Envínate "Benje" Blanco, Canary Islands, Spain 2024

FROM JOSE PASTOR:

THE WINE: 100% Listán Blanco from several old vine parcels around Santiago del Teide. Viticulture here is highly traditional: vines grow untrained, the soil is worked by hand, and no chemicals are used. The grapes are hand-harvested and fermented with native yeasts and without temperature control, in a mix of old French oak foudre and concrete tank. A portion of the wine macerates with the skins and a portion under flor. Bottled unfined, unfiltered with a small addition of SO2.

THE PRODUCER: Envínate (“wine yourself”) is the brainchild of Laura Ramos, Jose Martínez, Roberto Santana and Alfonso Torrente, four friends who met while studying winegrowing at the University of Miguel Hernández in Alicante. Their work, both in the vineyard and winery, is focused on exploring the ancient, Atlantic-infused terruños of Ribeira Sacra and the Canary Islands, as well as exceptional vineyard plots across the Iberian Peninsula. The Envínate philosophy is simple: let each parcel fully express itself in the finished wine by utilizing old-fashioned farming and winemaking methods. Albahra (Castilian for “small sea”) is named for the vineyard area in the Almansa region close to the town of Albacete, located at the southeastern tip of Castilla-La Mancha.