Organic Natural Wine made from organically or biodynamically grown grapes with minimal intervention avoiding the use of chemicals, additives and technology.
Bichi's No Sapiens is crafted from a single, dry-farmed vineyard in San Antonio de las Minas, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. The 69-year-old, head-pruned, own-rooted vines are planted on sandy loam and granite soils at 1,066 feet, close to the Pacific Ocean. The grape variety remains unidentified; the farmer suggests it could be Dolcetto, while the Téllez family speculates it might be Cariñena due to its sharp acidity. The grapes are hand-harvested, destemmed, and fermented in concrete tinajas with native yeasts. The wine is then aged for three months in equal parts steel vats and older oak barrels. Bottling occurs without fining or filtration, with only ten ppm of added sulfur, adhering to natural winemaking principles.
No Sapiens presents a linear profile with crunchy dark fruit, ample vibrancy, and structure. Its sharp acidity and mineral undertones reflect the unique terroir, offering a wine that will improve with time in the bottle.
Bichi No Sapiens 2023
Mexico has a centuries-long history of winemaking that has mostly gone under the radar. Spanish conquistadores planted vines in the early 1500’s, before both Chile and Argentina, and Baja California represents about 90% of the vines in the entire country due to the ideal climate and geography. Brothers Noel & Jair Tellez, with the help of Chilean (by way of Burgundy) winemaker Louis-Antoine Luyt, are producing amazingly fresh and energetic wines from very old, recently recovered vineyards of Misión (aka Listán Prieto), Rosa del Peru (aka Moscatel Negro), Tempranillo and Carinena, among other varieties. Bichi means “naked” in some parts of northern Mexico, and for Téllez and Luyt, it thus seemed like an appropriate name to give their new natural wine project.
Based at the Téllez family ranch in Tecate, just over the border from California, Bichi farms 10 hectares of their own Tecate vineyards biodynamically and collaborates with a growing family of organic farmers working vineyard land in Tecate and around Valle de Guadalupe. The majority of the vines are head-trained and all are dry-farmed, hand harvested, fermented with native yeast, and aged in neutral barrel or vat so that the emphasis is on each wine’s Mexican terruño.