xolotl_tj - 10-10-2015 at 09:33 AM
Here's a special package for those poor souls who still live north of the border.
15th Annual Tequila Festival Tijuana
The fifteenth annual Expo Tequila will be held on Tijuana’s famous Avenida Revolución from October 14th through the 18th. Since its inception, this
event has been used by the industry to introduce new brands and to test the U.S. market, so there’s always something new and rare to find. This year
promises to be the largest Expo Tequila ever, with about one hundred distillers of tequila, mezcal, bacanora, and sotol in attendance as well as a
wide variety of traditional musicians and dancers scheduled to perform throughout the five days of the event.
The wet blanket on these festivities has always been the U.S. Customs limit of bringing only one liter back home. To get around that, a Tijuana hotel
will also store its guests’ purchases so that they might be brought home at a later date. Its guests may buy as many bottles as they wish – make good
use of the Expo Tequila – and bring their booty across the border at their leisure.
The hotel La Villa de Zaragoza is offering a special package for either of the two busiest days of the event. For $49.95 per person, double occupancy,
that hotel’s guests can receive a night’s lodging with Sunday brunch (Saturday October 17th) or a full American breakfast (Friday the 16th),
complimentary storage for their bottles, and a lunch at the hot new “urban cuisine” food court Colectivo Nueve.
During the economic downturn at the beginning of this century, most of the low-end souvenir shops went out of business, leaving the commercial
passageways of Avenida Revolución unoccupied. A group of young graduates of Tijuana’s cooking schools banded together to revive one of those “pasajes”
by creating a food-court collective offering the cuisines of their grandparents, who settled Tijuana during the twentieth century. Visitors may choose
among Lebanese, Italian, Japanese, and Argentinean offerings as well as artisan cheeses, burgers, beers and wines, and Mexican seafood and Mexican
“auteur” dishes.
You can take advantage of the Expo Tequila package by writing to the hotel or by reserving on-line
through their Facebook page).
David K - 10-10-2015 at 09:40 AM
Thank you! We went to one of these a few years ago, and it was great fun!
elgatoloco - 10-10-2015 at 09:42 AM
Sounds like a good deal. Looking forward to attending this year. Some years back when El Agave introduced there Añejo at the expo I was able to
purchase as many bottles as my heart desired at the Expo 'special' price and pick up at their location in Old Town San Diego. Worked out great for me
and the many friends and family who got a nice gift for the holidaze. 
xolotl_tj - 10-10-2015 at 10:48 AM
El Agave is in a really privileged position, since he's already importing his tequilas. Smart guy.
So many interesting brands show up at the Tijuana Expo, hoping to test the U.S. market to see if it's worth the expense of importation, only to run up
against that damned limit.
The top dogs -- owners and master distillers -- attended first few Expos and by the end of each night there would be little parties going on at
various booths, kind of like mini-cantinas with open bars. We'd hear about what the CRT was doing, how agave prices were doing relative to sugarcane
prices, which competitor was in negotiations to sell to a multinational, that sort of stuff. Then they'd ask some discreet questions about why they
weren't selling as much as they expected to the gringos. Don't gringos have a lot of money to spend?
Evidently no one told them their gringo customers could buy only one bottle per visit. The looks of disappointment were almost comical at times. So
now the more recent Expos get marketing agents instead of real tequila people and there are no more parties in the booths late at night. What a shame.
If only we might boost their sales, then the real folks will come back. And the little parties and the insider stories.
So, yes, there is an ulterior motive to this hotel package. The owners are a lot of fun to talk to.