[Upbeat Music] [Narrator] Today, at Crossing South we visited a dog rescue shelter.

And a Baja winery.

Known for it's naked flavors.

And it's coming to you now.

[Upbeat Music] [Soft Violin Music] - Abandoned, probably mistreated, wishing oh so much for a loving home.

And these pound puppies just want to go home with someone.

Yeah, I know, I know we're giving Sarah McLachlan and a run for her money, but the life of a pooch that reaches a place like this is truly hard.

The caretakers really get emotionally involved.

[Barking] - It's hard.

You know, I'm about to cry.

It's ah.

It's very tough.

- [Puppy] Would you take me home.

You've got a great home for me.

I know you do, take me home and not doing anything else.

You're not busy.

[Soft Violin Music] - It's so satisfying.

When you rescue a dog from the streets and um, it's covering mange and it's so thin.

And then to see them in a couch with ah, with um, with their new owner and their new life is just that's uh, that's why we did it.

That's why we did it.

[Soft Violin Music] - Hey, how you doing?

- How are you doing?

- What's your name?

- Um.

My name is Pris Austin.

Pris Austin, Priscilla Austin.

- Priscilla Austin.

- There you go.

- Austin, like in Texas?

- Yeah - Priscilla Austin.

Okay.

- That's it.

- Where are you from Priscilla, Texas?

- No, I'm from here from Ensenada.

- You're local?

- So why do you have an Austin last name?

- My ma, ah, my dad is from Hawaii.

- Oh really?

- So there you go.

Yeah, that's it.

- So you were born in Ensenada?

- Yep.

- Okay.

So your dad's Hawaiian?

- Yep.

- Is he like native Hawaiian or American living in Hawaii?

- No, American living in Hawaii.

- Okay, far enough.

- White guy living at Hawaii.

- Yes, yes, yes.

[Laughter] That's right.

- So you're, you're gonna to show us here, what, what is this?

- Ah.

this is our thrift shop.

It's um, this is how we make money to be able to, - Sustain the dog shelter.

- Yes, exactly.

Ah.

These are all donations from people.

- Oh, really?

- Yeah.

Um, they bring them from the States.

They bring them from, from the locals, and it's ah, clothing and it's a kitchenware.

- anything we, we anything we found, electronics, anything we can move.

- And who, who, who shops here normally?

- Ah, the locals.

- The locals, you mean the Mexicans?

- Yeah.

- Or the expats living here?

- Mexicans, um.

- Mexicans - The expats are usually the ones that brings the stuff.

- Okay.

- And then Mexicans will buy it.

- The Mexican are the ones who shop.

[Giggle] - Nice, nice.

- Yes, yes, yes.

- So, this is the business that sustains the dog shelter.

- Yes.

- And where is the dog shelter?

- Oh, it's right in the back.

- Is that our next stop?

- Yes - Let's go.

[Laughter] - We have a kitchen.

We were able to make home, home meals for the dogs.

- Oh really?

So they have some protein and um, in their diet too.

- Look at that excitement.

[Laughter] - Yes they are.

- How you doing guys?

[Laughter] - So eager?

- Yeah.

This, this little girl, for example somebody just dumped her in the, in front of the shelter without telling anybody.

- They just dumped her?

- Yeah, and she got hit by a car.

- Oh no.

- So she lost her leg?

- No, she lost her leg.

How did you get them to trust you?

- Just that time.

- Time.

- And patience, Love, yeah.

[Giggle] - You started with food, you know, like the first time?

- Yep, Actually these guys, as, as soon as were able to caught, caught, caught, catch them.

Um, they started trusting us.

As soon as we put them in the, in the kennel they came to us.

And.

- Really?

- Yeah, it's ah, ah, 180 degrees change.

- This is Mini-me.

She doesn't like cats.

- She doesn't like cats?

- No.

- This is Nita.

She came in, in here pregnant.

- So who's Mini Me, the brown one?

- Yeah, the Brown one.

[Laughter] We're trying call her Tiburona, but it didn't, it didn't... - It didn't stick.

- Yeah.

- Well, this one looks more aggressive.

- Yeah.

This is, this Rosie, ah - Rosie, are you aggressive?

[Dog Barking] Oh!

- Rosie, come on.

- It's okay.

It's okay.

It's okay.

- No.

She's been adopted five times.

- Yeah, and sent back?

- Yeah, and sent back.

- Because, she's not as, as aggressive enough.

- She's not aggressive enough?

Really?

[Laughter] - They see her here like that, and say they think that, the it's going to be a guard dog.

And then, - Super friendly once... - Yeah.

[Laughter] - Do you give these out at a auction to Mexicans, or Americans?

- Ah, we don't, we don't, whoever wants them.

- Is it possible for them to cross them to the U.S. - Yes, yes.

We actually work ah, with another, ah, with another rescue in the States.

And they take them to PetSmart.

- Oh they do?

- And they ah, get them adopted there.

- Okay.

- We're trying to get our paperwork together.

So we can go over there and, and, - So you can cross them over.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Okay.

Gotcha.

Oh, we got puppies over here.

- Yes, these guys ah, it's a, it's a whole litter.

And they just came in at once.

- Really, a full litter of puppies.

Ahhh.

- That's, that's how they usually come in.

- Little guys.

- By the bunch.

[Chuckle] [Dog Barking] - Come on guy, come on guy.

She is so eager for attention.

- Yes.

- Right.

- She doesn't bite, no worries.

- Okay.

[Chuckle] [Dog Barking] [Chuckle] [Dog Barking] - This one nibbles a little.

- Yeah.

- Little nibbler.

- Yeah.

When these guys came in there, they had no hair.

- Oh really?

- Yeah.

No, ho, ho.

- Nibblers.

[Chuckling]} [Dogs Barking] - Do, do, do, do, do, do.

Come here, come here, come here.

Do, do, do, do, do, do.

Do, do, do, do, do.

The little guys is like, what about me man?

Let me get some attention, bro.

[Chuckle] Come on, come on guys, you can do it.

[Laughter] Resilient.

He persevered.

[Chuckle] He's like, hey guys, let me get you my attention, man.

[Laughter] That little guy's a fighter.

I like the little one, hey little.

Hey, I like you guys too.

I like you guys too.

[Chuckle] They were where?

- At the golf course.

- What were they doing there?

- Just ah, random, somebody dumped them there probably.

- Really?

- Yeah, and she had ah, her spleen removed.

- What?

Yeah, it was, it was like four times the normal size.

[Dogs Barking] - Little bit shyer.

- Yeah.

- Isn't, is this an old guy?

- This guy just got here.

We have ah, - Oh.

- no information.

You can name him if you want to.

- It's a newb.

Okay.

- Yes.

- Oh, let's see.

Let's see.

How about, how about, how about Leroy?

- There you go.

- Hey Leroy, - Leroy.

Leroy Brown, the baddest dog and all the town.

- Perfect.

- Right.

[Chuckle] - Ahhh.

- This guy is ah, a distemper survivor.

Come on Bubba.

- What happened to his leg?

- Ah, he said, a distemper survivor, so distemper messes up with their head.

And ah, all the connections.

- Nervous system.

- Yeah.

So he lost the ability to move.

- The hind legs?

- Yeah.

Um, so we've been just, we've just given him a medicine, and, and you know, exercises, trying to make him walk again.

- Yeah.

It's, it's working, but it's not as, working as fast as we, we would like.

- It's slow.

- Yeah.

It's a very slow process.

- But it's gonna continue working.

- Yeah.

- What are, what are your expenses on, on monthly for, to run this operation?

- Well we spend about like ah, thirty five hundred dollars.

- Thirty five hundred dollars?

- Yeah.

- That's how much a month?

- We have to pay employees, we have to pay ah, rent electricity, vet bills, food, and we also do spade and neuter for the community.

- Oh, you do?

- Yeah.

We have one, one a month, right now.

It's ah, low cost.

So the vet charges us, three hundred pesos, but we only charge a one hundred pesos to the people that can't afford it.

- Your subsidizing it?

- Yeah, if they, if they can, then we, we take all the, all the, we pay all the money.

- Yeah.

- And we're trying also to go to schools and ah, we've done it a couple of times.

It hasn't work as, as good as, we hoped.

- It should?

- Yeah.

But we go to the school, we talked to kids first about why the importance of, of ah, of getting their animals vetted and ah, spayed and neutered.

And ah, after a week, after spoke to them we make a free spayed and neutered after school.

- Okay.

- Yeah, so their working in... - Teaching the important for us.

And then do it.

- Yeah, exactly.

- Do, do you ever have field trips of kids coming here?

- Ah, we had a couple.

Yeah.

We, we encourage people to, to, the teachers to bring their kids, you know, and and they give them baths, and they take them out for walks.

And we just encouraged people in general to come and volunteer.

It's ah, just to pet the dogs, cause they need the social interaction.

- Yeah.

[Chuckle] - The dogs need it.

[Giggle] - Well, it's an older one?

Oh, She has puppies.

[Dogs Barking] - Come here.

It's better, if they're not reproducing.

[Chuckle] - Cause it's, it's a hard, hard life in the streets.

You can't help them all the time.

And ah, it breaks your heart.

So you just have to focus on, on the success stories.

You know, that's, that's the, the goal to see them in their new homes.

And ah, when you receive pictures on Instagram you know, that's, that's, that's why we do it.

It just reminds us that all, all we go through.

That's the, that's the goal.

[Mumbling] I know, yes.

- Is there anything else you think people should know about your rescue?

- Ah, we, we they try to help us as, as much as we can, you know?

And um, it's, it's hard sometimes to get the funds to do as much as we would like.

- So, donations would go a long way?

- Yeah, yeah.

And ah, we encourage people to, whenever you want to donate to a rescue, to go to the rescue.

- Go.

- And meet the people in there and meet the, the location.

Not just blindly go there.

Cause sometimes ah, you don't know where your money's going.

- Yeah.

The official name of this place is what?

- "Lost Adoptable's".

- "Lost Adoptable's".

- Yep.

- Okay.

"Lost Adoptable's" very nice.

Oh, can't even open his eyes.

Let me, let me imitate him.

[Chuckle] - Yeah, yeah, They are ah, - Ah, look at this.

- five days old.

- Five days old.

- Yes.

That fur was still in the womb.

All warm.

Why did they have to take me out?

I wasn't ready.

[Chuckle] Look at that.

Look at the little ripples right here.

Puppies will love you no matter what.

Those qualities tug at the heartstrings of anyone who has a pulse.

The puppiness, the moms like, what are you doing with my puppies, man.

[Chuckle] - They're here girl, they're here.

They're not going anywhere.

I'm being kind to them.

And then like, I always run hot.

My temperature is super, super hot all the time.

So they're going to like, just being in my hands.

[Laughter] - Yes, definitely.

[Chuckle] - Ah, yeah.

Somebody brought her and ah, she just here one day and then she had 14 babies.

- Really?

One day, one day you went from, - Yeah.

- 14.

- We had 14.

A lot more.

- 14 grew.

Look at them, their they're finding their way over there.

Their already, It's already snoring basically.

[Chuckle] So is there anything that you think people should know that you'd like to convey, a message you'd like to convey to our audience.

- Just spayed and neuter all your animals?

- That's it?

- Yeah.

Right now that's the only, - Well in the States, that's, you know, pretty common now but, Mexico's culture is going to be, - Yeah.

- if ever.

- It's hard and, and... - So is there anything else that they can do, other than doing that on their own over there?

For here?

You know.

Just, just if they can donate if you can come visit.

- Yeah, yeah.

Just come visit.

- Come pick, come pick a puppy up.

Right?

- Meet us.

And ah, if you're looking for a dog, ah, we have... - Come get it.

- A lot of them.

[Giggle] - Yes.

- Cross South.

- We can send them to you too.

- Cross south for tacos.

And then on your way back... - Pick your dog.

- Pick your dog up.

[Laughter] - Can anyone, can they take any of the dogs.

Or do you have like a specific one that are ready to?

- No.

Um, most of them are, are ready to go.

And ah, we would tell them, you know, ah, we, we give them out with vaccines and, and fixed already so they don't have to do anything.

It's ah, really important that people remember that dogs are not presents.

- Um, hum.

- It's a, it's a life.

- Yeah.

- Ah, - The person that's going to get it, needs to want it.

- Yeah, exactly.

- Not just surprise someone with it.

- Not just surprise someone with it.

- Guess what mommy.

You know.

Oh another life I have to commit to now.

- No, it's ah, 10 to 15 years of ah, you have to be taken care of.

- A commitment.

- Yeah.

- Hmm, hmm.

This one's already gone.

- Yeah.

- This is this one's like in dreamland already.

- I love this.

[Giggle] - Oh.

Well folks, I can't think of a better way to end this segment, of Crossing South, don't go anywhere.

More to come.

I'm going to enjoy these babies right now.

- Take care.

- So as we got ready to go, a vicious dog began to chase me down.

The intent was probably mauling me to death but, fortunately he decided to spare my life at the last moment.

So we leave this shelter with the good feeling in our hearts.

And wishing everyone involved here, well.

We move over now to something else that is sure to rejoice the heart.

One of the few wineries in the Tecate area.

You know, what we've done both for the show and just for leisure, ah, fine dining in a few places in Baja, especially the nice places.

I've run a few times into a line called Bichi wine.

And Bichi is like a Mexican endearing term for someone who was naked.

The maker, the founder, the owner of that winery is the guy right next to me.

It's Noel.

How are you doing, buddy?

- Hi.

- Nice to meet you.

So, where are you from?

How'd you start making wine in Baja.

- We are from Sonora.

You know, my whole family, we are from Sonora.

- Where the cattle state, right?

- Exactly.

In Sonora, Bichi is like a common name to say, you know, the kid is Bichi.

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- The kid is naked.

So we use that because our wines, you know, we we make them in a naked way.

- So how?

Describe that.

What is that?

- Ah, it's ah, we try to intervene as little as possible when making so we don't use ah, additives.

You can say, or makeup in the wine.

- So the wine thing or whatever it's going to come out.

- Exactly.

- Is what's going to come out.

- Exactly.

Most of the work, you know, it's in the agriculture.

So you'll have to work more in the agriculture than in the, in the formula.

- The process.

The fermentation.

- You can say it's very similar to, to a very good product that you get for cooking.

Super good fish, probably wild salmon.

And, - And you don't need to mess with it.

- Exactly.

You know, you don't want to, you don't need to mess with it.

Exactly.

You need to enhance the flavor of that.

So, it's more or less the same philosophy.

What we want to do our vision of the, or what we do is ah, tell a story of the place of the parcela.

- We want, we want, when you drink that wine to say the truth is in the glass.

So it's like ah, you see?

So, and, and.

- So, and so this parcel, - Exactly.

- has its own story.

- Has it's own story.

- And the one that comes from these grapes.

- It's their own story.

- Exactly.

It's what we want to do.

Where did you learn to make wine Noel?

Well, actually I'm a lawyer.

- What?

- Yeah.

- I'm telling you, Baja has the largest collection of people who were engineers, - Yeah.

- Who were lawyers, who were other things.

- And this, this land just makes them change professions.

- Exactly.

- They become chef, become wine makers, become restaurateurs.

We go, it's just like another life.

Right?

- Exactly.

So we started learning this kind of wine making, five years ago, - Okay.

- when we started this project.

- Did you, did you go to that ah, school that they had on the Valle de Guadalupe?

- No, I didn't go to school there.

The teachers, teachers came to me.

- They came to you?

[Chuckle] - Yeah.

We have a french collaborator.

- No way.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like, we have like ah, liaison with French guys.

- Really?

Oh, that's that's gotta be good.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Those guys know their wine.

I mean, - Yeah well, some of them, they have 20 years others 80 years making making wine.

- Are they satisfied with the final result?

- They're very happy.

They're very happy.

- They are?

- Yeah.

They're but they are, you know French, you know they, they, - They'll tell you the truth.

- They ask a lot, you know?

Oh..

This is no good.

[Chuckle] - but the seed is good.

[Laughter] - Where, you know, somebody wants the Bichi wine, where, where would they, where would you recommend they go look it?

- The United States, especially.

- Oh really?

- We are in like, 30 plus States there.

- You're already, Oh my goodness.

So... - California and New York, Houston, - So if, if they on your website, do you, do you do you tell them where to find it.

- I don't have website.

- You don't have website?

[Laughter] We sell our wine also in Mexico city.

And you know, Tulum like that.

And all those places.

- Where has it been the most popular right now?

Where would you say?

- Mexico city is great.

- Really?

- We're doing great.

- They are very demanding in Mexico City too.

- Yeah and Los Angeles.

- Really?

- Los Angeles is incredible.

- Really?

- Yeah, a lot of people, they love it.

And they, because we are so close to LA.

- Yeah.

So they come and they visit us.

- So, and I mean, in LA, at restaurants or at stores where they can buy directly.

- It's only in restaurants and in specialized wine stores.

- Specialized in wine stores.

Okay.

Very nice.

Well, I can't wait to try a little bit of your stuff.

I, I've tried it already with pairings, but there's nothing wrong with trying it again, especially with the good stuff.

- Right?

Okay.

- It's Crossing South folks.

Don't go anywhere.

We're here with Noel and we're going to go all Bichi.

Not literally Bichi, but wine Bichi.

[Chuckle] - Wine Bichi.

- This is the Piti Jour Natural.

So it's Little sparkles, little bubbles.

How it is.

Ah.

Oh man.

It's delicious.

This is delicious.

Yeah.

I'll take a bottle.

Take a bottle of this one.

These are fruity, flowery, citrousy.

Ah.

I can already smell how it's going to taste.

This would actually pair amazing with the Blue Fin Tuna Crudo.

Look at that.

Look at it.

Look at how the viscosity, look at how it, how it just, what do you call these?

Are they tears?

Are the legs?

What do they call them?

- Yeah.

- Look at this.

Look at that.

Look at that.

- Every time I had it, it was a very good experience but this is just reminding me.

Wow, this is really good wine.

It's one of those ones where, I can give you folks a recommendation right now.

If you, if you try them, you're going to have a very good experience.

- Technically it's a white wine, but because it's a longer masqueraded wine, - Ah huh.

- they get this color and you can see.

- Yeah, it almost looks like, like a honey, Ya know.

- Exactly, a nice honey color.

- Stringent.

- Yeah.

- So would that be the right term?

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

So was a little bit more stringent.

I like it very much too.

I like the other one.

My favorite right now is still the, the rosé.

But this is a very good wine as well.

This is very Egyptian.

So it seems like middle Eastern.

- Ah uh.

- Ancient times, right?

It's almost like, like the, the jars of of the wine cellar for Nebuchadnezzar.

Ya know.

- Yeah, exactly.

Nebuchadnezzar.

- It's resting.

- It's resting for the winter.

So.

- Ah, does it continue aging and these types of barrels?

- Yeah.

- It does.

- Okay.

- It is ah, concrete, eh, Tina power umbra.

- Okay.

- So, we can open a barrel so that you can taste.

- Oh yes, yes.

I want that.

- All right.

We have here Malbec Cabernet Nebiolo, - Oh, I love Nebiolo.

- Yes.

- Probably one of my favorites, - It's ah, young, in the sense of it's being here on the floor for a month in the barrel.

- It is so good.

Wow.

You've done a good thing my friend.

- In a younger style barrel you taste a lot of the fruit.

- Which you normally don't.

Because they're filtered out.

- Or because the style sometimes, you know California, or here in Baja, here in Guadalupe Valley especially, you know, ah, people is very proud of their French barrels.

- Yeah.

- So, and the taste... - We brought the wood.

- Yeah, they told us.

- But you know, the same thing is happening, you know, with the coffee thing.

Ah huh, ah huh.

- So a lot of these youngsters, the barista making coffees that their toast, they're roasting - Ah huh.

- It's not very strong.

It's like they want the coffee to express.

So it's the same thing here, it's like, you want to express more of the fruit.

- Soft is a good word.

Because if I had to describe this, this blend that you just gave me, I would use the word pleasant.

It is very pleasant.

- When fermentation is going on, then you listen.

- You're kidding.

- No.

- Really?

- well because it's, it's like boiling.

- Oh really?

- Yeah.

- So is it a particular sound?

- Oh yes.

[Gurgling] Then you know, it's working, you know.

- Could there be a situation where you don't hear that?

- Then that's a problem.

[Laughter] - So then you do have to listen.

- Yes, you have to listen, you have to, to, to see also when when we work with open fermentation's.

You see an also, you see bubbles or you see, and you see the we're looking also for defects or, or something, which is strange.

Smell is very important because he's used smell something, which, oh my gosh, this is not ah, working.

So, so then you had to do it's like a little kid say to do something quick.

- So what would you do if you smell something funky - Ah, then what you do is you take it out of the tank.

- You take it out.

- Yeah.

Normally, yeah.

Normally it's at the bottom.

Something happened, depending, you know?

- So Beachy wine, beachy meaning naked.

Does that mean your wine makers are all like naked making it just with like, - Sometimes you had to get into the tanks.

At least happy.

- Well, Noel, thank you for educating us on your wine-making.

Bichi is a wine on my list.

Is one that I recommend, and I hope you guys find a way to get it.

It's Crossing South.

So after enjoying the fruits of Noel's Baja adventure, and getting to know the pooches of Lost Adoptable's.

we leave rejoicing over knowing what we'll encounter the next time we get to Cross South.

[Upbeat Music Playing] - Like to know more about the places you've just seen.

Maps, videos, podcasts, and more, at crossingsouth.com.

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