TLAQUEPAQUE - Tours to tequila distilleries in and around the town of Tequila are a staple Jalisco experience for both foreign and Mexican tourists.
Less well known is the tour of the Rio de Plata distillery in Tlaquepaque, a fact that makes it something of a hidden gem. Tour operator Gustavo Melendez is the son and grandson of local agave farmers who clearly has tequila, if not permanently in his blood, then definitely in his genealogy.
“The goal of the tour is to share Mexican culture and the culture of tequila,” says Melendez, who attended high school in Chicago. “It’s not all about making money.”
Over a year ago Melendez persuaded the owners of the Rio de Plata distillery to offer guided tours around the plant for students, businessmen on short stays in the Guadalajara area and other tourists and residents who did not wish to travel out to the agave growing region of the state. With everything now up and running, the tour offers a genuine insight into the real life production process of the national beverage, without the formalities of a large group tour and with more personalized interaction from the guide.
“We are different,” acknowledges Melendez. “Our tours are from a cultural and historical point of view. We give the history of the drink from a pre-Hispanic perspective, and explain more than just the distilling process. What we say here is that ‘culture is part of the party.’”
The Garcia family set up the Rio de Plata distillery in 1943. Photos on the walls show how much of the surrounding Tlaquepaque area has changed from pretty countryside to the built-up Guadalajara suburb of today.
The plant claims to have the oldest working distilling machine in the entire state, built in Germany in the 1880s, and certainly the tour is full of unusual snippets of information, such as the unlikely influence of the Moors in the production process, of which I knew nothing previously.
The tour provides plenty of human interaction. Melendez is happy to let you talk with workers about their experience in the industry and the history of the plant.
“They pay me 220 pesos a day,” says one worker. “I’ve been working here since 1966 so they haven’t treated me too badly!”
The boss, Don Manuel, is on hand to distribute packets of cigarettes to his workers as they leave to go home, which adds credibility to the feeling that the firm really is a friendly, family-run business.
The technical information is imparted by knowledgeable experts. Distillery guide Bernardo Torres gives a clear explanation as to why different distillation processes produce contrasting tastes of tequila. He details how the agave “pineapples” are trucked in from the countryside, their juices extracted and distilled. Torres is a larger-than-life character who spent three and a half years researching the tequila industry for a book. All of which means it is entirely believable when he tells you he knows 200 phrases and sayings in connection with Mexico’s national drink.
“What does a dead man lack?” he yells at a group of tourism students from the Universidad de Guadalajara sampling shots at the plant’s bar. “Salud!” shout back the students.
Perhaps the only negative aspect of the tour compared to those that head to Tequila is that you don’t get to see the blue agave fields spread out in all their glory.
Some may be pleased to note that the tour doesn’t scrimp and save. It starts out with a refreshing margarita and ends with a good few samples shots of the hard stuff to send one home with a warm glow.
Options for the tour are two-fold fold. One can take a guided tour in an air-conditioned, spacious mini van, first taking in Tlaquepaque and later arriving for the tour of the tequila distillery. Tours start at noon and 4 p.m. and last two hours, but Melendez is flexible and trips can be arranged at other times. The cost is 140 pesos per person with everything included.
“It’s difficult to get all the information over a recording,” says Melendez, referring to the Tapatio Tour that also visits Tlaquepaque. “You can’t replace a smile and having someone who is willing to answer questions about the uniqueness of the place and its people. For example if we are doing a tour with Americans and they see something like a tejuino stand, I will stop and we will try it. I always try to think what foreigners would want to know about everyday life here.”
The other option is to make your own way to the distillery, located a ten-minute walk from the center of Tlaquepaque at Rio Autlan and Rio Tuito. The tour alone costs 60 pesos. For more information visit the website www.ambientetequilero.com or call (33) 3659-9379. All guides speak good English.
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