Tenerife, Canary Islands
100% Listan Negro
Listan Negro from a single vineyard (1.2 hectares in size) with an average age of 80 years, the soils are mostly volcanic with some clay and sandy loam. The wine is fermented in open concrete tanks with temperature control and manual pigeage before it is aged in 500 litre French oak barrels for 14 month. The result is a wine that is at a very nice maturity to drink, savoury with notes of red fruit, tomato stem, and spice, fine but dense tannin for listan. We recommend this gem to those who enjoy Nebbiolo or Sangiovese.
Tenerife has a long and fascinating winemaking history, indigenous varieties such as Listán Negro and Blanco, Tintilla and Baboso Negro. Many vineyards are made up of 100 year-old+ ungrafted vines. Jonatan Garcia runs the family winery that is located in the Orotava Valley on the north side of the island. Many are grown in a traditional trellising system called Cordon Trenzado - vine branches are braided together and supported on stakes, and eventually grow into gnarly arms sometimes several meters in length. The estate has some incredibly old, low-yielding vines and produce wines that have freshness, balance, purity of fruit, minerality and an authentic terroir character.