Wine tasting: Casa Madero, the oldest winery in the Americas
Join us for a tasting of wines from Casa Madero, the most famous winery in Mexico and the oldest in the Americas — founded in 1597 in the Parras Valley, a desert oasis in northern Mexico. To put its legacy in perspective: Casa Madero began producing wine before Galileo built his first telescope, before Shakespeare wrote Hamlet, and more than a century before Château Margaux bottled its first vintage.
The land was discovered with wild grapes, which is how it got the name "Parras' (grapevine). It was granted a license to grow wines by King Philip II of Spain (the deed for which adorns the wine label), and vines have been cultivated there ever since — making Casa Madero a rare example of uninterrupted winemaking tradition across four centuries.
The Parras Valley's unique calcareous clay soils, rich in calcium carbonate, mirror the limestone-clay compositions found in Burgundy. This soil similarity contributes to the structure and minerality of Casa Madero's wines, drawing a parallel between these two historic wine regions.
While its history runs deep, international acclaim has come more recently. In 2013, Casa Madero’s Chenin Blanc 2012 won Double Gold and was named Best White Wine at the Vinalies Internationales in Paris — a prestigious blind tasting judged by French oenologists. It remains the first and only Mexican wine to earn that top distinction.
In this special tasting, you’ll sample a selection of Casa Madero’s finest wines — from elegant whites to complex reds — and discover how tradition, terroir, and craftsmanship have made it a symbol of excellence in the New World.