EL CIELO WINERY AND RESORT IS OUR VERSION OF PARADISE
History of the Winery and Resort
of el cielo
Gustavo Ortega Joaquín, founder of El Cielo winery and resort, was born in Mérida, Yucatán. His maternal great-grandparents settled on Cozumel Island from the early years of the 20th century. Don Pedro Joaquín Musa, originally from Lebanon, was an enterprising man. Along with his sons, Aurelio, Miguel (Gustavo’s grandfather), and Nassim, they were pioneers in the commerce and tourism of the island. Gustavo, like his brothers, was instilled with the family’s entrepreneurial legacy.
For 25 years, Gustavo developed professionally as an entrepreneur and public servant, in addition to pursuing various postgraduate studies. As an entrepreneur, he created the Hacienda San Miguel hotel, opened the Playa Azul and Mr. Sancho’s beach clubs in partnership with his brother Jorge. As a public servant, he served as a Local Deputy, Secretary of Tourism in Quintana Roo, Mayor of Cozumel, Fonatur Delegate in Cancun, and Federal Deputy. In his hotel career, he served as General Manager of the Allegro Resorts Cozumel, Subdirector at the Occidental Grand Bávaro and the Occidental Grand Xcaret hotels. During this time, Gustavo pursued postgraduate studies at Harvard University Extension School, Cornell University Hotel School, and the Anáhuac University of Cancun.
A COMPLETE ENOLOGICAL EXPERIENCE IN THE BAJA CALIFORNIA VINYARDS
The vineyard
El Cielo has 90 hectares of vineyards in Baja California, where 15 different grape varieties grow. There are 35 hectares in the Guadalupe Valley, an additional 30 hectares in the San Jacinto Valley, and 25 hectares in the Ojos Negros Valley. With an average planting density of 3,850 plants per hectare, this adds up to a total of 346,500 grapevines. Since 2017, all new plantings have involved vines from certified California nurseries, using rootstocks that are resistant to drought, mineral content, and phylloxera. This approach has also allowed the use of various high-quality clones, which is reflected in the wines. In 2023, 75% of the vineyards received organic management certification from the California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). The clay-rich soil is irrigated with high-quality, low-sodium water from a private well. They also cultivate organic fruits, vegetables, aromatic herbs, flower gardens, and have 700 olive trees.
The cellar
The winery and resort of El Cielo is designed based on three fundamental principles: oenological functionality, energy efficiency, and wine tourism experience.
Oenological Functionality: Following the trend of the world’s great wineries, El Cielo practices gravity flow winemaking, allowing for a gentle drop of grapes into fermentation tanks.
The cellar
The winery features state-of-the-art technology, including a Pellenc Winery Selective L grape sorting and destemming machine, stainless steel fermentation tanks manufactured in Spain and Italy with temperature control, an underground aging area for barrels with temperature and humidity control and ozone applications, a French Bucher Vaslin Flavy 3 tangential filter, a French Costral bottling machine, and a modern laboratory equipped with technology to monitor acidity, pH, and sugar levels throughout the winemaking process.
The cellar
Energy Efficiency: The winery was designed and constructed to maximize energy efficiency. The entire winemaking process is conducted underground; the fermentation area, cellar, and sparkling wine bottling area are all located below ground. The roof and walls are built with insulating materials to prevent external climate changes from affecting the constant temperature of the wines. The winery uses LED lighting, solar tubes, and plasma motion detectors with automated systems. All air conditioning units are inverter technology, allowing for a 60% energy consumption savings. Additionally, El Cielo was the first winery in the country to employ solar panels.
THE VARIETALS
We have 15 grape varieties. In the category of white grapes, we have Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay, and Moscato de Caneli. As for red grapes, we cultivate Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Syrah, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo, Grenache, Nebbiolo, Sangiovese, Primitivo, and Zinfandel.
Organic orchard
The pursuit of the highest quality in products and spices for our dishes has led us to produce a variety of vegetables, including peppers, cabbage, beets, celery, broccoli, onions, carrots, various types of lettuce, as well as fruits such as figs, pears, melons, watermelons, lemons, and oranges. We also cultivate aromatic herbs to enhance our culinary creations.
The tanks
These 29 cylindric-conic fermentation tanks imported from Spain, with a state-of-the-art press system, are used for the process of making wine, facilitated by gravity.
The barrels
