History of Ex-Hacienda Amargos and Bodegas Capellanía

The story of Ex-Hacienda Amargos starts with a hacienda that, according to the family, dates to 1750, in Paredón, Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila (El Diario de Coahuila, 2021 [1]). Bodegas Capellanía came later, founded in 1946 in Ramos Arizpe —not on the hacienda itself [2].

Key facts

• According to Jesús Antonio Saro Llaguno, owner of Bodegas Capellanía, quoted by El Diario de Coahuila in October 2021, the Ex-Hacienda San Juan de Amargos, in Paredón, Coahuila, "dates from 1750" (translation) [1].
• According to México Desconocido and El Diario de Coahuila, Bodegas Capellanía was founded in 1946 in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, by the Spanish immigrant Pedro Saro Martínez, a native of Santander [2][1].
• The Battle of Paredón was fought on 17 May 1914 in Paredón, in the municipality of Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, when Francisco Villa's Division of the North cavalry broke the federal lines in under an hour [4].
• The first vine planting at Amargos: 2009 per El Diario de Coahuila [1], 2010 per the winery's own account [5].
• Paredón, in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, had 1,003 inhabitants and sits at 775 meters above sea level, per INEGI's 2020 Census [6].

When was the Hacienda de San Juan de Amargos founded?

No primary source — an archive record, an INAH listing or a public register — documents the hacienda's origin: the 1750 date circulates through the family's own account and tourism listings that cite no document [1][2][5]. According to the Saro Llaguno family, quoted by El Diario de Coahuila in 2021, the hacienda "dates from 1750" (translation) [1]. According to Jesús Saro, director of Bodegas Capellanía, quoted by Vanguardia in August 2017, San Juan de Amargos belonged to the old core of the Hacienda de Patos, in Coahuila [3]; but a thesis from the Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila on Patos never mentions Amargos [13]: that link remains a family account.

What happened at the hacienda during the Mexican Revolution?

The Battle of Paredón was fought on 17 May 1914; Villista cavalry defeated federal forces, per the Archivo Municipal de Saltillo [4]. The hacienda's 2017 press profile places a similar episode in 1911 [3]; this article uses 1914, the documented date. Per the family, quoted by El Diario de Coahuila, the hacienda sheltered women and children who left the war zone through underground tunnels [1]. Vanguardia's profile, also sourced to the family, places grape growing between 1920 and 1950 and, in 1945, a purchase by several farmers who grew chile and tomato and produced candelilla wax [3].

When and where was Bodegas Capellanía founded?

Bodegas Capellanía was founded in 1946 in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila [2][1], a name recalling "San Nicolás de la Capellanía," the town's own name until 1850 [12]. According to Saro Llaguno, quoted by El Diario de Coahuila in 2021, Pedro Saro Martínez invited his friend Pedro Domecq to Mexico [1]. According to México Desconocido, the original Bodegas Capellanía winery in Ramos Arizpe, Coahuila, was eventually absorbed by Casa Pedro Domecq, and that building is today the municipality's Casa de la Cultura [2].

When did the vineyard reach Ex-Hacienda Amargos?

According to Jesús Antonio Saro Llaguno, quoted by El Diario de Coahuila in 2021, the family bought the San Juan de Amargos hacienda, in Paredón, Coahuila, from the Calderón family [1]; México Desconocido dates that purchase to around 1980 [2]. El Diario gives 2009 as the year of the first planting; the winery gives 2010 [1][5]. According to Jesús Antonio Saro Llaguno, quoted by El Diario de Coahuila in 2021, the vineyard at Ex-Hacienda San Juan de Amargos grew from one hectare to nine, with vines imported from France alongside Mexican ones [1]. Bodegas Capellanía barrelled its first harvest from the Ex-Hacienda San Juan de Amargos in 2013, according to the winery's own profile [5].

What is the Ex-Hacienda Amargos project today?

Ex-Hacienda Amargos is, per its own site, a project in the Coahuila desert with a rural community, a sustainably built hotel, vineyards and other attractions [9], created in 2020 by the Saro Llaguno family [11]. The site reports a 10-hectare vineyard and annual harvest events open to the public [10]. Bodegas Capellanía, run by Jesús Antonio Saro Llaguno [1][2], operates at kilometer 63 of the Saltillo–Monclova highway plus 13 km towards Paredón [7], and is listed on the Government of Coahuila's official Vinos & Dinos route [8]. More on the project page, the masterplan, and on what a vineyard community is.

Timeline of Ex-Hacienda Amargos and Bodegas Capellanía

Rows for 1750, 1945 and ~1980 come from the Saro family's statements as reported by the press; there is no independent documentary source.