Excerpt #1:

“Translator’s Note” by Edith Grossman

From: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Selected Works

Trans. Edith Grossman | W.W. Norton & Co. 2014

Called the Tenth Muse by her contemporaries—a name that still resonates—Sor Juana continues to perplex us. Unlike Luis de Góngora and Francisco de Quevedo, two of the great poets of the Spanish Baroque who inspired her, she was largely self-taught. Far from being a provincial autodidact, however, she had a prodigious intellect, a vast store of scriptural, theological, classical, and contemporary knowledge, immense skill as a writer in a broad range of genres, and a real penchant for study and scholarship, with a special proclivity for the sciences and music.

She was a nun, but not a cloistered one, and regularly held an elite salon in the convent’s locutory. Further, she acquired thousands of volumes for what apparently was the largest private library in the viceroyalty of New Spain (later Mexico). Yet in spite of all her acumen, learning, and astute intelligence, she somehow failed to take into account the depth of sexist bigotry that prevailed in every sector of society, including the Church to which she had devoted her life.

Why did she allow herself to be caught in the snares set by a misogynistic hierarchy, embodied in the person of Manuel Fernandez de Santa Cruz, Bishop of Puebla, who once had been her friend and associate but who attacked her in a portentous letter, purportedly by another nun, the fictional Sor Filotea, after he had asked her to write a theological challenge to a male cleric and then published it without her permission?

Her proto-feminist Response to Sor Filotea, an impassioned and erudite defense of a woman’s right to study, develop her mind, and commit her thoughts to paper, did nothing to dissuade the Church authorities from punishing what they saw as intolerable arrogance and undue independence of thought. She was obliged to disperse her library, stop writing, and submit to the discipline of harsh physical and spiritual chastisement. She had crossed a line into forbidden territory and could not be permitted to emerge from that trespass unscathed.

In his groundbreaking book on Sor Juana, Octavio Paz offers an intriguing interpretation of the impact of this all-encompassing repression on her writing:

"...in addition to the anonymous community of ordinary readers, there is a group of privileged readers called the Archbishop, the Inquisitor... they had as much influence on Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz as her admirers. ... Her dread readers are a part—and a significant part—of her work. Her work tells us something, but to understand that something we must realize that it is utterance surrounded by silence: the silence of the things that cannot be said. The things she cannot say are determined by the invisible presence of her dread readers. When we read Sor Juana, we must recognize the silence surrounding her words. That silence is not absence of meaning; on the contrary, what cannot be said is anything that touches not only on the orthodoxy of the Catholic Church ...in the ideas, interests, and passions of its princes and its Orders. Sor Juana’s words are written in the presence of a prohibition; that prohibition is embodied in an orthodoxy supported by a bureaucracy of prelates and judges. An understanding of Sor Juana’s work must include an understanding of the prohibitions her work confronts. Her speech leads us to what cannot be said...”

The baffling challenge to the translator of her writing is how to reproduce “the silence of the things that cannot be said” in another language. This isn’t a Zen conundrum, not the sound of silence or of one hand clapping. On the contrary, this is the terrified silence created by fear of the Holy Office, the constant, intimidating presence of the Inquisition. What precisely, we must ask, did Sor Juana not say in order to conform to the strictures of an oppressive society and of what she always referred to as her “status” or her “state”—that is, her position as a member of a religious order?

The question must be asked, but the answer is not easy to find. The issue of that silence may well be one of the factors that continue to draw both translators and readers to her writing; the ongoing effort to decipher words not spoken penetrates to the enigmatic core of her life and work.

Writing Prompt #1: 

Take a few moments to gaze into the candlelight. Then, if you feel comfortable, close your eyes and contemplate the word ‘fire’...then the word ‘holy’. What images come to mind? What sensations fill your being? Where in your body do you feel rage? Peace? As you open your eyes again, describe the contours of these sensations, painting a halo with your words of that which cannot be said.

WINE TASTING

flavor, texture, emotion

BODY : combination of sweetness, acidity, tannin, alcohol / weight of wine in mouth; light/med/full

ACIDITY: tartness/sourness of a wine, the mouthwatering effect, contributes to freshness & balance; tart, zesty, puckery, soft, round, supple, plush, etc.

SWEETNESS : residual sugar / bone dry → dry → off-dry → semi-sweet → sweet → syrupy/cloying

TANNIN: naturally occurring compounds in grapes, skins, stems that produce an astringent ‘mouth drying’ effect (opposite of acidity); contribute to a wine’s structure and aging potential; smooth, soft, rough, dry, etc.

ALCOHOL: product of fermentation; high abv: fuller, richer & low abv: lighter, more delicate

a) Fruit: ripe/unripe, candied, baked, jammy, pithy, zesty, e.g. gummies vs. unripe forest fruit

b) Minerality: who takes vitamins? Which ones? - ask to describe areas in nature, e.g. rivers, volcanoes

c) Flowers & herbs: dried/dying/fresh - what are common flowers in springtime? What types of terrain in nature tend to grow flowers and herbs? 

d) Sweetness vs fruitiness: is a question of actual residual sugar vs. intensity of fruit

e) Flaws: 1) brettanomyces (medicinal to farmyard-type aromas), 2) volatile acidity (vinegar-y flavor bc of acetic acid), 3) oxidation (too much exposure to oxygen, flat or stale fruit), 4) cork taint (musty, damp cardboard), and 5) sulfur compounds (rotten egg, burnt rubber)

BLIND TASTING

PRACTICE, THEORY, TRUSTING YOUR INTUITION

• ASSESSING STRUCTURE

• B.A.S.T.A. = BODY (OR WEIGHT OF WINE), ACIDITY, SWEETNESS (RESIDUAL SUGAR VS. FRUITINESS), TANNIN, ALCOHOL (HOW HOT IS THE WINE?)

• DETECTING WINEMAKING NOTES

• Stylistic strokes/textures/etc. E.g. oak usage, lees contact, malolactic conversion

• CLIMATE IMPACT

• Cooler vs. warmer regions ; topographically, geographically, where does this wine take you?

• NOTES OF AGE

• Does this wine have aging potential? Can a young wine with little tannin have aging potential? Considering extraction of fruit vs. depth of flavor

MEXICAN VITICULTURAL TIMELINE IN A NUTSHELL

PRE-COLONIAL ERA

• The Aztecs called the fruit of the vine acacholli, the Purépechas knew it as seruráni, the Otomis called it obxi and the Tarahumaras named it uri.

• Mexico is the oldest American wine producer, but its industry of quality wines is relatively recent. The wine was consumed as food, medicine and to regain strength.

• In Pre-Columbian times, native Indians used wild vines to prepare a drink to which they added other fruit and honey, otherwise known as a melomel.

POST-COLONIAL ERA

• 16th ce. Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés (b. Dec 1485 - d. Dec 1547), who eventually became the 1st Marquis of the Valley of Oaxaca, leads a ruinous expedition that causes the fall of the Aztec Empire

• On March 20th, 1524, Cortés, the de-facto ruler or ‘Governor’ of New Spain, ordered each settler to plant 1,000 ft. of vines per 100 native Indians. The first vines took root in the northern state of Coahuila.

• Vines were cultivated immediately by missionaries who needed wine in order to celebrate mass.

• “The quality of Mexican wine and brandy began to jeopardize Spanish imports, which led to restrictions being placed on planting. In 1699, King Charles II of Spain prohibited wine production entirely, except for sacramental wine. Nevertheless, though wine was made mostly by missionary priests, many of them ignored the government edicts and made wine available for secular consumption as well.

• In 1683, the first grapes were planted in Baja California, now the country’s predominant wine region. 

• Missionary Junípero Serra, called the “father of California wine,” brought the first vines to San Diego from Baja California in 1769.”

MODERN DAY

• Economic and political factors from the late 18th and early 19th centuries caused several periods of instability and inconsistent growth.

• In the early 1900s, phylloxera and the Mexican Revolution caused a massive blow-out in Mexican viti- and vini-culture, seeing a massive decline in vineyards and production for three decades.

• The 1930s and ’40s marked an upward swing: as the economy improved, demands went up, and vineyards were planted–many of which are still in use today.

• 1980s: pivotal decade for Mexican wine. Started with a major economic crisis and competition from wine imports when Mexico signed the GATT trade agreement in 1986.

• In 2006, there were less than 25 wineries in Mexico. Now, there are more than 120 commercial wineries in Baja California alone, and many other historic wine regions have been revived. A few large-scale wineries dominate production, like L.A. Cetto, which makes almost half the country’s total wine production. The rest are almost exclusively small-production boutique wineries. Most produce less than 5,000 cases annually.

• Unlike other wine-producing countries, there are no formal appellations* or other geographical indications. Such lack of restrictions in Mexico has encouraged experimentation.

• As of March 24, 2025, the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI), an agency subordinate to the Ministry of Economy, officially granted the wines of the Querétaro wine region the status of a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)–the first of its kind in Mexico. 

• The PGI status applies to red, white, and rosé wines, as well as sparkling wines and 'Cosechas Tardías' (Late Harvest wines). Specific grape varieties are not mentioned.

• Today, Baja California is responsible for 75-90% of Mexico’s total wine production.

• The “Valle”, as it’s called, produces around 150 million cases a year and boasts more than 150 wineries.

Poems #1 & #2

From: Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Selected Works

Trans. Edith Grossman | W.W. Norton & Co. 2014

Writing Prompt #2

Drawing upon your tasting notes, and the mystical/mythological themes embedded within sonnets 145 and 147, write a sonnet in response to the following phrase: ‘In which she obfuscates the wine’s defining features, tempering its potency to the etheric charm of a single rose in a vast, uncharted dreamscape’

Poem #3:

YOLA MEZCAL TASTING & HISTORY

TEQUILA VS. MEZCAL

TEQUILA = a descendant of traditional/ancestral mezcal

• The word ‘mezcal’ was the original word used to describe spirits derived from distilled cooked agave ferment, and tequila was initially differentiated by where it came from and for its particularly good quality. 

• For example, the town of Tequila was famous for its mezcal, called ‘Vino de Mezcal de Tequila’ or ‘Agave Wine from Tequila’ in the first written records a few centuries ago. 

• Not all mezcal is tequila, but all tequila is mezcal

• Since then, tequila the beverage has grown exponentially and evolved into a billion dollar international industry, eclipsing the popularity of its mother spirit for the better part of the last century. 

• The chemical process to go from agave in the field to spirit in the glass is also similar at a base level. From a macro point of view, both tequila and mezcal cook agave to turn starch into fermentable sugars, ferment the cooked agave, then distill it twice.

• Both spirits also have their own Denominations of Origin, a set of geographical and production rules and regulations that are required to use the terms ‘Tequila’ and ‘Mezcal’ respectively. Theoretically the DO’s protect the culture and heritage of the spirits, similar to other DOs for Champagne and Parmesan cheese, for example. (Source)

Excerpt #4

From “Primero Sueño”, written in 1692

(First Dream, published in A Sor Juana Anthology, 1988, is both personal and universal. The date of its writing is unknown. It employs the convoluted poetic forms of the Baroque to recount the torturous quest of the soul for knowledge.)

In the hidden concave hollows of the high

mountains, those rough and cragged peaks

guarded less by ruggedness

than by their obscurity,

in whose dark, somber dwelling

deepest night reigns at midday,

and unknown still to the sure,

steady, tracking foot of the expert hunter,

forgotten the fierceness of

some, the terror of others,

the lowly animals slept,

paying to Nature the same

universal tribute imposed by her might;

and their king, affecting vigilance, even

with open eyes kept no watch.

A powerful monarch once,

torn to pieces by his own fierce hunting dogs

but now a timorous hart

with hearing most attentive

to the least perceptible tremor that may

disturb the atoms, first one

then the other of his sharp ears responds, moves

and quivers and hears the sound

even in his deep slumber.

And in the serene quietude of their nests,

hammocks formed of offshoots

in the densest, most opaque parts of the trees,

the buoyant throng gathers together and sleeps,

the wind resting in the cessation of the

constant cutting of their wings.

The noble bird of Jupiter, highborn queen,

does not give herself to rest

entirely, deeming sleep in excess vice,

and takes care to avert faults

of omission caused by lack of vigilance,

resting her entire weight on just one foot

and clutching in the other a tiny stone,

an alarm calculated to waken her

in the event she drowses:

for if a light sleep proves beyond her control

it would not last but be interrupted first

by regal or rather pastoral care.

Oh heavy burden and cost of majesty,

which does not forgive the least neglect or slip!

The reason, perhaps, that the crown is circular,

a mysterious gold circle that denotes

a no less unbroken zeal.

In short, all was possessed by sleep; all, in short,

was occupied by silence:

even the thief lay sleeping,

and even the watchful lover closed his eyes.

Dead of night

had almost passed, the darkness half

concluded, when wearied by their daily tasks,

(and oppressed not only by

grueling physical labor but tired too

of delight, since any constant incidence,

no matter how delightful,

also exhausts the senses:

for nature always alternates,

moves between first one, then the other scale,

allotting actions to leisure and labor

in the alternation, faithful unfaithful,

with which she guides the great machine of the world);

the limbs, then, occupied by sweet, profound sleep

Writing Prompt #3

“In this excerpt, Sor De la Cruz writes this scene of how night overtakes the world and induces sleep, the one thing all beings must give to, this need for rest and soulful reflection. Primero Sueño, or translated as First Dream, is a work that Sor Juana had cited as one of the few writings she made purely for her own joy/pleasure. The whole piece is an indulgent meditation between the metaphysical and natural, between faith and its “supposed opposite”, knowledge. 

For this prompt, we will practice some “dreaming” of our own. What axis of “opposites” in your life are you trying to reconcile? Are you like Sor. Juana, caught between the life of a theologian and a scholar? Or is connection versus independence? We’re going to write intuitively for a couple of minutes as we fully dive into these opposites. What dreams do you see when contemplating these opposing forces, identities, concepts?

Transformational Females: Guadalupe and Sor Juana

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and the Virgin of Guadalupe are two syncretic figures in Mexican history. Syncretism refers to the merging of cultural traditions to create a new tradition. Specifically, the Virgin of Guadalupe combines the polytheistic, indigenous religions with Catholicism to create a new brand of religion that appeals to all citizens of Mexico - the Spaniards, creoles, mestizos, mulattos, and indigenous peoples. Sor Juana, meanwhile, combined the writing conventions of Spain with indigenous legends. The legend of Guadalupe preceded Sor Juana, but both have informed modern day Mexico in significant ways. Learn about the history of Mexico, about Guadalupe and Sor Juana, and investigate the modern references.