Guanajuato, Gto.- On Saturday August 20, during the fourth edition of the “Vendimia” (grape harvest) Festival of Guanajuato, the Dolores Hidalgo Wine Museum will be officially inaugurated, at the site of the old General Hospital.
This was informed at a press conference, by the Secretary of Tourism for the State of Guanajuato, Mexico, Mr. Fernando Olivera Rocha,.
With a total investment of around 12 million pesos (600 thousand USD), the 230 year-old building was remodeled and refurbished. As an interesting fact, next to this new museum stands the house where Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (father of the Mexican Independence movement) lived back in the XVIII and XIX Centuries.
Fernando Olivera Rocha, Director of the state Department of Tourism at press conference (Image: Google)
In order to expand the knowledge and culture of wine in Guanajuato, the state government decided to build the wine museum in Dolores Hidalgo, craddle of the Mexican Independence.
Priority has been given to “the wine industry” over the last ten years, for its important role in promoting tourism development, not only in Guanjuato, but in other states across Mexico as well.
Olivera said that the objective is to make the tourists live an educational and multimedia experience, explaining the origin of wine and its manufacture process, in order to provide the visitors with some background before they go out to see the vineyards.
The Secretary also noted that a part of the building will operate as boutique hotel.
House of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (Image: Google)
During the press conference, Ramon Velez, partner and commercial director of “Cuna de Tierra” wine company, declared that in Guanajuato, during the last ten years, the growth of the wine industry has been exponential: 5 years ago there were only 65 hectares of vineyards, and today, there are more than 350.
Velez declared: “there is a big market for this industry, that attracts a growing number of wine lovers from all over the world.
We expect that in 10 years time, 10 thousand hectares of vineyards will be planted across the country, with the support of the Ministry of Agriculture”.
Velez and Olivera concluded that the Wine Museum will also serve to pay tribute to Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, who (not many people know) used to teach the art of vintner.
The troops of New Spain Viceroy Francisco Javier Venegas destroyed and burned down Miguel Hidalgo´s vineyards at the beginning of the XIX Century. Just a few months before Hidalgo y Costilla ignited the war of Independence with the historical “Grito de Dolores”.
Guanajuato Wine Museum almost ready to open (Image: Facebook)
Source: http://catadores.com.mx/
