Cathy's Cornucopia: Puerto Vallarta: Town, Country & Tequila

October 8, 2009

From the tour brochure: “This excursion combines the charm of both old and new Mexico. Begin with a drive through the Marina Vallarta area and a stop at the small village's local church. Continue to Hacienda Dona Engracia, one of the finest tequila factories in the area for a first-hand look at the manufacturing process of tequila and some free time to explore the grounds of this working hacienda. A short shopping stop will be made on the way into the center of Puerto Vallarta where you can walk along the popular Malecon.”

This tour was one of two tours that were offered for free if you signed up to take the Copper Canyon train ride. Although we had been to the hacienda on a previous trip to Puerto Vallarta, we decided to take this tour anyway (free was hard to beat).

When we arrived in Puerto Vallarta, we found that Tropical Storm Olaf had been visiting PV and it was still pouring down rain. It was obvious from the large splashes that were made by cars and trucks traveling along the highway that PV was not used to getting this much rain at one time. But, by the time we were ready to get off the ship, the rain had slowed to a drizzle.

We boarded the bus at the pier where we were docked with tourists from the two other cruise ships that were in port at the same time. Soon, we were headed out of Puerto Vallarta for the short trip to the Hacienda Dona Engracia. We had a few minutes to walk around before our guide took us into the building where the tequila is made. Here, he explained the whole tequila-making processes and then took us into the tasting room. The last time we were at the hacienda, we tasted the tequila and absolutely hated it. But this time, we also got to taste some infused tequilas, and these weren’t too bad, especially when used in marinades and such for cooking. In the end, we bought the peach infused tequila. We still had a few minutes left and decided to wander around some of the shops that had sprouted here at the hacienda in the time between our two visits.

We reboarded the bus for a drive through the town that was attached to the hacienda – something we did not do the last time we were here. It is amazing that the buses can go down these very narrow streets without hitting anything or anyone!

We woke up to a torrential rain downpour: