Vine Path Blog 3/21: The Canary Islands
The Canary Islands
Vine Path Blog 3/21
As a part of this club, we’ve frequently explored the amazing, singular wines of the Canary Islands, and for good reason. What counts today as the world’s classic and iconic wine regions is in constant flux. When we think of Burgundy, Champagne, Bordeaux, and Piedmont we imagine that they’ve been venerated and obsessed over going back to the very beginning of winemaking. It might be shocking to some to recognize facts like the wines of Barolo and Barbaresco were often looked down upon and regarded as bulk wine for the masses only as far back as the 1950s, how Champagne only started being a majority sparkling wine producing region at the beginning of the 20th century, or how the legacy of Napa was Valdiguie, not Cabernet, until the 1970s. Turns out that despite the language of winemakers and farms who say ‘we’ve always done it this way’, the fact is that they’ve most likely not always done it that way. Wine traditions and their relationship to human culture is dynamic and ever changing. In the past 30 years we’ve seen regions like France’s Jura or Italy’s Mt Etna emerge as world class wine regions capable of making wine just as good and exciting as anywhere else. These new world classic regions, so to speak, seem to emerge all the time and for many of us in the wine industry, the Canary Islands is increasingly appearing as if it’s poised to officially level up into this category. This month we’re exploring a diverse range of wines from three different producers on three distinct islands in the Canary Islands archipelago in an attempt to make the case that this is a region to watch out for.
The vineyards of Los Bermejos in Lanzarote
Los Bermejos Diego Seco, Lanzarote
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There are so many things that set this wine region apart from any other; it’s extremely low latitude, it’s positioning in an open ocean, it’s varying altitudes, it’s wide and diverse array of unique grape varietals, and its geology, all coalesce to make the wines of the Canary Islands unlike anything else on Earth. One can simply do a quick Google search for images of these vineyards to realize just how far removed this place is from winemaking in the rest of the world. The vineyards of Lanzarote, situated only a hundred miles or so from the Moroccan coast, at first glance appear as if they’re planted on the moon, with untrained vines popping up out of little craters of black earth. This is because almost 300 years ago the island experienced a volcanic explosion that covered the entire island with lava. There is a mysterious, almost sci-fi quality to this varied geology of these islands, which plays an intractable role in shaping the quality of the wines. Los Bermejos is our favorite winery on the island of Lanzarote. Their wines are racy and intense with a brilliantly refreshing structure. The bottling is Diego Seco, one of the Canaries native white wines. The profile here is high-toned and mineral driven with a light nuttiness and pounds on pounds of citrus all wrapped up in that Lanzarote je ne sais quoi.
A vineyard on Gran Canaria
Fronton de Oro Tradicional Tinto, Gran Canaria
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Gran Canaria is the second largest island in the archipelago and a famous European vacation spot. The vistas are gorgeous and the rolling hills planted to vine are a sight to behold. For two generations now the Ramirez family has been cultivating their estate traditionally with no pest control since the 70’s. Culturally the farmers of the Canaries are extremely old fashioned, a luditism that helps keep their practices distinctive from the rest of the wine world. For Fronton de Oro’s vineyards are situated over 1,000 meters above sea level, making them some of the highest vineyard sites in all of Europe. Their Tinto is made from the Carnaries’ most important red grape, Listan Negro. Fermented with ambient yeast, and aged briefly in barrel before bottling and release, the wine expresses heady and intense aromas of rosewater, forest floor, crushed herbs and spice with laser focused acidity. As always, this Listan Negro is a wine that is at first glance confounding, but rewarding to those who give it time and honest reflection.
Envinate Taganan Tinto, Tenerife
The Taganan Vineyard in Tenerife
Tenerife is the Canaries’ largest and most well known island. It’s here that Envinate, one of the world’s greatest ambassadors for the wines of the Canary Islands, is toiling away making some of the most interesting wines out there today. Envinate was started in 2005 by four friends and recent enology graduates that wanted to make wines from the Atlantic-inflected regions from which they came. Today, Envinate is widely considered to be one of the world’s most exciting up and coming producers. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the wines of Envinate make the clearest argument yet in favor of including the Canaries among the world’s classic wine regions. This cuvee, Taganan, is a big reason why. The wine is sourced from a single, wild growing parcel on the northeast side of the island, planted to a mix of many different, and some unidentified, native varietals. The plot is situated on a cliffy hillside above the Atlantic coast. This situation is intense, making the plot difficult to tend. The vines in this plot are ancient and are growing all over the place. It’s truly a sight to behold if you love viticulture. To compare Taganan to anything would be to sell it short, as there really isn’t anything out there like it. In broad strokes, the wine is intensely aromatic, brisk on its feet, light in body and tannin but packed with flavor, with super crisp acidity. I remember when I first tried this wine; I’ll never be able to forget it.
Mount Tiede in Tenerife