OCampo, a Canary Island Vibe

Introducing the Patron Saint Edit, a weekly curated offer on bottles we can’t stop thinking about, difficult to source cuvées, and unusual gems that belong in your cellar. 

Two weeks ago, I stood in OCampo’s volcanic vineyards, pulling back lime-green grape leaves to reveal the tiniest buds of Vijariego Negro grapes I’ve ever seen (the only Vijariego Negro grapes I’ve ever seen). Before me, the sun shone on the Atlantic ocean, wild blue and creamy with surf. Behind me, the Dorsal mountains, a range culminating in the snow-capped peak of Mount Teide, were cloaked in moody, ghost-grey mist. Deeper into the fog and higher along the slopes, Listán Blanco vines over half-a-century old twisted in the typical rastra or braided cordon system above the ground, looking wise and majestic. Here, in the heart of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the northwest coast of Africa, winemaker Jonatan Garcia alongside Francisco Álvarez is building on the 40-year tradition of Presa OCampo with wines that defy the sometimes volatile nature of cuvées from the Canaries. Garcia, who is a fifth-generation Canarian and the hand behind the lauded Suertes del Marqués label, has brought a renewed sense of gravity to OCampo, located in the Tacoronte-Acentejo DOP, proving that the Canaries can be equally as wild as they are serious with wines meant to age like Burgundy. 

If you love Canary Island wine already, these bottles are for you. If you love Burgundy, these bottles are for you. If you want to imagine yourself gazing at the ocean, eating a plate of grilled seafood, drinking tropical, electric Listán Blanco, these bottles are for you. We have every current cuvée of OCampo on our shelves right now in limited quantities, thanks to our sharp-eyed friends at Spanish + Portuguese importer La Luz Selections. Get them while they last.