Tequila, Jalisco World Heritage Site. It encompasses 35,019 hectares between the foothills of the Tequila Volcano and the valley of the Rio Grande, which is covered in fields of blue agave. For over 2,000 years, this plant has been used to make fermented drinks and cloth and since the 16th century has been used to make the distilled liquor with the name of Tequila. Both the drink and the culture associated with making it has become absorbed into Mexican identity. Within these fields are the towns of Tequila, Arenal, Amatitan and Teuchitlán with large tequila production facilities. This site contains an inventory
Tequila, Jalisco the native people and was much like what is called pulque today. By the time the Spanish arrived, the natives had begun to cultivate the plant. The Spanish first considered taking the plant back to Spain but decided to develop it and its product in Mexico. The Spanish introduced distillation to turn the native fermented mescal into what is now known as tequila. The first large-scale distillery was created in 1600 and over the colonial period demand for the drink resulted in some of the oldest, still-operating enterprises in this area such as: “La Riojeña”, founded in 1795; “El Tigre”