As more and more foreigners flock to Lake Chapala’s north shore, the south side of the lake has caught the fancy of grape growers.
Seven vineyards have appeared on La Ribera Sur over the last few years and two of them, Viñedos El Tejón and Finca La Estremancia, now accept visitors.
This viticulture frenzy, it seems, came about thanks to the expertise and enthusiasm of one man: Serapio Ruiz Rivera, who started out trying to grow grapes here 25 years ago, when many claimed it was impossible.
I recently found myself on the south shore, headed for what may be the most curious place on the whole lake: Igloo Kokolo, an environmental education center that looks more like a Smurf village than anything else.
While passing through the small town of San Luís Soyatlán, located 11 kilometers directly south of Ajijic, my friends and I decided to try making a surprise visit to Don Serapio and his wife Lupita at El Tejón Vineyards.
Just finding El Tejón turned out to be an adventure. Naturally we expected Google Maps to take us right there. What we didn’t expect was to find ourselves on a lonely, ever-worsening dirt road, apparently in the middle of nowhere.
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