Vinos San Juan de la Vaquería

The house

Editorial review · reviewed on October 11, 2026

San Juan de la Vaquería presents itself as a wine pioneer in Saltillo, where it has grown grapes since 2008. Its vineyard is next to an old colonial hacienda in the Valle de Derramadero, south of the city, which was a resting place for travelers on the Camino Real between Mexico City and Texas. Today an industrial zone surrounds it, and even so the red limestone soil and the semi-desert climate, with hot afternoons and cool early mornings, turned out to be good for vines.

The hacienda belongs to the family of Gerardo Aguirre Flores, an agronomist who, encouraged by José Milmo, started with a hectare and a half (about 3.7 acres) of Cabernet Sauvignon and had his first wine in 2010, the blended red that carries the name of the place. In the early years winemakers from Casa Madero supervised production, and since late 2018 the winemaker has been his son, Gerardo Aguirre Lobo, who holds a master's degree in enology from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. According to the house, he was the one who chose Verdejo after seeing how much these soils resemble those of other vineyards.

The vineyard is at about 6,100 ft (1,850 m) in elevation, with Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Malbec for the red and the rosé, and Verdejo, the Spanish white grape, for the white. The red goes through French oak barrels.

The visit lasts about two hours and is reserved. It starts with a welcome cocktail at the winery, continues with a tour of the winery and vineyard with the family's history, and ends with a tasting at the old hacienda. On weekdays it opens for groups of six to fifteen people, couples are received mostly on Saturdays, and children and pets are welcome.