Don Valente history?

[billbeamish]

Hey there, I am doing a tequila tasting this week and looking for a little more history on Don Valente. Their website has been down for a awhile now. Also any one with some extra info on 1921 would be great too. Thank!

[bn087]

I'll get that information about Don Valente to you later on this evening. If you have any specific questions, let me know.

[Piña]

oh snap, bn087 will be all over this

[billbeamish]

Excellent thank you so much. The Don Valente anejo is a actually a showcase piece in the tasting. It has helped me convert many a customer in our bar to premium tequila drinkers. I truly love the complexity and over all smoothness that comes with it and that is able to keep a strong agave tone for an anejo. One question that comes to mind is around what year do they harvest their pinas? I know that in the case of Don julio's tequilas they will sometime wait all the way to the 13th year.

[bn087]

I don't know the history precisely, but I do know that it is a family recipe passed down from Marco's grandfather. The plants are usually harvested between eight and ten years depending on size, maturity and amount of rainfall. They do not use chemicals either in the growth process or in the distillation process which is one of the reasons why it is so smooth. Don Valente tequila is 100% Natural and 100% Agave.

To solve the mystery behind whether the Licorera is aged longer than the Artesenal...NO, not usually. Sometimes the licorera ages slightly longer because the more expensive bottles dont move out of the factory as fast as the cheaper "artesenal" bottles. Therefore, Don Valente cannot make the claim about the licorera aging longer. If it does sit longer in the barrels, its usually only a month or 2 longer but its random from batch to batch, most of the time they are very accurate in matching the time of aging. This should help you realize how small batch the Don Valente tequila really is.

I apologize that I cannot track down more history of the company. Perhaps if you can give me some more direct questions, I can find the answers out for you if I do not know. I do have a lot of information on the process, types of oak, aging, cooking, bottling...etc. And if you check out myspace.com/donvalentetexas and I have recently uploaded pictures of the distillery down there. Check sppb.net for information reguarding Don Valente tequila in Texas.

If that myspace doesnt go to S&P Premium Brands myspace....try these

myspace.com/tequiladonvalente
myspace.com/donvalentetequila

I cant remember which hyperlink I chose originally and at my office I cannot access myspace.

[billbeamish]

Thanks so much for the information. It will certainly helped. I know that the anejo is aged in french oak (correct me if I am wrong). Can you tell me a little more about the cooking process?

[MrAgave]

Where's weperyer when you need him?

Brick oven, slow cooked, if I remember correctly, at least 48 hours.

I was fortunate enough to be there when they cracked the oven...

[bn087]

It is brick oven....

BUT - I dont want to give you information without fact checking myself. I have some booklets and resources at home. When I get off work today I will go through them and post the details.

My booklets include the entire process, from selecting the agaves to bottling. The pictures are wonderful and on the myspace site (they are on here too)...

The reposado and anejo DV are aged in different barrells. One is French and the other is American White Oak...once again, I should know all this information but its been a long day at work. This evening I'll post most all the information I have about the company.

If you would like even more details, I'll PM you my telephone number...we can talk Don Valente for a bit.

Darrin (Mr. A) knows quite a bit, if I'm not mistaken he has visited the distillery and spoke with Marco. I envy you Mr. A for that, I want a personal Don Valente distillery tour also!

I work in sales and marketing for Don Valente in Texas...S&P Premium Brands is the exclusive wholesaler and distributor of DV in Texas...if you got it here in Texas, it came from us...

If you have the entire lineup, a wonderful concoction is 1oz DV Blanco, 1/2oz DV repo, 1/2oz DV Anejo...stir then sip or shoot....its a very different way to enjoy the tequila. I have tried this with other lines and the result is not as good...only the Don Valente mixture had be etching back for more...its a neat experiment. If you are more of an anejo fan, try 1oz anejo, 1/2oz repo, 1/2oz blanco....I havent done that one yet.

[bn087]

Don Valente is located in El Arenal, with a population of 15,000 people. This town is located north of Guadalajara. El Arenal, home of La Candelaria has the perfect weather and geographical conditions to develop Agave. The agave is harvested locally in a manual process that has not changed over the years.

The Pinas are cut up and slowly steamed in traditional brick ovens for 24 hours to convert the starches to sugars. Then they cool for another 24 hours. This process allows a good cooking time without any rush. The steamed agaves are crushed to extract the juice in a traditional milling system.

The agave juicees obtained from milling are slowly heated using yeast to convert the natural sugar to alcohol (Tequila). This process takes up to 120 hours.

The fermented agave juices are slowly heated in stills. This takes place twice, with the heads and tails cut each time to preserve only the best of the tequila.

1st Distillation: getting low proof alcohol
2nd Distillation: getting an excellent product with a higher proof

The Reposado is then aged for at least 3 months in American White Oak barrels.
The Anejo is then aged for 12 months in French Oak barrels.
(it does not say in my sources but I think these are used French Cognac barrels for the anejo, and used bourbon barrels for the reposado)

This tequila is limited production. The method is a 300-year-old verbal recipe passed down through the family. Don Valente is made with ultra pure water and estate grown Blue Agave, Don Valente uses NO chemicals in the cooking or fermentation process. ITS ALL NATURAL.



This information is from a packet I have about the tequila. Included is pictures of the distillery but I do not have a scanner to get them on here, but thanks to Darrin we have tons of pictures. I hope this information was useful and if you have any more questions, do not hesitate to ask.

[billbeamish]

Hey thanks a lot for info.  This website and the people on it have been a great help, and have helped me feel pretty confident going into my tasting tomorrow.