In Mexico, I drink a lot of Mexican wine. In Canada, where I’m holed up these days, I drink none. Not one single bottle.

Despite what you may hear about the international success of Mexican wineries, there is only one winery that I know of who has distribution here, and they have only three of their lowest end wines available. In Toronto, even someplace called the Republic of Mondova has better penetration of the market.

So what might I be drinking if, like originally planned, I was spending some of my summer in San Miguel?

I met Emiliano Miglietta at a wine tasting at San Miguel restaurant Bovine. Emilio is the director-general of local wine distributor Tutuka wines and a guy who dazzles me with his wine knowledge.

Recently, Emiliano ventured into a new business, partnering with ex-Mi Vida chef Davide Giribaldi, and launching the Italian-focused restaurant Cien Fuegos. Unfortunately, their timing couldn’t have been any worse, trying to introduce a new destination when the world was being introduced to a pandemic was, obviously, the near impossible.

Emiliano Miglietta is, however, still trying. Like a lot of San Miguel restaurants, Cien Fuegos is offering a limited menu for pick-up or delivery. Like some San Miguel restaurants, he is also offering wines to accompany their Neopolitan-style pizza and the other dishes that Cien Fuegos calls “comfort food”.

I asked Emiliano to recommend three reasonably-priced Mexicans to me that he thinks go well with what’s on his food menu. These are the three, with price tags well below those on their in-restaurant menu:

Roganto RA

Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Cabernet Franc and Merlot. $363.

This red comes from one of my favorite wineries in Baja California. It has the kind of big, fruity style that would go great with Cien Fuegos lasagna.

Casa Magoni Rosé

Grenache, Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier and Cabernet Sauvignon. $263.

Some of the world’s best pink wines use Grenache as their dominant grape. Casa Magoni’s is light and refreshing with hints of cherry and strawberry on the nose and the tongue. Would go great with their oven-roasted rainbow trout.

Casa Magoni Vino Blanco

Chardonnay and Vermentino. $248.

The Valle de Guadalupe winery is the first I’ve ever known to blend the Italian grape Vermentino with Chardonnay. The result is apples on the nose and crispy citrus on the tongue. Would pair nicely with the pizza margarita and it’s a steal at the price.

Cien Fuegos is located on Carretera San Miguel de Allende – Dolores Hidalgo at km 7.4, about ten minutes outside of Centro in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. There is no minimum order for the wines. Telephone 415 114 7275 to arrange an appropriate time for pick-up or delivery.

The food menu at Cien Fuegos is available from 1:00 to 8:00 pm, Wednesday to Sunday. You’ll find a more complete menu at their Instagram site Cienfuegos.sma or at their Facebook site, Cien fuegos pizza & comfort food. Telephone 415 114 7275 to order for pick-up or delivery.