Rancho El Mogor was established nearly seven decades ago through the labor and vision of the Swiss-French Badan family who moved to the Valle de Guadalupe from Mexico City in the 1950s. They moved to the region in order to cultivate olives for the production of olive oil and significant sections of their early plantings are still standing, the largest portion of which are situated immediately across the highway from where the vineyards sit today. The rancho itself was the Badan family home and farm, where Natalia Badan, the current owner and winemaker spent her life since her childhood. Although grape vines were present on the property since the early days, the introduction of significant vineyards for winemaking to the agricultural scope of the rancho was not introduced until later when Antonio Badan, Natalia’s brother, decided to undertake the project. Cavas Mogor Badan’s first vintages were in the 1980s by Antonio and the tradition is carried on today by Natalia and her children.
Rancho El Mogor is marked by its clear and obvious commitment to sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices, which can clearly be seen in the interconnectedness of the farm, from extensive organic vegetable gardens and citrus groves to herds of sheep and cows that graze in the vineyards. Speaking to this tradition of regenerative farming Natalia has said, "We were always organic, since my father's time. They called it biological agriculture, and everybody thought we were completely crazy.” This commitment to responsible farming practices and meticulous stewardship of the land is part of the essential DNA of Rancho El Mogor and is carried into the next generation of winemaking projects that are being undertaken by Natalia’s son, Juan Cristobal Rubio Badan. His creation, J.J. Amarguito, which is made from the generationally-cultivated citrus that is grown on the hills overlooking the vineyards, is one-of-a-kind and reflects a commitment to the stewardship of the land that has been passed through three generations of the Badan family.
