Tequila’s history and identity is as rich and protected as that of Champagne, Cognac or Bordeaux. Tequila can only be grown in the states of Jalisco, Michoacan, Nayarit, Guanajuato or Tamaulipas. Spirits from agaves grown in any other region cannot be called tequila.

Just like the grapes in so many French and California wineries, Casa Dragones’ Blue Agave plants are cared for meticulously. The agave farmers, or jimadores, use the knowledge handed down to them from past generations to decide exactly when a plant is ready to be harvested, which is when the plant is between eight and twelve years old. They are only harvested at the perfect moment, when their sweetness and ripeness are in perfect balance.

The harvesting process, untouched by modern machinery, is an echo of simpler times. The jimadores still use hand tools to strip off the spiky blue-green leaves, exposing the heart of the plant, the piña, so that it can be extracted for its nectar. The heart is called a piña because it resembles a large pineapple. (Piña is “pineapple” in Spanish.) The process takes incredible skill and patience, and only experts know exactly how and when to harvest the plants.

The jimadores say that, if patient and quiet, one can hear the plants in the fields. By reacting to nature, the agaves remind their caretakers that they are indeed alive, and not static creatures.

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