Sol y Barro

Valle de Guadalupe

Traveler. Artist. Chef. Builder. Winemaker.

Sol y Barro is the fruit of Aime Desponds’ journey to Mexico. Aime was born in Lausanne, Switzerland. After graduating from mechanical engineering in the 1960s, Aime traveled to Mexico where he worked at his uncle’s restaurant. In 1985, Aime worked as a chef at a restaurant in Santa Ana, California.  Seeking a new twist in his life, Aime enrolled in art classes in some community colleges in Orange County.While looking for information on how to build a clay oven, he discovered natural construction. In 2003 he took a cob workshop with Linda and Ianto Evans in the Santa Barbara mountains. The contact with mud as a building material and a sculptable matter was an amazing discovery that would affect his life forever. As he plunged his bare hands and feet into the mud, he felt instantly connected with nature. He knew that this fantastic discovery would fit perfectly with his way of thinking and his artful soul. Thus, he decided to build himself a cob house. Then a cob winer was born.

This is handcrafting beyond anything you can believe. The home, the cellar, the winery and of course the wines are all handcrafted. The Grenache is from a dry farmed property and in a land with limited ground water, this is no small feat. Valle de Guadalupe is an emerging wine country. Sol y Barro shows the potential of this place and what the Baja can produce.

Arriving soon! Contact us for details.