadalupe on their own spend half the day figuring out where to go, who to call and how to get a table. On Thursday, November 5, you won't have to do any of that. Fernando Gaxiola will do it for you.

He's the person the San Diego Food + Wine Festival has trusted to plan this trip for more than a decade. And he knows the doors in the Valle that most visitors never get to walk through.

Why Valle de Guadalupe?

Northern Baja California makes the vast majority of Mexico's wine, and Valle de Guadalupe is the heart of it. Over the past two decades, the region has grown from a handful of family wineries into one of the most talked-about food and wine destinations in the world, with chefs cooking over open fire in the middle of vineyards and winemakers experimenting with grapes from all over the Mediterranean.

The world has noticed. When the Michelin Guide arrived in Mexico, a string of Valle de Guadalupe restaurants earned recognition, putting the region on the global culinary map in a whole new way.

For San Diegans, the best part is how close it all is. You can have breakfast in Point Loma and be sipping wine in the Valle before lunch.

Meet your guide: Fernando Gaxiola

Fernando Gaxiola didn't set out to become Baja's unofficial ambassador. A Sinaloa native who grew up in the border region, he studied engineering at Tecnológico de Monterrey, earned an MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management and launched his own consulting firm at 26. For years, his work took him around the world, advising companies in the oil and gas industry.

But home kept calling. Around 2011, he moved back to the San Diego-Tijuana region to reconnect with its food, wine and art, and in 2013 he founded Baja Wine + Food. Today his company plans cross-border travel and events for guests from around the world, and he also helps bring Baja's best boutique wines to the United States.

What makes Gaxiola the perfect host isn't his résumé. It's his relationships. Over the years, he's built deep friendships with the Valle's winemakers and chefs, which means that when you travel with him, you're treated less like a tourist and more like a guest.

Your day, hour by hour

The Baja Culinary Expedition is a full, all-inclusive day, with transportation handled from start to finish. Here's how it unfolds:

Morning: coffee and hellos. The day starts early at Moniker General in Liberty Station, where you'll grab a coffee, meet Gaxiola and get to know your fellow travelers before boarding.

The drive south. You'll head down the coast toward Ensenada, with the Pacific on one side and the anticipation building on the other.

Reserve tastings at Baja's oldest winery. Your first stop in wine country is a private, reserve-level tasting at Bodegas de Santo Tomás, the winery that started it all in 1888. It's the perfect introduction to how far Baja wine has come.

A Michelin-recognized lunch. Next up is a leisurely lunch at a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant, the guide's badge for exceptional cooking at an approachable price, surrounded by the Valle's rolling vineyards.

An afternoon with legendary vintners. In the afternoon, you'll sit down with some of the winemakers who built the Valle's reputation, tasting their wines and hearing firsthand how a small community of dreamers turned this valley into a destination.

Dinner by Chef Diego Hernández. The day ends with a multi-course dinner by one of the chefs most responsible for the Valle's rise. Hernández's former restaurant, Corazón de Tierra, was the first in Valle de Guadalupe to earn a place on Latin America's 50 Best Restaurants list. Dinner is his, created just for this group.

The ride home. After dinner, you'll settle in for the ride back to San Diego, arriving late in the evening, full, happy and already planning your next trip.

Before you go

• Bring your passport. A valid passport is required to cross the border and return to the U.S. No passport, no expedition. • Dress for a full day. Wear comfortable shoes and bring layers. Valle mornings and evenings can be cool, even when afternoons are warm. • Pace yourself. It's a long, generous day of wine. Drink plenty of water between tastings. • Leave the logistics to us. Transportation, tastings, lunch and dinner are all included, so there's nothing to plan and no one has to be the designated driver.

The details

What: Baja Culinary Expedition, hosted by Fernando Gaxiola of Baja Wine + Food When: Thursday, November 5 · Departs 7:30am, returns about 10pm Departs from: Moniker General, 2860 Sims Rd., San Diego (Liberty Station) Good to know: All-inclusive. A valid passport is required. Valle de Guadalupe is one of the great wine regions of the world, and it's practically in our backyard. There's no better way to see it for the first time, or the fifteenth, than with the person who knows it best.