The Story of Terroir Through The Walls of Casa Dragones Tasting Room

Like many seemingly small aspects of the architectural details found throughout Casa Dragones Tasting Room, the shimmering black tiles used to envelop the walls have a story of their own. The story of these tiles, and of how they came into existence begins in the same place as our tequila – the soil of our agave fields in Tequila, Jalisco.

The fields’ precise location deep in the heart of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt means that the soil in which the agaves grow is incredibly unique, nutrient rich, and ripe with minerals including obsidian – a black, glasslike volcanic rock formed by lava. Esteemed Mexican interior designer, Gloria Cortina and the Casa Dragones team recognized the inherent beauty in these raw black obsidian rocks and decided to incorporate them into Casa Dragones Tasting Room.

First, the obsidian rocks themselves needed to be collected from the agave fields in Tequila, Jalisco. Once enough rocks had been unearthed from the soil, the labor intensive process of transforming the raw volcanic material into 4,000 perfectly cut stone tiles could begin.

Cortina described the demanding task of creating these tiles as particularly difficult because the obsidian is “extremely fragile and must be worked properly to reflect all of its natural beauty and characteristics, so crafting 4,000 tiles was a very complex and delicate endeavor.” It was, however, an endeavor worth undertaking.

Now, those obsidian tiles adorn Casa Dragones Tasting Room’s walls as a constant reflection of the terroir from which Tequila Casa Dragones originates from, with “the heart of the land” embedded throughout the walls. But perhaps most importantly, and as noted by Cortina, “it’s brought to its most sublime presentation by Mexican hands.” Throughout the space, hues of yellow and gold shimmer across the copper bar and shelves, reflecting back in glimmers of orange and silver hues as they bounce off the deep black tiles coating the walls and ceiling.