Juan Diego Allera and his wife Laura love their goats – all 25 of them. And since ten of them are pregnant, there’s more on the way.
For the past few years, the young newlyweds have been producing and selling cheese, milk, yoghurt, kefir and soap from the goats they raise on their Mezcala ranch. With their products sold in Ajijic at two weekly farmer’s markets, several grocery stores and a bakery, they can use more goats to keep up with the growing demand. Thus, they gladly welcome the soon-to-be newborns.
Galo de Allende, their business name, comes from Juan Diego’s two main influences. “Galo” comes from the French word “Gaul” – the original name for France. Being that his father was obsessed with everything French, he made sure that his son was schooled at a French school in Guadalajara. During those years, Juan Diego discovered the French’s passion for wine, cheese and bread.
The “de Allende” part refers to an 80-year old French cheese maker from San Miguel del Allende. “Louis has been in our family since I was a baby,” Juan Diego says. “Everything I learned about cheese-making came from him.”
It wasn’t until Juan Diego left his job running a family-owned plant nursery that he decided to start his own food business. “After high school, I attended a chef school in Guadalajara for three years, then co-owned a city bistro for the next three years.”
Ready to delve into cheese-making, he studied for six months with his mentor, Louis. In the process, he’d grown quite fond of goats. “I found them friendlier and easier to care for than cows.”
Adds Laura: “You really do fall in love with the goats. They have a magic about them.” (Besides helping run the ranch, Laura is studying veterinarian medicine, with a specialty in farm animals.)
“Our dairy products have no chemicals and include live probiotics,” Laura continues. “Taste is important and everything the goats eat affect the taste of their milk. If we feed them onions, their milk tastes like onions. With 56 plum trees on our property, our goats eat the plums and leaves, giving their milk a pleasantly sweet taste.”
Juan Diego discovered their land three years ago after a customer at the nursery where he was working invited him to lunch in Mezcala.
“When I started looking for land I realized that lakeside would be too expensive, but I recalled Mezcala and how much I admired the area’s beauty.”
One day, as Juan Diego hiked around the area, he stumbled upon his ideal spot: 1.5 acres of wild grasses and plum trees, tucked alongside the mountain with incredible views.
After making the discovery, he ventured into the main town where he spotted three old men sitting on a bench. Describing the property as best he could, he asked them if they were familiar with it. Amazingly enough, one of them happened to be the owner. What’s more, he was willing to sell it.
“Since Mezcala is a tight-knit, indigenous community, people warned me how difficult it would be to buy land,” says Juan Diego. “They said, if I didn’t have roots or family living there, I wouldn’t have the right to own land. Yet I was determined.”
Before making the purchase, he met with the council of the community, telling them that he wouldn’t be operating a factory or creating pollution. He got his land and got busy building stables and a rock wall. Then he met Laura.
“After Juan Diego and I got together, he suggested we buy goats,” Laura says. “I reacted with surprise but have since come to love them.”
Juan Diego and Laura work every other day at the ranch, commuting 40 minutes from Ajijic. Sometimes they spend the night in the tiny studio they built on the property, especially when a mama goat is ready to give birth.
“The birthing process is a delicate moment and can get complicated,” says Laura. “If something goes wrong, we are there to help deliver the baby and clean their noses to stimulate their breathing. We’ve been able to save several lives this way.”
Tours of the ranch are offered for 350 pesos. Guests are picked up in Ajijic, driven to the ranch, then treated to fresh fruit, granola and goat yoghurt. They learn about the goats, get to feed them, milk them, and take in the stunning vistas from the short stroll to the top of the property, while the goats are free to wander.
Hours later, the tour ends with wine, cheese, homemade jams and bread – plus a sampling of “pajarete,” a delicious beverage made from fresh goat’s milk, coffee, sugar and a splash of tequila. Guests then climb back into the vehicles for the ride back to Ajijic.
Eventually, Laura and Juan Diego would like to build a house on their property and live there full time.
“We love the area’s idyllic surroundings and, of course, the animals,” says Laura. “What we have with the goats is something special; a symbiotic relationship. We give them a good life and they give us good quality milk in return.”
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