Valle de Guadalupe’s food & wine scenesters brace for a complicated month.
Por Erick Falcón | Todos Santos
Si desean saber los horarios o cierres de las vinícolas, restaurantes y demás negocios en la Ruta del Vino, aquí hay una lista actualizada al día de hoy.
La mayor parte de las vinícolas sigue adelante con venta de vino en línea, Entrega a Domicilio o en tienda física, sólo degustaciones en tasting room han sido afectadas en varios puntos.
STATUS ACTUAL DE VINÍCOLAS Y RESTAURANTES // SITUATION AT WINERIES & RESTAURANTS
(update Miercóles 18 de Marzo, 18:00 p.m.)
A handful of leading wineries, breweries, restaurants and other businesses in Ensenada’s Valle de Guadalupe have started a self-imposed temporary closure as a preventive measure against the spread of Covid-19 in Baja California, in anticipation to any official announcements yet to be made by Mexican authorities.
Wineries like Lomita, VYVA, Viñas de la Erre and Lechuza announced a temporary cease of operations for the current month, and dozens others are still active but await further notice of ‘social distancing’ measures by Baja California authorities, or any plans to close restaurants, bars and other social-gathering places. Restaurants Lunario, Traslomita and Stella Cucina al Forno have followed through too with temporary closures.
State Governor Jaime Bonilla confirmed today that there are 2 current active cases of Covid-19 in Mexicali, Baja California, but there are 15 suspected cases being studied; 10 of them in Tijuana, 2 in Ensenada. Current protocols are in place to detect any cases and refer them to state health services.
Despite no cases having been detected in Valle de Guadalupe, vintners and chefs are already taking measures to help ‘flatten the curve’. Most wineries are still open for business-as-usual, and are following stringent hygienic standards, but many are in the process of making prevention plans for the next month, should the need arise, said Karla Lee, a spokesperson for Provino, an industry association that integrates more than 50 regional Baja wineries and is the organizer of the popular Fiestas de la Vendimia festivities. Lee said that Provino is following the news, but no plans of cancelling or reescheduling the Festival de las Conchas y el Vino has been made yet.
In contrast, other events have been suspended or reescheduled, like the Ensenada Beer Fest, which was scheduled to be held this weekend (March 20 and 21) in the city’s downtown Centro Cultural Riviera, has been moved to the new dates of July 2nd and 3rd, according to its organizers. The 67th Cineteca Nacional Film Festival, which was to be held March 20-26 in Bodegas de Santo Tomás’ Centro Cultural Santo Tomás has been postponed until further notice.
Ensenada breweries and restaurants are also planning on how to respond to the Covid-19 situation: brewers Aguamala and Wendlandt have announced special promotions on to-go beer orders, while Transpeninsular will be open as usual and will offer takeaway options. Several other local restaurant openings, such as Malia Ocean Bar, are set to be reescheduled as well. Tourist attractions like the Parque Jersey Zoo in Valle de Guadalupe are still open for the season, but are still undecided on wheter to close down temporarily. Most businesses in Ensenada’s Calle Primera tourist strip also said they will not be closing, but will surely take an impact if tourism goes down.