Envínate "Táganan" Tinto Tenerife Canary Islands 2023

Savoury and smoky aromatics with light touch of red cherry, red currant and wild plum. The nose is perfumed, with delicate notes of hibiscus. The palate denotes freshness, fine tannins, silkiness and elegance. High racy acidity, light body and juicy wild cherry combined with smoke dominate, but with very good balance and no excess.

"Táganan" is the old local name for the vineyard area located on the northeast side of Tenerife. In this area, the vineyards are planted “wild” on primary volcanic rock, on cliffs just above the Atlantic Ocean. The vineyards are very old and are mix planted with many different native grape varieties. Due to the rugged and difficult terrain, all farming has to be done by hand, and harvest is usually performed with the help of animals in order to be able to transport the grapes.

This cuvee is made from a variety of different red grape varieties native to the Canary Islands, some of them unidentified, but include Listan Negro, Listan Gaucho, Malvasia Negro. The parcels are very old and planted in volcanic soils between 75-300 meters elevation mostly around the Chavarria area right on the Atlantic Ocean, and are farmed by 15 different families and Envínate. The viticulture in the Táganan area is very old-fashioned: the vines grow untrained, the soil is worked by hand and no chemicals are used. The wine is wild yeast fermented with 30% whole grape clusters in open plastic tubs and concrete tanks. Raised in small tanks and used 225 and 500 liter barrels for around eight months.

"The 2023 Táganan Tinto comes from a very good vintage in the zone of Taganana, a very complete year with enough rain and perfect textbook conditions. They picked the grapes from Taganana later than the ones from La Orotava. It fermented without temperature control with more maceration. It's a year of concentration, depth, elegance, freshness and finesse. The finest vintage for this bottling to date. I feel a lot less reduction here." - 96 Points, Robert Parker

Envínate (translates as "wine yourself") is the brainchild of four friends, winemakers Roberto Santana, Alfonso Torrente, Laura Ramos, and José Martínez. This gang of four formed back in 2005 while studying enology at the University of Miguel Hernandez in Alicante. Upon graduation, they formed a winemaking consultancy, which evolved into Envínate, a project that focuses on exploring distinctive parcels mainly in the Atlantic-inflected regions of Ribeira Sacra and the Canary Islands. Their collective aim is to make profoundly pure and authentic wines that express the terruño of each parcel in a clear and concise manner. To this end, no chemicals are used in any of the Envínate vineyards, all parcels are picked by hand, the grapes are foot-trodden, and the wines are fermented exclusively with wild yeasts, with a varying proportion of whole grape clusters included. For aging, the wines are raised in old barrels and concrete, and sulfur is only added at bottling, if needed. The results are some of the most exciting and honest wines being produced in Spain today.