Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/35876
BRAND PROFILE T he Alderete family of California’s Salinas Valley has picked a pretty tough market to crack—the burgeon- ing world of boutique tequila. It’s a crowded scene, and the stakes are high. Since 2002, U.S. imports of tequila have grown 61 percent, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S. And the ultra-premium brands have been among the growth leaders. Sure, there’s still a place in our hearts for blended Strawberry Margaritas, but more and more, bars, restau- rants and aficionados are making room on their shelves for richly textured, pleasingly complex tequilas, right next to the 25-year-old scotches and the best cognacs. “We’re not Spring Break anymore,” says Jesse Alderete Jr., the patriarch of a farming family that’s already a huge name in produce and which has now turned to the high- lands of Jalisco for its latest enterprise. “We’re Mexican-American,” Alderete says. “We didn’t want to start a winery—we wanted to make a great tequila.” Alderete was speaking in the spectacularly beautiful dining room of The Beach & Tennis Club at Pebble Beach. Sunlight was streaming through floor-to-ceiling windows, sailboats were bobbing on the bay and golfers were lining up putts on perfect greens just off the terrace. There were worse places to be. But it took a long time to get here. Beach & Tennis Club Executive Chef Elias Lopez serves an heirloom tomato dish created especially to pair with Tequila Alderete to family members Jesse III, Jesse Jr. and Ronnie. 70 / the tasting panel / july 201 1