Envinate, Tenerife, Taganan Red 2021 - 75cl

Táganan is a scatter of old vines clinging to volcanic cliffs on the wild northern coast of Tenerife, above the Atlantic. Envínate — four friends who met studying oenology and now make some of Spain's most exciting wines — farm these ungrafted plots by hand, many of the vines a century or more old and nobody entirely sure which grapes are which. It's a genuine field blend, led by Listán Negro and Negramoll with a handful of near-forgotten local varieties mixed in.

Pour it and the first thing you notice is how light on its feet it is. This is Atlantic red wine — pale in colour, low in weight, high in energy. Wild raspberry and pomegranate, a saline tang like sea spray, dried herbs and a smoky, gunflint edge from the basalt. Whole-cluster fermentation and neutral oak keep it fresh and unmarked by wood. The tannins are barely there; the acidity does the structural work, and the finish is all salt and stones.

Serve it slightly cool and it becomes almost dangerously drinkable. This is a wine for people who've tired of big and want something with nerve and a sense of place.

How to Serve

Serve cool, 13–14°C — twenty minutes in the fridge does it. A Burgundy glass flatters the perfume. No need to decant; it's ready the moment you pull the cork.

Where to Drink It

Planque for its love of the offbeat. Noble Rot for the sommelier crowd. Brat, where the smoke of the grill meets the smoke in the glass.

Food Pairings

Grilled red mullet or a plate of Ibérico ham. It's also a rare red that handles a bowl of paella.