Bichi es Bueña

2018 Bichi ‘Flama Roja’

Natural Wine - wine sans almost everything - is sweeping the world’s historic wine regions and is supremely popular with the newest generation of wine makers and drinkers. While you may associate Mexico with beverages such as crisp beers and fiery Mezcals, wine has been produced in Mexico since Spanish conquistadores first planted vinifera vines in the 1500s. Bichi, meaning naked in the local Sonoran dialect, is a project between the Telléz family and French-Chilean natural wine guru Luis-Antoine Luyt focusing on hand crafting bright, vibrant wines.

The ‘Flama Roja’ is a blend of young, biodynamically farmed Nebbiolo, Tempranillo, and Cabernet Sauvignon from the Telléz Family vineyard in Tecate, just across the U.S.-Mexico border. Aromatic, refreshing, and well-structured, this lively red blend offers notes of savory herb-laced red fruits, black currant, and plum with floral, rose-petal accents bolstered by ripe tannins, volcanic minerality, and prickly acidity. As a result of the natural winemaking process and addition of only 10ppm of sulfur dioxide there is a tickly of volatile acidity that elevates the aromatics making for a compelling, attractive red. Overall this is a fantastic natural wine that showcases what can be done when a natural, wholistic approach to viticulture and enology is executed to perfection.