by Patrick Ogle
Envinate's "Taganan" Canary Islands Blanco 2014 is a white blend from Spain's Canary Islands. I had no idea what to expect when I opened this wine. I had intended to save it for awhile (and had been told to) but I decided what the HELL. It has a light golden color. I thought I sensed something almost woody in the nose.
This was gone when I went back to it literally a minute or two later. It may have been imagination. There is something herbal--to the point of almost medicinal--on the nose too. This is shy of what I would call menthol but somehow reminiscent of that. Wild, rich, green fresh herbs are all over the nose.
It is herbal and sharp on first taste but it calms down with even a small amount of air. There are tannins on the end of this that mix with a bitter finish. I couldn’t help but think of some Corsican whites Ive had.
As some air gets in I noticed more pepper in this wine. I really wanted to save it. And I should have. You get a wee HINT of the creamy richness that will be there as it develops in the bottle over time. It is at the same time rustic and
sophisticated which is no small trick.
The wine comes from vineyards near the village of Taganana, north of Tenerife. These are old-vine grapes by any standard (the most recently planted vineyard is 50 years old). There are numerous white grapes tossed into the mix--, malvasía, forastera, marmajuelo, albillo criollo, vijariego blanco, gual, listán blanco and others we will never know! Many of these grapes are new names to me.
Taganan is fermented in foudres (wooden vats usually larger than normally used) using indigenous yeast. It is aged on the lees for eight months partly in barriques and stainless steel. No sulfur is added in fermentation.
If you come across this wine, or others from Envinate, grab them. They are not large productions and the three I've had have all been wonderful and unique.
Envinate's "Taganan" Canary Islands Blanco 2014 is a white blend from Spain's Canary Islands. I had no idea what to expect when I opened this wine. I had intended to save it for awhile (and had been told to) but I decided what the HELL. It has a light golden color. I thought I sensed something almost woody in the nose.
This was gone when I went back to it literally a minute or two later. It may have been imagination. There is something herbal--to the point of almost medicinal--on the nose too. This is shy of what I would call menthol but somehow reminiscent of that. Wild, rich, green fresh herbs are all over the nose.
It is herbal and sharp on first taste but it calms down with even a small amount of air. There are tannins on the end of this that mix with a bitter finish. I couldn’t help but think of some Corsican whites Ive had.
As some air gets in I noticed more pepper in this wine. I really wanted to save it. And I should have. You get a wee HINT of the creamy richness that will be there as it develops in the bottle over time. It is at the same time rustic and
sophisticated which is no small trick.
The wine comes from vineyards near the village of Taganana, north of Tenerife. These are old-vine grapes by any standard (the most recently planted vineyard is 50 years old). There are numerous white grapes tossed into the mix--, malvasía, forastera, marmajuelo, albillo criollo, vijariego blanco, gual, listán blanco and others we will never know! Many of these grapes are new names to me.
Taganan is fermented in foudres (wooden vats usually larger than normally used) using indigenous yeast. It is aged on the lees for eight months partly in barriques and stainless steel. No sulfur is added in fermentation.
If you come across this wine, or others from Envinate, grab them. They are not large productions and the three I've had have all been wonderful and unique.
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