DON JULIO: THE MAN BEHIND THE BOTTLE
By Jackie Peterson

Mexico is the land of te quila, and there are many fine ones on the market, says Don Julio Gonzalez Estrada. But his tequila, which bears the name Don Julio on the label, is widely considered top of the line. With prices to match. A 3/4-liter bottle of his blanco (the least expensive) costs at least 250 pesos, while his very best distillate, called Don Julio Real, barrel-aged for 5 years and highly prized by tequila connoisseurs, will set you back more than 3,000 pesos in a retail outlet. It happens that one of Don Julio’s daughters married a Mazatleco and has lived here for 30 years. So when he and his wife, Dorotea, came to town from Guadalajara to visit, he was kind enough to talk to the Pacific Pearl. To hear him tell it, the secret of a truly fine tequila starts with the cultivation of the agave (cactus) plant in the field, a matter Don Julio knows quite a lot about. “He is dedicated to his agaves,” says Doña Dorotea, to which her husband adds, “When they’re well tended, they grow to a height of 1 ½ meters (4 1/2 feet) in seven years, and that’s when they are ready to be harvested.” These are not just any agave plants, they are blue agaves — the kind from which the highest quality tequilas are made. What they require to thrive, says this expert, is “the right kind of soil, a careful lookout for diseases, and what God and nature provide, nothing more.” Don Julio’s fields are in Atotonilco, Jalisco, which is nowhere near the town of Tequila. It is on the other side of the state, in an area called “los altos” (the heights). What does he think about the widely publicized shortage of agaves? After all,

 the plants do take years to grow to maturity. Is the tequila business in a state of crisis? “I’m not affected by shortages,” says this tequila producer, “because I’m always planting. We have close to 1,500 hectares under cultivation and produce 500,000 plants each year. Our 15,000 barricas (aging barrels) are always full. This year, in fact, we are expanding. We are dealing with a British company called Diallo. Our products now are being marketed in Europe and other parts of the world.” Don Julio, a kindly man with a warm smile, says he grew up in the business because his uncle was a tequila manufacturer. In 1942, he started his own business and is marking his 60th anniversary this year. Of his 9 children, 25 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren, it seems likely there will be descendants to carry on the business. While one son is a doctor and others went off to different careers, at least two sons are involved in the marketing of Don Julio from the Guada-lajara plant and one works with his dad on the cultivation side. Asked the best way to drink Don Julio tequila — with lime and salt or with sangrita — the creator of the fine liquor that bears his name says in emphatic Spanish the equivalent of “straight, no frills.” In other words, he expects his tequila to be sipped and savored, like cognac. By nature of his business, the tequila maker says he tastes his product in various stages of production to ensure that its high quality is maintained to his standards. But when asked which of his products he likes to drink socially, he comes up with a surprising answer: “No tomo,” he says flatly. Which, in English, means “I don’t drink.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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