Bichi 'La Santa' 2022
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Press 2 • June 2024 Direct Press Selection
Noel Téllez and the Téllez family founded Bichi in 2014. The family is originally from Sonora, and the name of the winery, Bichi, means ‘naked’ in the Sonoran Yaqui language. From 2014 to 2017, Noel worked closely with his family and with Louis-Antoine Luyt (the French winemaker who made his name working with old vine País in Chile) to find and make wine from the area’s ancient vineyards of diverse varieties; today Noel makes wine own his own after many years of collaboration with Yann Rohel of Beaujolais. Their focus is on organic and dry-farmed heirloom vineyards that express the long and complex viticultural history of Baja California.
It’s hard to talk about Bichi without mentioning the labels, which feature Mexican luchadores and express Noel’s sense of humor. Inside the bottles are incredibly vibrant and transparent wines that evoke the nearby Pacific Ocean, the granite soils, and rugged mountain vineyards of their region. Through the persistent work of the family and their farmers and collaborators, lively Baja wine is officially on the map.
La Santa comes from centenarian, own-rooted Rosa del Peru (Moscatel Negro) vines grown at 2,400 ft elevation on sandy loam and granite soils in Tecate. The grapes were hand-harvested, de-stemmed, and fermented without temperature control in 450 liter concrete tinajas with 45 days of maceration. The wine was then raised for 3 months in ½ stainless steel vats and ½ older barrels. Ben Fletcher/José Pastor
Tasting notes: Press 2 subscribers are in for a treat this month. This red from Mexico punches far above its weight class. It has the signs of Noel's trademark ferrel yet elegant qualities with depth for miles. The La Santa pulls you in with aromas of hibiscus, black cherries, and a bit of bbq smoke. The palate is full of juicy black cherries, hibiscus, a touch of earthy minerality, and that smokey note finishes lightly among the elegant and velvety lingering length. I thought about this wine for the whole weekend after just a taste. Jeremy Hernandez
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