BICHI SANTA MOSCATEL NEGRA, 2020

Alcohol: 12.5%

Grape Variety: 100% Rosa del Peru (Moscatel Negro)

Aging: The grapes were harvested by hand, de-stemmed and fermented in locally made concrete tinajas with 20 days of maceration, raised in a mix of steel tank and used French barrels over winter, and bottled without fining or filtration and only 10 ppm of added SO2.

Region: Tecate, Baja California, Mexico

Food pairing: 

serve slightly chilled, and finish the bottle day 1 before the funk settles in. Recommended temperature: 15°C (59°F).

Wine Profile:

La Santa, one of Jair’s single vineyards, super old vine, amphora-aged, light, still reds.  Bichi refresher: Jair Téllez, chef of the progressive Laja Restaurant in Ensenada and two cool places in Mexico City, is the guy behind Tecate-based Bichi, the first natural winery in Mexico. A few years ago, he left his post as chef at a Top 50 San Pellegrino Restaurant to resurrect old vines in Baja and make delicious, authentically made wine from grapes suited to the climate, with awesome label art (bonus!). Jair’s winemaking partner in crime is Luis-Antoine Luyt, pioneer of natural winemaking in Chile, so of course they’re working naturally: organic farming, native yeasts, and tiny drops of added so2 as the only additive. These are Mexican wines of the future!  And in our opinion, some of the best wines made in Central America today.

We're loving the new Santa vintage, which this year he made two bottlings of, showcasing different times in tinaja.  They were both fantastic, but we slightly preferred the first bottling (shorter aging time, pink face on label).  Sporting the same mauve color as always (reminds me of my grandmother’s carpet) its as energetic and poppy on the palate as ever, this time with a grapefruit bitter edge. It’s the wine you wish would be at the bar on a Saturday night, because it’s light and fun, and you could drink it all night long without getting bored. Tastes like cold-pressed sour raspberries, dusty roses, grapefruit pith and Sour Patch kids. Sounds weird but trust us, it is unbelievably delicious.