Guanajuato wine region wins Mexico's top wine prize

Guanajuato wine region has posted its strongest year yet: Cuna de Tierra's Gran Pago Ricardo Vega 2021 was named Best Mexican Wine at the 2026 Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, and the state's producers collected 52 international medals in total.

The results came from the competition's 2026 edition, held in Yerevan, Armenia, where judges tasted thousands of entries from dozens of countries. Guanajuato's haul included two Grand Gold medals, for Dos Búhos' Grenache Gran Reserva 2019 and a 2020 red blend from Pájaro Azul, plus 12 Gold and 10 Silver medals and 27 further merit recognitions.

Cuna de Tierra, based in Dolores Hidalgo, added a second distinction: its 2023 vintage received the competition's Revelation Wine designation, reserved for producers judged to be improving fastest year on year.

Today we are the second state with the most international awards, confirming Guanajuato's wine quality.

Guanajuato wine region gains ground

Lupita Robles León, the state's secretary of tourism and identity, said Guanajuato is now "the second state with the most international awards, which confirms the quality of Guanajuato's wine." Baja California still leads nationally with 88 medals this year, a reminder that Valle de Guadalupe remains the country's reference point; Coahuila placed third with 47.

The ranking reflects a fast build-out. Guanajuato now counts 82 wine projects and 27 vineyards open to visitors, producing more than 1.6 million bottles a year across 165 labels, most of them launched within the past two decades in a state better known until recently for tequila-adjacent agave country and colonial architecture than for Cabernet.

Sixteen festivals mark the harvest

The state's vendimia calendar runs from August 1 to October 18 this year, with 16 harvest festivals spread across Dolores Hidalgo, San Miguel de Allende, San Felipe and Silao. Organizers project more than 17,100 visitors for the season, drawn by grape-treading, pairing dinners and vineyard tours through the region's stone haciendas.

The timing sets Guanajuato apart from a harder year in Europe: France's 2026 harvest fell to its lowest level since 1957, and Austria's dropped to a decade low. Mexico's newest wine region is filling its festival calendar while some of the continent's oldest ones count losses.

Guanajuato heads into next year's competition with more vineyards, more visitors and, for now, more medals than most of its Mexican rivals. A thinner harvest twelve months from now would only show how quickly that count can turn.