Greeting us at the huge gates of the old Hacienda San José del Refugio was this brilliantly golden Sol Brillante  tree burning bright against the Mexican blue sky.



 

Two caballeros ambling slowly along the cobblestone courtyards, the pony and horse’s iron shoes echoed within the high walls surrounding the Hacienda complex. Herradura, as you may know, means horseshoe with all the intended qualities of protection and good luck. 





 Safe within a series of courtyards at Hacienda San José del Refugio is the big house or La Casa with its deep veranda punctuated by an elegant scrolling iron railing trimmed with well polished brass and overgrown by bougainvillea and giant philodendrons.


 

At the center of the Hacienda is a cool courtyard shaded by a surrounding arched arcade that is painted in the warm earthen colors of the Jaliscan countryside. The classical architecture is softened by a profusion of tropical plants and trees that are carefully cultivated, indicating what the semi-arid but bountiful countryside can produce when carefully nurtured. Behind the gracefully drooping palm fronds is a splashing fountain, providing the refreshing sound of precious water.


 

The Jimador gave us a demonstration of how he deftly cuts the sharp and spiny agave leaves using his special round bladed tool known as the coa. He quickly trims the enormous agave down to its core called the piña or pineapple. He then slices it in half and cuts out the bitter flower stem crowning the plant.


 


A pile of piñas in front of one of the old fashioned stone ovens. The spot of blue color is the cap and shirt of a worker loading the ovens and from this comparison you can gauge the size of the piñas, at least four times that of his head. 



 After the piñas are loaded in the ovens sturdy wooden doors are sealed with iron bars and wedged in place with a steel mallet. 



 Each oven bakes 48 tons of the piñas with steam for 26 hours until they are soft and all the starches are transformed into sugar which can then be crushed and mixed with water to be naturally fermented. The baking process also darkens the plant adding a distinctive earthy flavor to the eventual Tequila. Although the scale of production has been increased many times over the last 138 years, the process at Herradura is scrupulously traditional producing a top grade fine quality Tequila that is entirely natural and authentic. 





 Leo takes his turn posing with Hugo El Burro. Hugo was equipped with two oak barrels strapped to his back filled with Jimador tequila. His smiling master was generously distributing shots of tequila in small ceramic mugs with blue ribbons to hang around your neck as a souvenir. Miraculously the man and his burro appeared at several locations along the tour and we all had another little nip to fortify us while we toured the extensive grounds of the Hacienda. Behind them you can see the tall piles of piñas piled up waiting to be baked in the ovens.





This long line of baking ovens fills one of the production buildings of the Hacienda. The various buildings are dispersed in attractively landscaped grounds decorated with flower beds and occasionally shaded by flowering yellow Sol Brillante and lavender Jacaranda trees. Beyond the Hacienda enclosure you can see the surrounding fields planted with rows of blue agave stretching into the far distance where blue mountains hold the region safely with its grasp.




 
Hugo El Burro and his master wander off past the fermentation building seeking the shade of a glorious Sol Brillante tree.




 
This view of the fermentation tanks reminds me of the huge columns of the temple of Karnak at Luxor in Egypt. Although these gigantic steel tanks are not sacred to any god they do, however, contain a certain kind of magic in the fermentation process. They are filled with a concoction of the extracted juice of the baked piñas mixed with water and left to stand in the open tanks. The atmosphere of theTequila region and the Herradura Hacienda is rich with natural fungal micro-organisms which you can actually see growing on the tree bark of the Hacienda as black lichen-like splotches. This incidentally is why many trees are planted and encouraged to grow in and around the Hacienda. The micro-organisms are natural yeasts that feast on the sugar rich mash bubbling in the fermentation tanks. This is an entirely natural process. No cultivated yeasts are added to Herradura tequila. Our guide took us way up to a steel cat walk that surrounds the top of the tanks where we could actually see the bubbling brown liquid. When the bubbling stops that indicates that the yeasts have devoured all the sugars converting them into alcohol. Then the mix is ready to be distilled.




 
The gleaming polished steel of the distillation tanks and coils removes excess water to produce the young spirit that will then be left to age for various lengths of time from 6 months to 4 years, producing a range of Jimador and Herradura tequilas. Jimador is made from a mixture of different agaves. Herradura is made from 100% blue Agave. Casa Herradura makes tequila in three grades for both Jimador and Herradura: Silver, which is young and clear, Reposado, which is aged in oak for 6 months or Añejo, which is aged in oak for 12 months. Selección Suprema is Herradura tequila made of 100% blue agave and aged for four years in oaken casks. It is exceptionally smooth and deliciously full-bodied with distinctive oaky over tones.




 
In the quiet cool of the ageing sheds sleeping spirits gather heady dreams that will enchant the discerning clientele who sip Casa Herradura’s carefully crafted tequilas.




 
Rows of blue agave absorb the soil and the sun of Jalisco capturing the life forces of Mexico. At Casa Herradura’s Hacienda San José del Refugio they use time honored traditional techniques to transform the bounty of the harvest into a spirit of festive dreams.