Fine Wines from Mexico
Baja California Norte’s Valle de Guadalupe, Mexico’s wine capital, is an hour south of Tijuana and two hours from San Diego in the valleys around Ensenada. Here, nearly 90 percent of the country’s wines are produced in a region dotted with tasting rooms and chic hotels.
The pale landscape, scattered with huge boulders, is Mother Nature’s version of an art installation. The dry terrain is suited to varieties from regions like southern France and southern Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal, with Sangiovese, Nebbiolo, Zinfandel, Vermentino and Viognier as standouts.
In these craggy mountains, Bichi is one of the most electrifying wineries in the region. Here, Spanish Jesuit missionaries planted the Misión grape. Many of the oldest vineyards are centered around Tecate close to the U.S. border, a key place for production of wine during Prohibition.
Run by the Téllez family, Bichi – “naked” in the Sonoran Yaqui dialect – bottled their first vintage in 2014. Louis-Antoine Luyt, the Chilean wine rock star, started collaborating with the Téllez family. Working with the País grape, the same Misión grape found in Tecate, owner Noel Téllez seeks out heirloom plantings of Misión and uses concrete tinajas to produce their top-quality wines.
Using traditional methods and minimal intervention, Bichi farms 10 hectares of their own vineyards biodynamically and collaborates with a growing family of organic farmers working vineyard land. They raise the Misión grape as well as Rosa del Peru (Moscatel Negro), Tempranillo and what may be a Dolcetto brought to the area in the 1940s. At the winery, grapes are destemmed by hand and gently crushed by foot, and fermentations are carried out by wild yeast in the locally made concrete amphorae. The wines are raised in neutral barrels and steel vats, with a tiny addition of sulfur at bottling to preserve the wine for travel.
The labels from Bichi are playful and distinctively Mexican, representing the Téllez’s quirky sense of humor. The wines evoke the nearby Pacific Ocean, the granite soils and jagged mountain vineyards.
Naked Wine in Baja
Flama Roja A blend of young Tempranillo, Nebbiolo and Cabernet Sauvignon vines planted in 2004 and farmed biodynamically like their vegetable and herb gardens. Great with meat and bold flavors.
La Santa comes from Moscatel Negro. Nearly rosé colored in the glass, this is delicately floral, with red and dark fruits and juicy acidity, good with cheese and charcuterie.
Listan is an easily drinkable expression of the Misión grape with notes of floral, peppery red fruits and briny acidity.
No Sapiens This wine from a still-unidentified grape variety is raised in steel vats and older oak, with crunchy dark fruit, vibrancy and structure.
Pet Mex is a vibrant sparkling rosado, perfect for our South Florida summer days. No filtration or added SO2. Rosa is a refreshing Pacific-inflected rosé wine, ideal for fish tacos and camarones a la plancha.
Mexico’s Wine Country
More than 150 wineries are located over several valleys, including Valle de Guadalupe, San Antonio de las Minas, Ojos Negros, Santo Tomás, San Vicente, La Grulla, Tanamá, Las Palmas y San Valentin. This picturesque region also features inns, restaurants and shops. Baja Norte
