Pouya

Pouya is a woman-owned and operated boutique winery founded by Fernanda Parra in 2017. The winery is located in El Sauzal, Baja, Mexico, at the Pacific Ocean end of Valle de Guadalupe. El Sauzal, just north of Ensenada, is less than 50 straight-line miles from the U.S. border.

Fernanda is a Baja native with a degree in enology, ampelology, and viticulture from France. She gained experience in Sicily and Burgundy before becoming Assistant Winemaker at the Magoni Estate in Baja.

The name, Pouya, is an homage to her great-grandfather, a French scientist who fell in love with Baja. Fernanda’s personal project is an expression of her heritage and love for Baja’s terroir.

Pouya sources most of its grapes from two old vine vineyard sites in Valle de Guadalupe, both organically farmed and harvested by hand. The Bibayoff Estate, planted in the 1950s by descendants of Russian immigrants, represents some of the Valle’s oldest vines. At 1,100 feet, the soil is composed of sand mixed with granite and clay marl. Olegario Sandoval Vineyards, planted in the 1950s, lies approximately 15 miles from the Pacific. The vines are old and gnarled and dry-farmed. The sandy soils generate grapes with very little pigment in the skins.

Pouya produces six to eight natural wines with no additions or corrections. While the wines appear clear, they do not undergo filtration or stabilization. Minimum sulfites are added at bottling. Total production is 500 cases.