Long before Spanish conquistadors marched into northwest Mexico to establish the settlement of Guadalajara in 1532, indigenous Nahuatl Indians had discovered the bacchanal benefits of fermenting the sugary juice of the sweet heart of a ripe agave cactus. That milky, pungent drink known as pulque was the forerunner of tequila.
Although I've traveled throughout Mexico for more than 30 years, my interest in tequila never extended beyond an occasional margarita. But it took only a sip of icy cold, crystal clear El Tesoro de Don Felipe Silver _ offered up at a party in Ajijic hosted by Bob Denton, a pioneer exporter of premium tequila _ to forever transform my perception of tequila.
This was not the tequila of spring-break binges and nasty hangovers. The handcrafted elixir touched my tongue with an exhilarating warmth and complexity that I would have expected from only the finest of French cognacs. It was at once bold and peppery, yet smooth and sublime, with a slight hint of fruitiness.
It was a simple tasting but it infused me with enthusiasm to learn more _ both about the spirit and its namesake town.
Nearly 98 percent of all tequila is born in the agave (pronounced ah-GAH-vay) fields surrounding the town of Tequila, a charming community of cobbled streets and ocher-colored walls about 40 miles northwest of Guadalajara in the state of Jalisco.
Premium tequilas are made from 100 percent blue agave. Liquor distilled from other agaves include pulque, the primitive fermentation still produced and consumed locally, and mescal, a harsh, fiery cousin of tequila distilled mostly in the state of Oaxaca and famous _ or infamous, perhaps _ for the worm (an agave grub) usually inserted during the bottling process.
In 1978, the Mexican government established a set of laws to govern the production of tequila, much as French wines and cognac are produced and certified under the auspices of the Appellation de'origine Controllee. Top-quality tequilas must be made from agave grown in strictly defined zones, most notably Jalisco and small, designated districts within the states of Nayarit, Michoacan, Guanajuato and Tamaulipas.
