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“It took eight years for this moment to happen,” Alderete says. Their agave is grown in Arandas, the famed high- lands region of Jalisco, and the plants can take up to a decade to fully mature. Then the Alderete tequilas are aged far longer than required, the Reposado for six months and the Añejo for 27. The family has produced just three 6,000-bottle batches so far, and the marketing efforts are just beginning. They have agreements with a few restaurants and resorts on the Monterey Peninsula, where the ultra-premium tequila is positioned as part of the luxury lifestyle enjoyed there. The men of the Alderete family (from left): Jesse III, Jesse Jr., and Ronnie. The family is reluctant to enter agreements with bigger distributors, although there have been talks. They are not interested in huge numbers—at least not yet; they want to make certain that they can deliver a product with consistent quality before scaling up. So for now, they pick and choose where their tequila can be found. Jesse’s son Ronnie helped realize the Alderete vision. He studied agriculture at Cal Poly and was active in the family’s business, Premium Packing. And while the family had been involved Food Friendly Tequila The Alderete tequilas have a bouquet and flavor that are especially well-suited to food pairings. To that end, at The Beach & Tennis Club at Pebble Beach, Executive Chef Elias Lopez has crafted dishes that extend the notes of the tequila from glass to plate. Lopez delivers a Japanese style heirloom tomato salad with miso/agave honey dressing to the Alderetes—father Jesse and his sons Jesse III and Ronnie—and there is rapture in the room. “The agave and other nuances in the tequila become magical when combined with food,” the elder Alderete says. A Japanese style heirloom tomato salad with miso/agave honey dressing created especially to pair with Alderete Tequila. july 201 1 / the tasting panel / 71 with agriculture for generations, they still yearned for an enterprise that could express their pride in their Mexican heritage. Tequila was a natural fit. So the father and two sons bought land in Jalisco, had themselves schooled by tequileros to refine their palates and began to live their dream. Alderete Silver and Alderete Reposado tequilas received Double Gold medals at this year’s San Francisco World Spirits Competitions.